What is Wrong with the A/C

Everyone who has ever been caught in a mid-August heat wave knows what it is to love the Air Conditioner. But anyone who picks up the electric bill every month has felt the pain of A/C power consumption. The fact is that A/C accounts for a full 5% of household energy consumption in the U.S. Hot summer days aside, we’d like to address the question: Is air conditioning an appropriate thermal management solution for my electronics?

The answer, for most mid-sized servers and computer systems, is a resounding no. Air Conditioners utilize a series of moving parts, including the compressor and fans, that tend to wear out and consume energy. They employ some form of freon, a costly fluorocarbon that will need to be replaced, and they are bulky, noisy machines. Heat Exchangers, which we have discussed in earlier posts, use far less energy and can be operated with solid-state mechanisms – meaning no moving parts – relying on the power of naturally occurring phenomena to remove the heat from your precious electronics. A side by side comparison of a heat pipe-based system against an A/C based thermal management system puts the benefits in stark relief: Whether you’re worried about maintenance, cost, performance or ease of application, the heat exchanger wins the day.