Component/Spot Cooling

For components that are installed in cabinetry or closets, cooling products should be used along with venting products (venting involves exhausting heated air from a cabinet or closet).  In some circumstances, either cooling OR venting products will be appropriate but in other more demanding situations, both cooling and venting products may be required.

Best Practice. The first and perhaps most important step in cooling components, and also comes at no charge, is to position components properly by not stacking heat producing components on top of each other, space shelving properly (so components can 'breathe'), keep wiring organized so the wiring does not restrict airflow, and then have sufficient openings in shelving to allow airflow between the shelves. The best method is to notch out the back of the shelves which provides for easy wiring management as well as good airflow.  If there are adjacent cabinets without components, open up passageways between the areas but best to do this with cooling fans in mind.  In other words, use 3" round holes because if need a fan then can easily add a fan using that hole.

Once the natural airflow is maximized, then consider when cooling products may be required. If heat producing components do not have the recommended spacing which is normally 4 above the components, then cooling products very well may be required. The good side is that if heat is not accumulating in the area, if there is venting installed or if for example, components are in a cabinet but there is no back to the cabinet, then minimal additional airflow will most likely do the job for example a Single or Dual Fan Unit. More demanding situations are also not a huge challenge since we offer a full line of Cooling Products.

Avoid Common Misconceptions Related to Cooling Components.  At this point, we are tired of looking at claims made by so-called cooling professionals with few to no credentials so we have created this section.  Now should add that some people are very knowledgeable and some systems require extreme and in-depth analysis of cooling requirements but the point is that is pretty rare and should not make generalizations from those situations.

1) CFMs and Airflow Requirements for Components.  To cool components, a huge amount of CFMs (cubic feet per minute of airflow) is not required. Some people try to quantify the CFMs that are needed to cool equipment but there are huge holes in the logic and methodology which then negates any legitimacy to these approaches.  In other words, if the initial premise is flawed, so is everything that follows! Plain and simple, there are too many variables to quantify the precise CFM requirements. The bottom line is that if you use some common sense, follow the principles mentioned above which a large portion does not involve spending a penny on, then monitor your systems and the heat being generated, cooling is not a huge challenge. Simply add cooling products based on where the heat is accumulating and which components are affected.

2) How Air Flows and Pretty Diagrams.  This is a subject that is sometimes baffling. It is almost amusing to see drawings and diagrams of air moving nicely through a cabinet and around components. The cool air, represented with blue arrows coming in the bottom of the cabinet and then hot air coming off the components, depicted by red arrows of course, flowing to the back of the cabinet and perfectly exhausting out the top... The fact is that it would be great if it was that easy and air was that 'manageable' but it is not.  In a sealed environment this may be a closer representation but in reality air is usually taking paths of least resistance.  Heat is rising but organically, not how someone wants to draw it.  When a cabinet is not sealed, air comes in from around doors, through little holes or cracks...  The point is that airflow is predictable but not easily represented by a few colored arrows...

3) Equipment's Life is Cut in Half with Every 10 Degree Rise....  This is just BS is the only way to put it. We have not seen one single 'valid' study that substantiates this. This is another area where folks have tried to quantify a principle but true research is limited or non-existent. We're not even going to go into the variables that would bust this line of reasoning wide open, this is just marketing BS meant to scare people to buy their products or their expertise.

The fact is that yes, heat can damage equipment, but the fact also exists that the internal temperatures, the 'normal' operating temperatures in a component, are far greater than we address in cooling components and the systems in general and the cooler the better is far from valid. Most components have very high internal operating temperatures and by design and also have thermal protections built-in so if you have a component shutting down due to heat, you should definitely pay attention to the issue because there is no better indicator that a problem exists.  Of course it is good to be proactive with cooling and pay attention to ambient temperatures around the components and especially if there are several components that generate heat in an area and then airflow is limited or non existent.

The point though is to not let this scare tactic work on you! Again, use common sense, take the basic precautions, and then monitor your systems!

4) Professional Products vs. Fans.  We are now seeing more and more products hitting the market that are marketed as audio video cooling products. The fact is that while the principles may be the same between the 'consumer' (usually made to be disposable) vs 'professional' products, much more goes into the products than just selling a fan in some sort of housing and power supply. The fact is that not all fans are created equal and trust folks with a boxes full of test fans on that - we spent years testing and rejecting fans before spec'ing specialty fans and to date we are the only company using advanced bearing technology, everyone else is still using ball bearings which would be like the military still using musket loaders!  Ok, maybe not that extreme but just makes no sense!

In the residential electronics world we have to consider both noise and effectiveness equally. Products have to be quiet and effective with very very few exceptions. Actually no exceptions when it comes to the effectiveness. Just like an amplifier produces heat, a fan produces noise. There is no magical 'quiet' fan out there. So why do we have boxes full of fans? It is because we have tested most fans on the market and most failed. We ended up having fans specially manufactured to our specifications to balance the noise vs effectiveness issue. We also had to contend with bearing issues as most fans are not intended for vertical mounted and then electrical noise can also be created by certain types of fans. There are also longevity issues and a few other things we won't bore you with.

So the bottom line is that while you can certainly find a wide variety of 'fans' on the market, just ensure that your source for cooling products has done their research on the fan types and they selected the proper fans and created products for use in residential technology applications. They should also have experience with home audio video systems as well as experience with thermal dynamics. The products should be well tested, aesthetically pleasing, and be supported by a quality company with a strong commitment to their products and customers.

All of Cool Components products feature Professional Grade Fans meaning they feature magnetic bearing systems which is far superior to traditional ball and sleeve bearing fans which ALL other cooling brands utilize purely due to lower cost, or they simply do not know or care about quality.  The products are also 'lifetime' products.  With minimal maintenance they will truly last a lifetime.  These are the same products used in mission critical systems at NASA, the US military, throughout the government, major technology corporations, and in countless yachts, homes, and businesses around the globe.