[panino]


I'm going to have a sealed AV closet (3x4', 8' height), 96 cubic feet.  I'm planning on putting an intake vent w/ some "creative sound dampening" at the bottom.  I need recommendation on a fan for the ceiling to exhaust the warmer air into the overlying ceiling.  Was thinking a nice quiet bathroom fan or inline duct fan would be ok.  Since it could run quite a bit an inline duct fan might be a better option for longevity.  I'll prob hook it up to a thermostat.

 

Any recommendations on such a fan, obviously the quieter the better, but one with enough cubic feet per min to ventilate the space?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

 

[rkinmoval]

You're talking about such a small space that it would not need much of a fan at all. Depending on what you're putting in there, you may not even need a fan. On my smaller AV closet I simply put a cold air return grill on both sides of the wall above the door and let convection ventilate it naturally. No noise, nothing to break, no electricity being used.

You're certainly thing about this at the right time as it would be super easy to put one in now. May go ahead and throw one it and try the return air grill concept. Monitor the temp once things are finished and only fire up the fan if absolutely necessary. Good luck!

 

[panino]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rkinmoval  /t/1523552/ceiling-fan-recommendation-needed#post_24510367


You're talking about such a small space that it would not need much of a fan at all. Depending on what you're putting in there, you may not even need a fan. On my smaller AV closet I simply put a cold air return grill on both sides of the wall above the door and let convection ventilate it naturally. No noise, nothing to break, no electricity being used.

You're certainly thing about this at the right time as it would be super easy to put one in now. May go ahead and throw one it and try the return air grill concept. Monitor the temp once things are finished and only fire up the fan if absolutely necessary. Good luck!

 

I'm going to have my theater equip in there as well as a NAS and home server, both of which may produce a bit more heat and continuously since they won't be shut off.  If it were just the theater equip I wouldn't be as concerned with the heat buildup.  With the servers I am.  Like you said, now is the time to put a fan up there, even if I don't use it.  So I probably will do just that.  I'd rather be safe than sorry wishing I did after the fact.  I just need to find the right fan to stick up there.

 

[LeBon]

Check out the Thermal Management Whitepaper located here: http://middleatlantic.com/resources/white-papers.aspx


It is written about racks, but most of the same principles apply to a closet.

 

[panino]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LeBon  /t/1523552/ceiling-fan-recommendation-needed#post_24511913


Check out the Thermal Management Whitepaper located here: http://middleatlantic.com/resources/white-papers.aspx


It is written about racks, but most of the same principles apply to a closet.

 

Thanks LeBon for the article link.  I read it... very informative.  I guess you could look at the closet as one giant AV rack in that regard.  I was initially thinking something like a 100-120 CFM fan would suffice, but based on the article it sounds like I'd need something upwards of that, possibly above 300 CFM.  With a fan this size noise will definitely be a consideration.

 

I found these inline fans:

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/panasonic-fv-20nlf1.html :   6" duct size, 240 CFM, 1.4 sones.

http://www.westsidewholesale.com/panasonic-fv-30nlf1.html :   6" duct size, 340 CFM, 1.7 sones.

 

I don't know much about "sones", but from what I've read these fans sound pretty quiet given the airflow they can move.  One of them might fit the bill.  Anyone have any opinions on these or suggestions on a better fan?

 

[LeBon]

Dennis Erskine recommends a 90 cfm fan for my equipment closet, which will exhaust into the ductless mini-split for the entire room.

 

[panino]



Quote:
Originally Posted by LeBon  /t/1523552/ceiling-fan-recommendation-needed#post_24514415


Dennis Erskine recommends a 90 cfm fan for my equipment closet, which will exhaust into the ductless mini-split for the entire room.

Do you know yet what type of fan you'll be getting? If all I'll need is something on the order of ~100 CFM then I could go with an ultra quiet bath fan. I am just concerned about longevity of those fans, especially if running a lot.

 

[LeBon]

We've spec'd a Panasonic FV10NLF1 In-Line Fan. It's 120 cfm, and we'll use flex duct for intake and exhaust to further isolate the noise.