[utee05]

Hi All,

I have currently have all of my equiment on a 4-tier shelf like this one:

This is my list of equipment:

Onkyo 805

Xbox 360

ATT Uverse STB

HTPC in nMediaPC 5000B case

Nintendo Wii

Slingbox


All of this equipment is in a closet in my media room. I normally keep the door open to allow all of the heat to escape. The closet has a light switch and light inside so if I wanted to add some sort of vent fan I could at some point. I would like to get rid of the metal shelving unit and build a proper one into the wall in the closet. The closet is 3 feet deep. I'd like the rack to be 3 feet wide, 5 ft tall and 2 feet deep. Any suggestions on what I can do and also how to cool the equipment? I have a Harmony 890 so I can control the devices through walls.

 

[trek737]

It depends on how much you want to spend on your media closet. Cheapest would be to leave it the way you have it. Or, buy some wood and make some shelves to the exact size that you want. Or, buy a Middle Atlantic rack or one similar, and build a custom cabinet around the rack.


For cooling you could buy a bathroom exhaust fan and install it in the ceiling of the closet. Have it hooked up to thermostat so it comes on when the room gets to a certain temperature or hook it up to a switch.


Maybe some folks have some better ideas but that is my two cents...


Good luck...

 

[mystic_sniper28]

while what you have may do for present use, though I would suggest looking at a dedicated rack system if I were you.. that would save you a bit of space pending on the gear you have..


i have the exact same type of rack, I would say it isn't the best designed thing to be using for heavy av gear..

 

[utee05]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mystic_sniper28 /forum/post/20864951


while what you have may do for present use, though I would suggest looking at a dedicated rack system if I were you.. that would save you a bit of space pending on the gear you have..


i have the exact same type of rack, I would say it isn't the best designed thing to be using for heavy av gear..

Yeah it does the job for now but I really want to get a dedicated rack system. Something that will make it look cleaner.


Any suggestions on bathroom vents that aren't that loud and are good at moving hot air out of a room? I have seem some at HD and Lowes but not sure which one to get.


I liked the setup that Gpowers did on his media with a vent on the bottom to get cool air and a couple of fans to move the hot air away from the devices. The one downside to my closet is that it is upstairs and it gets hot most of the time since I live in Texas. I guess a good thing about the closet is that it is right next to the attic so I can vent out the hot air to there.

 

[jautor]

Don't vent to the attic - you'd dump 'conditioned' but 'warm' air into unconditioned space. Makes your A/C work harder...


Instead, dump it to the HVAC return using a kit like this or something similar. I have 2 of these now (older model, this one is nicer), and they work.

http://www.coolcomponents.com/Inline...tem_p_376.html



Jeff

 

[utee05]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jautor /forum/post/20871362


Don't vent to the attic - you'd dump 'conditioned' but 'warm' air into unconditioned space. Makes your A/C work harder...


Instead, dump it to the HVAC return using a kit like this or something similar. I have 2 of these now (older model, this one is nicer), and they work.

http://www.coolcomponents.com/Inline...tem_p_376.html



Jeff

Thanks for the response. Did not occur to me about making my A/C work harder. How loud do these vent fans get? Did you put these at the top of your equipment rack or right behind them? I'll try and take some pics of my current setup to get an idea of what I'm working with.

 

[jautor]

Quote:

Originally Posted by utee05 Thanks for the response. Did not occur to me about making my A/C work harder. How loud do these vent fans get? Did you put these at the top of your equipment rack or right behind them? I'll try and take some pics of my current setup to get an idea of what I'm working with.

They're meant to run continuously, and are very quiet. Nothing like an "exhaust fan". I have one in the ceiling of my equipment closet, and another above the slide-out rack in my theater.


The one in the equipment closet runs 24/7, the theater one is switched on with the rack gear.


Jeff