Cooling a rack starts with how much heat it makes. Nearly all the electrical power that IT equipment draws ends up as heat in the room, so the load you already know (in watts) is the starting point.
1. Estimate the heat load
Add up the power draw of the equipment in the rack, in watts, and add the UPS's own losses from its datasheet. Heat is often quoted in BTU per hour: 1 watt is about 3.412 BTU/h, so a 2,000 W rack gives off about 6,824 BTU/h. For a full method, see APC White Paper 25, "Calculating Total Cooling Requirements for Data Centers" [1].
2. Decide what you are cooling: the rack or the room
- Airflow parts (blanking panels, fans, fan trays, air-flow roof units) move heat out of the rack and stop hot air from mixing with cold air. They do not remove heat from the room.
- Cooling units remove heat and need a place to reject it (a vent, a ceiling, a condenser) and their own power supply.
3. Gather the site details
Rack dimensions and whether it is open or enclosed; room size and how it is ventilated today; available power for a cooling unit (voltage and plug); where the hot air can go; and the highest room temperature you see now. Batteries last longer in a cooler room, so rack cooling also protects your UPS batteries.
Not sure what you need?
Send us the rack and room details and your estimated load. We will help narrow the options; a site with high or growing loads may need an HVAC contractor. Browse cooling and airflow accessories.
Source: [1] Schneider Electric (APC), White Paper 25, "Calculating Total Cooling Requirements for Data Centers" (se.com, document SPD_NRAN-5TE6HE). The watts to BTU/h figure is a unit conversion.