How does it work?
Vent-Tech’s innovative evaporative cooling systems cool air without relying on expensive-to-run air conditioning.
Innovative cooling systems
Cooling data centres with evaporative cooling can significantly contribute to data centre profitability, because they run on far less electricity. Evaporative cooling systems:
- Lower the air temperature by passing the air over wet cooling pads. This causes the air to evaporate and the temperature to reduce.
- Mix recycled warm air with cool fresh air from outside in the winter to reach the right temperature and reduce energy use.
Substantially reduce the costs compared to air conditioning in your data centre
Many data centres with air conditioning consume as much electricity in their cooling systems as in their servers. This has both cost and power availability implications.
It is believed the IT sector has as big a carbon footprint as the airline industry. Many operators want to reduce their impact on the environment by consuming less energy.
Vent-Tech’s data centre evaporative air cooling installations slash cooling costs. They are rigorously tested to keep business-critical computers, servers and hardware strictly within specified temperature and humidity ranges.
While evaporative data centre cooling systems are still a relatively new phenomenon in the UK, globally their use is widespread. Google, for instance, use this technology in all of their data server centres.
The benefits of computer room evaporative cooling (CREC)
1. Improved power usage effectiveness – so a greater proportion of electricity is used to run your computer server equipment (rather than running cooling systems).
2. Massive electricity bill savings – companies that have ripped out and replaced expensive-to-run air conditioning systems typically more than recoup their investment in eco cooling within a couple of years.
3. Improve your green credentials – Evaporative cooling can bring carbon emission reductions of around 90%.
“ S3 now have a data centre cooling system that delivers fantastic savings and is great for the environment too. I fail to see any downsides to the system – it pays to be green!”
Mark Smith, Technical Director, S3
Read our S3 client case study
The server room at S3 used to be cooled using a wall-mounted air conditioning unit. In line with their energy management strategy rather than installing new refrigeration-based air conditioning units the company wanted to fit a system that would reduce their energy consumption whilst at the same time be more environmentally friendly. Evaporative coolers were considered to provide an obvious solution…read more
Savings from evaporative cooling vs traditional computer room air conditioning (CRAC)
Vent-Tech eco air cooling systems outperform CRAC systems by a huge order of magnitude. Here are the facts:
- The most efficient CRAC systems (generally with variable fan speeds and free cooling facility) have a Coefficient of Performance (CoP) of 3.7. This means that 3.7kW of cooling is produced for each 1kW of energy consumed.
- Standard air conditioning systems do not have these energy saving features, and have a CoP of around 2 or less.
- By startling contrast, eco-cooling systems fitted by Vent-Tech have an average CoP of 23.8. They consume only 1.5kW of energy to produce 35kW of cooling.
Comparative costs and carbon usage for a 100kW computer server room
| Vent-Tech CREC | CRAC with free cooling | Standard CRAC | |
| CoP | 23.8 | 3.7 | 2.0 |
| Power consumed kW | 4.2 | 27 | 50 |
| Annual electricity use kWhr | 36,792 | 236,757 | 438,000 |
| Additional electricity Vs CREC | +199,965kWhr | +401,208kWhr | |
| Annual electricity cost* | £2,943 | £18,940 | £35,040 |
| Total carbon (tonnes) | 19.8 | 127.1 | 235.2 |
* Based on pricing of 8p/kWhr and 0.53702 kg/CO₂ per kWhr
Contact Vent-Tech to discover how to significantly reduce your spend on keeping computer servers cool without relying on traditional, expensive air conditioning.
Installation of computer room evaporative coolers
Vent-Tech CRECs (computer room evaporative coolers) are installed as part of a ventilation system which is carefully sized to provide a constant flow of fresh air to your IT equipment.
CRECs are normally installed as 35kW, 70kW or 100kW modules. Installations can be phased to reflect the populating of the data centre. Low cost services and control infrastructure can be installed initially to support future expansion. Numerous installations have now been completed in the UK with many clients now on their second or third project.
Controlling the humidity in your server room
As a leading Eco Cooling supplier, we provide expert advice to clients on effectively controlling the humidity within their computer rooms. Humidity control set-up is a standard part of Vent-Tech’s rigorous installation and maintenance procedure. We provide your operators with concise, clear training to ensure the most benefit is provided from our cooling systems.
Modern computer servers now operate in a broader range of temperature and relative humidity. Most machines specify a 10°C to 35°C operating temperature. Relative humidity is less important with old tape to tape and paper systems in much less use. Vent-Tech’s Computer Room Evaporative Coolers (CRECs) are proven to be able to maintain these standards – even in extreme outdoor temperatures – without resorting to expensive-to-run air conditioning.
Contact Vent-Tech today
Call us today on 0117 964 7945 for more information. We can answer any of your questions on keeping your computer room or data centre (and its servers) cool and within operating limits, whilst controlling the costs.