Air Cooling with Air Conditioner Intake.

[PyroBlast13]

I had an idea and I was wondering if anyone had done it yet. I was thinking if you took say a window mounted AC unit and routed a pipe or some sort of tubing from where the cold air comes out and ran it directly into a computer case what kind of temps could you get on a good air cooler? Or even say liquid cooling?

[Totallycasual]

If you do anything involving temperatures lower than room temperature you run the risk of condensation >.<  

[PyroBlast13]

1 minute ago, Newenthusiast said:

If you do anything involving temperatures lower than room temperature you run the risk of condensation >.<  

Guess you might be right but it would still be cool to see how well it would work.

[Speakerator]

19 hours ago, Newenthusiast said:

If you do anything involving temperatures lower than room temperature you run the risk of condensation >.<  

 

Well, since the air inside the case will be equally cold (in contrast to, lets say a LN2-pot, which is way colder than the air surrounding it), there will be no condensation on the components itself. There might be condensation on the case itself, if the surfaces cool down so far that the "ambient" air of the room condensates on it. 

[Bcat00]

Let me just say that is a horrible idea?

Hello, it costs alot more to keep a window ac running for so long. 

If you are going to throw that kind of money away, might as well invest in a custom water loop now if temp is all you are aiming for.

[ThomasD]

On 6/6/2016 at 9:06 PM, Newenthusiast said:

If you do anything involving temperatures lower than room temperature you run the risk of condensation >.<  

Presumably if the air is coming directly out of the AC unit the condensation has already occurred.  Edit:  As noted, you might see condensation on the outside of the case, but unless you live in a very humid environment (including the effect of any room AC) I doubt it.

 

To the OP - if the air coming directly out of the unit is significantly colder than room temperature then yes, you will see improved delta.

 

Given the abysmal efficiency of wall unit AC this sort of approach will not be cheap.

[SageOfSpice]

On 6/7/2016 at 8:30 PM, Bcat00 said:

Hello, it costs alot more to keep a window ac running for so long. 

Clearly you've never owned an AMD processor.

 

Jokes aside though, if you live in North America, it wouldn't be too bad. Where I live, it'd cost about 40 cents to run an AC for 8 hours. Probably less, because that's peak wattage, which is only going to be occurring while the compressor is running.

 

So if somebody REALLY desperately needed the cooling for a short duration at least, then it could be viable. I do agree that a water cooler would be more practical though. Do bear in mind that you would be dedicating your A/C unit to this purpose and thus be unable to utilize it for yourself and anybody else around you. Noting the price of A/C units, this is an inefficient option as a water cooler can be had for 1/3rd the price of an A/C unit.

 

There's also another problem that nobody has brought up, and that's static electricity. A/C units decrease the relative humidity of a room due to moisture in the air condensing onto the radiator. This promotes a good environment for static build up.

 

All in all, it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth.

[Bcat00]

3 hours ago, SageOfSpice said:

Clearly you've never owned an AMD processor.

 

Jokes aside though, if you live in North America, it wouldn't be too bad. Where I live, it'd cost about 40 cents to run an AC for 8 hours. Probably less, because that's peak wattage, which is only going to be occurring while the compressor is running.

 

So if somebody REALLY desperately needed the cooling for a short duration at least, then it could be viable. I do agree that a water cooler would be more practical though. Do bear in mind that you would be dedicating your A/C unit to this purpose and thus be unable to utilize it for yourself and anybody else around you. Noting the price of A/C units, this is an inefficient option as a water cooler can be had for 1/3rd the price of an A/C unit.

 

There's also another problem that nobody has brought up, and that's static electricity. A/C units decrease the relative humidity of a room due to moisture in the air condensing onto the radiator. This promotes a good environment for static build up.

 

All in all, it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth.

Trust me as a house owner, i would kick my tenant out if he runs at such mileage.