ASHRAE - Colder is Not Better for a Data Center

James Cerwinski
August 10, 2010

If colder is not better and we agree you can save energy by increasing the temperature — why are data center managers still over-cooling? The reason is that many data center managers don’t have the information to safely increase the temperature. The following Gartner quote adds an important new element — the need to monitor for hot spots.

Gradually raise the temperature at the server inlet point to run up to 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit), but use sensors to monitor for hot spots - Gartner – 29 July 2009

ASHRAE recommends you measure and record temperature and humidity at the geometric center of the air intake of the top, middle and bottom racked equipment at 50 MM( 2in.) from the front of the equipment. For example, if there are 20 servers in a rack, measure the temperature at the center of the first, tenth or eleventh, and twentieth server as shown in the following picture.

Source: ASHRAE Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environment

Are you monitoring your temperature and humidity according to ASHRAE’s recommendation?

James Cerwinski