Porting into HVAC exhaust

Started by BriHar on 1 March 2011. 1 reply.

Originally posted at johnlsayers.com, topic 15678.

I was thinking lately about an idea that I’ve never seen done, nor discussed. Connecting things like Isolation boxes into the HVAC system. For example, I have an Isolation box which houses my PC, a transformer, UPS, Power Conditioner, as well as external drives, basically noisy things which hum, whirr and click etc. Many of these things also generate heat so the box has a ventilation fan and silencers built in. My thinking is, why blow all this heat into the room? Why not add a flexible duct which would attach to the box, and vent it directly into the exhaust duct of the HVAC (this could also eliminate the need for (running) the built-in fan. Perhaps the same could be done for flush-mounted active monitors, instead of the passive heat porting usually designed into the ‘soffit’ wall, include ducting directly from the box to the HVAC. Any thoughts on this concept? :idea:
i've done this for small machine rooms/closets but not isolation boxes but presumably if you calculate the flow correctly and ensure the penetration into the room doesn't void your isolation, then it should be feasible.