September 24, 2008

Uptime CEO’s Tips on Cutting IT Energy Bills

Kenneth Brill, executive director of the Uptime Institute, offers five tips in Forbes on how to cut energy bill while increasing cooling reliability and stability.

1. Set the temperature and relative humidity set control points on cooling units correctly
Cooling unit setpoint = cold aisle temperature + difference between the cold and hot aisle (a difference of 10°F is desirable).

2. Cut the amount of cooling to the heat load
This increases cooling stability and quality while saving energy. But do a complete computer room tune-up before turning off any units. Brill’s research shows that on average the typical computer room has three times more cooling running than is required by the actual heat load.

3. Make sure all cooling units are capable of delivering rated capacity
Brill says that the typical cooling unit cannot deliver capacity because of poor installation or maintenance and recommends having a third-party independent of the current contractor to perform this investigation.

4. Send cold air where it is most needed
Maximum cooling efficiency is achieved by having the hot aisle uncomfortably hot. A 10°F temperature difference between the cold and hot aisle is recommended, because a small difference signals air mixing, which reduces cooling capacity and efficiency.

5. Get rid of dehumidification and humidification
Brill says “computer rooms should be machine rooms with no people,” and that outside air should be “severely” restricted from coming into the computer room.

In August, Brill wrote in Forbes that low Power Utilization Effectiveness numbers are “scientifically meaningless.”

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