Well, it looks like the server's A/C unit went down this week. At 100+F weather, and about 9,000BTU's to dissipate, I don't blame her for going down in flames. Not really flames, but, you get the idea.

Once upon a time, I purchased a small 10k BTU Panasonic AC unit for the office. The office soon became a server room, and the little Panasonic went from a "once in awhile" use to a "full time" use. If you don't know much about AC units, this is a small unit that is supposed to fit in a window. Instead of putting this in a window, I cut a hole in the wall and installed her permanently. A small unit like this is supposed to be used for comfort during hot weather -- not really designed to cool a server room all year long.

Anyway, the little Panasonic lasted for about 8 years. The last 3 years of her life, she has been running 24/7 non-stop. Why? Well, if you know anything about servers, they tend to create a lot of heat. And, if they are jammed into a small room (about 8x10), that space can become very hot, and quick....

She started blowing circuits, then after awhile, she just wouldn't blow cold air. I saw this as a sign and immediately called my HVAC contractor friend. One of his employees came to the house, looked at the room, and immediately slapped a quote on my desk for $3,400. The hell you say... yes, the hell I say. That is a LOT of cash to fork out to keep the server room cool. It was an industrial split-style unit. To be fair to my buddy, they did give me a quote to do the job "right the first time" and I would never have to worry about AC again.

Considering we aren't a hugely profitable business, I swallowed my pride and told my buddy it just wouldn't work out. Instead, I opened up my browser and typed in the words "Best Quality In Wall Air Conditioner".... I then spent about 2-3 hours browsing through websites, comparisons, prices, quality reviews, and everything a poor website developer would do. What did I decide? I went with a 110V / 7A 10k BTU LG in the wall unit. Cost, $250. At that price, I can afford to keep two extra units on standby and STILL save money. Installation pain, HUGE. After some back pain killers and a few photos later, you can see that it's well deserved. I pocketed my $3,100 for a rainy day and even ran a new wire to connect my last UPS and even gave the new AC unit his own dedicated circuit.

Thank God for my sister, who came over and helped me lift this bad boy up into the new hole in the wall. Maybe someday I'll stop being so cheap and just pay someone to do this work for me. ha

I have a Fedders wall/window unit that i use to turn the bedroom into a cave when i have to sleep days.It too is about 8 years old and it's on it's last legs.8 years is a good run for those little things.Getting anal about keeping the condenseor clean goes a long way.