The 'Cool' Blog

To protect business-critical equipment from data storage problems or system crashes, it is essential to ensure that the temperature in server rooms or data centres stays within certain limits. With many housing large amounts of equipment, the heat generated can potentially cause computers and networking equipment to fail as they are designed to work within a fairly narrow temperature range.     What temperature is right? Air conditioning should be considered crucial for any server room.   Technology experts recommend a server room temperature of between 18ºC to 27ºC and not less than 10°C or above 28°C.   Relative humidity should be between 45-50% to stop damaging static electricity building up.   Even a few degrees too hot can blow a server chip or cause permanent damage to hard drives.   The cost of a serious server failure can be considerable – not only the cost of replacement, but lost online business, lost customer details, wasted staff t...

With many schools and colleges holding exams and formal assessments, it may be useful to consider the temperature of the exam room to give pupils the best chance of success. Research suggests that temperature influences student attention span, with students in colder or warmer rooms testing poorly compared to those in a control room with a temperature of around 21 degrees. A study at Cornell University found similar results and research is continuing to explain why climate might play such a significant role.   It is thought that apart from the discomfort, which affects memory and learning capabilities, the mind becomes focused on maintaining its body temperature in a room that’s too cold or too hot which then affects concentration.   While warm rooms can make students feel tired and sleepy, colder rooms may make the body use its energy to keep warm instead. Not only would an uncomfortable temperature affect students’ performance, but in extreme cases a sch...

Many people think that air conditioning is just for the summer months, but a number of systems feature a reverse cycle system, or heat pump.  This facility offers extra versatility as the system can be switched between cooling and heating mode as required, keeping the workplace at a comfortable temperature all year round.  Maintaining a comfortable workplace temperature has been shown to improve staff health, safety and productivity. How do heat pumps work? Reverse cycle air conditioning works by warm air passing over a refrigerant to cool it down and lower the temperature of a room during the warmer months of the year. For winter heating, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the outside (even on cold days) to warm up the air going into the room to raise the internal temperature. As well as heating, these systems can also dehumidify the air and are an ideal way to remove airborne fungus and mites from the workplace, creating a more hygienic environment and decreasing t...

For many UK businesses the cost of running air conditioning may seem high, but there can be hidden costs of not providing air conditioning or adequate heating in the workplace.   The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 state that ‘During working hours, the temperature in all workplaces inside buildings shall be reasonable.’    London Cool also receives many enquiries from businesses needing to keep their server or computer rooms   cool to protect valuable data and systems. Thermal discomfort caused by workplace temperature on can have an impact on health and safety, with more accidents being reported, all of which have an associated cost.   Many employees are not able to adapt their clothing because   they wear a specific uniform or PPE .   Wearing too much clothing or PPE may be a primary cause of heat stress but if clothing does not provide enough insulation, then there is a risk of cold injuries such as frostbite or hy...