sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Equipment Closet Tempurature

Visited a customer today with an equipment closet that was way too hot. We told them during the install to cool down that closet. I'm now gonna email him to have it in writing so when his phone system, server and camera equipment fails I can say that I told him so.

My question is, what is the recommended tempurature that equipment closets should be?

I'd look at your equipment specs, most have the tempurature range. That way it's in writing.

Acording the the BICSI TDMM, 11th edition, the standard is 64-75 degrees, with a relative humidity between 30-55%. This is for any telecommunication space with active equipment.

I have an older copy (1999) of the EIA/TIA specs. The 569-A spec on Pathways & Spaces, states in regards to Telecommunications Closets:

"HVAC shall be included in the design of the telecommunications closet to maintain a temperature the same as the adjacent office area. Planning for eventual provisioning, as required, of continuous HVAC (24 hours per day and 365 days per year) shall be included in the initial design. A positive pressure shall be maintained with a minimum of one air change per hour, or as required by applicable code. When active devices (heat producing equipment) are present, a sufficient number of air changes should be provided to dissipate the heat. If a standby power source is available in the building, the HVAC system serving the telecommunications closet should be connected to the standby supply."

Regarding Equipment Rooms the spec says:

"8.2.3.6 HVAC equipment

8.2.3.6.1 HVAC shall be provided on a 24 hours-per-day, 365 days-per-year basis. If the building system cannot assure continuous operation for large equipment applications, a stand alone unit shall be provided for the equipment room. If a standby power source is available in the building, consideration should be given to connecting the HVAC system serving the telecommunications equipment room to the standby supply.

8.2.3.6.2 The temperature and humidity shall be controlled to provide continuous operating ranges of 18 oC (64 oF) to 24 oC (75 oF) with 30% to 55% relative humidity. Humidification and dehumidification equipment may be required depending upon local environmental conditions.


8.2.3.6.3 The ambient temperature and humidity shall be measured at a distance of 1.5 m (5 ft) above the floor level, after the equipment is in operation, at any point along an equipment aisle center line.

8.2.3.6.4 A positive pressure differential with respect to surrounding areas should be provided.

8.2.3.6.5 If batteries are used for backup, adequate ventilation shall be provided. Refer to applicable electrical codes for requirements."

Sam

Thanks Larry and Sam. I'm sure that's where they get their specs in the installation manuals. To be honest if there were specs on this in the BSP's I don't remember them.

Bill -

I don't remember the GTEPs specifying anything, but the individual PBX & Key System documentations always spec'd environmental conditions.

Sam

After I posted that Sam I remembered it being in the TOPS practices under the equipment specs. I also mis-spoke when I said the equipment manufactures probably got their specs from BICSI, I sure it was BICSI that got it from the Bell specs, just like most everything in the BICSI documents. Not trying to make lite of BICSI just stating where that information originated.

I appreciate the responses.

It's funny you should say that Bill. When I posted last night, I almost added that BICSI takes there "standards" from other organizations and they most often reference the standard in their publication. But, I could not quickly find the reference for the standard, turns out it was from EIA/TIA just as Sam quoted it. If it is not an actual standard, BICSI calls it a "BICSI best practice."

Sam, you must have a library the size of Ed's warehouse....you always have the documentation.