Cold room, Bad for equipment?
Get a direct vent space heater and a have a propane company deliver a 100 gallon tank. Set the heater at 40-45 unoccupied. Nothing wrecks a finished space faster than no heat. Ever notice how abandoned buidings go deteriorate so quickly? The heater is under $1,000 and the 80 gallons of propane will cost you $2.30/gallon. Turn up the heat half an hour before use and enjoy. http://www.rinnai.us/direct-vent-wall-furnaces/ |
The cooler,the worse I'd think.When you turn on cold equipment,it will most likely have more inrush current,shock, and condensation. Also,if you have natural gas in your house,maybe you can have an extra gas line run to your garage.Then use the above mentioned type heater.When you go in there,everything will start to get condensation,like your car windows.Mold too? Check the owners manuals for operating temps and humidity also.Hope you get something done to enjoy it.♫ |
Very large swings in temperatures aren't the optimum way for most anything to endure. Having 'a pocket' to trap out the immediate impact of varying temp changes will help. In those pockets the use of insulation affects the conductance of cold and heat. Temp or insulated windows for ex. have a pocket of air trapped between two panes of glass, and do not touch each other. Not using such a plan allows for quicker transconductance of the energy... be it cold or hot. Cooler is better than warmer usually, with electronics. Avoiding measures which prevent llarge swings of temps is not a good idea. Glass for ex (like tubes for instance) break far easier when ice cold. Condensation is the result of the difference between two areas or surfaces by their own temps. Like a glass of ice tea sitting outside on a warm day... water will bead up on it's surface. you don't want that happening with your gear. So two things have to be addressed. Humidity and temperature. Optimumly, keeping both of these at steady states is best. Naturally, keeping the temps lower is better too. Too a point. But consistency with each will provide the better result. For the most part insuring the inside temp is kept steady, between 60 & 70 degrees all should be well. Ice cold is great for ACs... but not for electronics... especially if the components are not being left on routinely. i'll put it all this way... IF I could afford to keep my equipment room at 55-60 degrees F, and I had no worries of abrupt power outages and restarts, I'd leave much, if not all, of my gear on all the time. Using NOS tubes gives me some pause in this regard... they're getting more and more expensive and in some cases... extinct... leaving them on all the time is kind of like waving goodbye to them faster than I want too. Id also not wish to energize tube gear from ice cold as a rule. The filaments can apply heat too rapidly and cause frozen or very cold glass to fracture as they are being warmed up to quickly. Thats not a good thing as they are no longer vacuum tubes at that point and become only trash. As your gear and you are both in the same room theres that being comfortable while listening/viewing thing too. I heard once sometime bback, acoustic instruments and speakers are like people. Keeping them in likewise moderate temperatures is always best. If its not comfortable for you, its not comfortable for it/them. When or if you exercise, you want to reach an optimum steady state temp not range back and forth from extremes to extremes. Gear is the same way. Youll run farther when its low humidity and cool than you will when its hot and humid so will your system. Avoid extremes and extreme changes youll be fine. |
.....I've recently finished transforming a gutted detached garage into my dedicated listening room. It is extremely well insulated with R-13 insulation between the studs and a layer of both 5/8" drywall over 1/2" quiet rock all around, except for the ceiling which is only 1 layer of 5/8" and the R-13.The space above the ceiling should have at least an R-30 insulation rating, R-40 being better yet. Most of your heat in the room is going up through the roof. Jim |
