Thoughts on 20'x50' Warehouse Space

[Raymond_B]

I've been looking at renting some really inexpensive warehouse space close to my home to use for mining. But one potential problem I see with the space's dimensions is that there is only one side to both pull in fresh air and exhaust the waste heat. Below is a basic drawing of how I'd like to isolate the cold side and hot sides and also replace the roll-up door with a wall containing intake and exhaust vents. I'll need to double check, but I believe the door is ~ 10'wide and 14' tall. Note: Nothing is really to scale in the drawing yet. My main question is if I am exhausting hot air near the top of the door can I also intake air near the bottom. Intuitively I feel yes, but I'd like smarter folks to have a look.



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[fanatic26]

If you are exhausting on the same side as your intake you will just be drawing hot air back into the facility and defeating the purpose of the fresh air intake. I have tried a setup like this before and it did not work so well. Cant you add fans and hoods on the roof to exhaust the heat?

[Raymond_B]

If you are exhausting on the same side as your intake you will just be drawing hot air back into the facility and defeating the purpose of the fresh air intake. I have tried a setup like this before and it did not work so well. Cant you add fans and hoods on the roof to exhaust the heat?

Makes sense, I was hoping the hot air would move up and not affect the intake air temp.

I will have to check out the fine detail on the lease about what I can do on and to the roof. The door idea was just for ease of modification, something I knew I could put back in place if I left. Thank you for your input, I might just keep looking even if I have to pay a higher rate for a better laid out building.

[A.Delaney]

One thought. Maybe you could use large ducting like 24" and elbow up from the door to near the roof to get the heat up and away.

[Raymond_B]

One thought. Maybe you could use large ducting like 24" and elbow up from the door to near the roof to get the heat up and away.

Interesting idea! I'd have to build it in a way as to not catch rain water and debris.

[fanatic26]

Yea heat in general rises but you will be dumping out much more heat than that natural rise can account for. On days with no wind you will still heat soak the general area. Ducting it to dump elsewhere is an idea but the landlord might not want a steampunk looking warehouse.

[Raymond_B]

Yea heat in general rises but you will be dumping out much more heat than that natural rise can account for. On days with no wind you will still heat soak the general area. Ducting it to dump elsewhere is an idea but the landlord might not want a steampunk looking warehouse.

Yeah, definitely no Mad Max stuff I am going to talk more with the building owner. Maybe I can swing two very high CFM roof exhaust fans.

[Entropy-uc]

How many kW are you planning to draw?  It can be anything from easy to impossible depending on your answer.

Keep in mind that commercial leases require you to restore the building to original condition if the landlord wants.  Cutting holes can get pricey.  And leasehold improvement laws mean that any electrical work you do stays with the building.

For any scale that I find interesting these days this means buying the building.  Most upgrades to make a building suitable for serious mining will cost more than the property itself.

[Raymond_B]

How many kW are you planning to draw?  It can be anything from easy to impossible depending on your answer.

Keep in mind that commercial leases require you to restore the building to original condition if the landlord wants.  Cutting holes can get pricey.  And leasehold improvement laws mean that any electrical work you do stays with the building.

For any scale that I find interesting these days this means buying the building.  Most upgrades to make a building suitable for serious mining will cost more than the property itself.

I was going to use an 800-1200A panel. I am meeting with the owner tomorrow to get all the lease details. I do not mind paying for a panel upgrade and I do understand that I will need to reverse any changes that I make. That's why I was looking at just modifying the roll-up door.

You're right it does take a lot of modifications for airflow and cooling and makes buying more attractive. I am just not sure I'm ready for the initial outlay, I hope to find a sympathetic landlord.

[Entropy-uc]

from the sketch you show, i am guessing this is a commercial condo structure with setup for office in front and warehouse in the back.

They only have 220V 200A service typically.  And it's not as simple as upgrading the panel.  You need new wires from the transformer, if the transformer has capacity (it probably doesn't).

You will be hard pressed to support the cooling requirements in a space like that.  Even if you have a climate that allows for only air cooling year round, 200 kw calls for around 30 000 CFM of air in an ideal situation (100% efficiency and separation between hot and cold)

Even running 20 kw in that kind of space would be challenging.

[Raymond_B]

from the sketch you show, i am guessing this is a commercial condo structure with setup for office in front and warehouse in the back.

They only have 220V 200A service typically.  And it's not as simple as upgrading the panel.  You need new wires from the transformer, if the transformer has capacity (it probably doesn't).

You will be hard pressed to support the cooling requirements in a space like that.  Even if you have a climate that allows for only air cooling year round, 200 kw calls for around 30 000 CFM of air in an ideal situation (100% efficiency and separation between hot and cold)

Even running 20 kw in that kind of space would be challenging.

It is a simple metal building, or I should say a row of buildings. Each unit is 20x50 and they are back to back. The little office was just me drawing one in

[Entropy-uc]

I think you need to figure out how much rent you can afford per kw.

Then figure out how much fan you need per kw too.

Mining at scale is tough.  it's a lot of capital in, and you are competing with garage miners with no overhead.

If you are signing a long term lease, look at whether you could survive another tough period like 2014-2015.  The odds are good that it is coming.

Good luck.

[Raymond_B]

I think you need to figure out how much rent you can afford per kw.

Then figure out how much fan you need per kw too.

Mining at scale is tough.  it's a lot of capital in, and you are competing with garage miners with no overhead.

If you are signing a long term lease, look at whether you could survive another tough period like 2014-2015.  The odds are good that it is coming.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for your input! I will sit down and work that out. Also point taken on what the future looks like.

[A.Delaney]

One thought. Maybe you could use large ducting like 24" and elbow up from the door to near the roof to get the heat up and away.

Interesting idea! I'd have to build it in a way as to not catch rain water and debris.

Cap it like a chimney. Run the inside duct to the back so it pulls air through. Leave the overhead door open and build a temporary wall in the opening. With it being a metal building you should be able to pull the door trim off and nail the wall in. Then tin it. Just make sure you confirm this with the landlord. When you leave you can pull the wall and put the trim back up and you won’t see the nail holes.

[btc-haze]

I was in the same situation , maybe you can keep looking and can find somewhere that has a better ventilation set up

I managed to find a place that has windows and all I need to do is put huge exhaust and intake fans at the windows

The single garage door set up is pretty hard to cool well unless you start punching holes in the side wall or ceiling

[Raymond_B]

I was in the same situation , maybe you can keep looking and can find somewhere that has a better ventilation set up

I managed to find a place that has windows and all I need to do is put huge exhaust and intake fans at the windows

The single garage door set up is pretty hard to cool well unless you start punching holes in the side wall or ceiling

Thank you, that's exactly what I've decided to do. I am going to wait to find the right building to lease, or just end up buying so I can do what I want to.