I am currently running a 4 GPU rig in my basement. I'd like to expand, but am sort of worried about the heat during the summer. At this point, it's not even noticeable; you can put your hand right next to the GPUs and they feel a tad warm, but that's about it. It might change during the summer, but it doesn't seem to be an issue at this size.
If I add another 4 GPU rig, let's say, is the heat already going to be an issue? Or not until I had 8 more? Or more than that? I'm just not sure how to proceed, I want to start expanding slowly but I don't want to run into a situation where all of a sudden the heat is a big issue and the AC is not cutting it anymore, and I haven't addressed it. The basement tends to be much cooler than upstairs all year round.
Also always looking for simple/practical ideas of how to deal with heat running a rig in the basement, if anyone has any.
That really depends on a lot of things I cannot extrapolate from your post. Avg winter temp in your area? Avg summer temp in your area? Sqft of your basement? Insulation between basement and home? Amount of direct ventilation to basement? Etc
However, if you are looking to manage heat you could create a closed loop ventilation system with a box fan, storage containers and plastic ducting if you’re not planning on expanding too much. If you’re looking to setup a larger operation, you could make a similar setup with sheet metal HVAC ducting, which would be significantly more expensive (~$45 per linear foot).
From experience, I’ve had 13 GPUs running in my bottom floor (3 story townhouse, bottom floor is garage) for the last 8 months and had no heating/cooling issues in the main house whatsoever (live in sf/Bay Area). If you’re mining at home, you’re much more likely to hit electricity issues far before you hit a heating/cooling issue.
With 4 GPUS currently, is estimate (without knowing more) you could safely run at least 8-12 more GPUs before you’d notice it.
