this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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Technology

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[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why do they need to humidify the air for the datacenter?

Static electricity. Humidified air dissipates static charges before they can build up enough to arc and cause damage to sensitive components.

[–] MelodiousFunk@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I worked in a "datacenter" where the humidifier function for the HVAC unit was turned off because it leaked under the floor into an adjoining office when it was trying to humidify. Management refused to fix the unit due to the cost, and saw no issue with running the room with relative humidity in the teens all winter. Madness.

[–] Zworf@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

That low? Wow.. Your skin must have got chapped every time you went in there.

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If we didnt run a dehumidifier the humidity in my house would stay above 80% most of the year. We have a decently large dehumidifier and by itself it cant get it below 45%. But 45% is much better then 80+% so it could be worse

[–] Zworf@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes of course but you have humans in the house who exhale H2O all the time. A datacenter doesn't have many of those (per square metre or foot or whatever you measure your datacenters in)

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The vast majority of it definitely comes from the area in which I live.

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 2 points 1 year ago

Temperature is the more important factor. Even if the ambient air is at 100% humidity, if it is very cold, the relative humidity after heating it will be very low.

[–] Zworf@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah and too much is bad too, because it can condense on coolers. I've been told it's also bad for bearings in HDDs when it's too low.

Of course in a datacenter being low on humidity is a much more likely thing as there is nothing to emit humidity (e.g. humans).