Heat in entertainment centers

[Dave Tinley]

Those of you that have built amoires or entertainment centers for televisions- How do you deal with the heat from the components? Do you leave the back open? Vents in the back?
Would peg board work?

Thanks
Dave

[Michael Ballent]

FWW had an article that covered the creation of an entertainment center. One thing that he did to deal with the heat build up was to have offset back
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(just ignore the periods)

Sorta like that when viewed from the top. Helped with cable management and allowed for heat to escape.

[Timo Christ]

I haven't build an entertainment center, my stereo components sit on an open rack shelf. This is not by accident...
If the cabinet must be closed with doors on the front, try to make some air intake openings on the front, and leave the back open. Make the distance of shelves such that at least 4" air space remains above hot components (amps, tv..). A taper on the shelves could help direct hot air to the back. Leaving 2" of air space between the closed doors and the shelves will help improve air circulation, especially if you can't make air intake openings on the front of the cabinet.
Good Luck :)
Timo

[Tom Bickley]

Those of you that have built amoires or entertainment centers for televisions- How do you deal with the heat from the components? Do you leave the back open? Vents in the back?
Would peg board work?

Thanks
Dave
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=224181#post224181

Check out this thread. I used 120v muffin fans (the kind on the backs of computers) that were wired and had a plug in transformer. I plugged them into the switched outlet on the back of the stereo components. That way, they turn on when the stereo component turns on. It has worked great for me.

[Bill White]

We often use wooden vent "registers" at top and bottom of ent. cntr. Doesn't matter when the doors are open, but it helps when everything is closed up (as in radio is on-no need for open doors).

[warren souza]

An armoire is a piece of furniture primarily used for storage. One function of an armoire is as an [/URL]entertainment center. More than a TV stand, it is the central location of all the entertainment hardware in a house. The components used will influence the construction of the entertainment center in that each needs breathing space. Two inches on the left, the right and behind them is recommended.

[URL="http://www.ehow.com/how_5375616_build-tv-armoire-entertainment-center.html#ixzz10isiq4MA"]
(http://www.ehow.com/arts/)

[scott spencer]

For solid state components, I just leave some air flow vents to reduce heat, but for my vacuum tube stuff, I have a couple of 3" 12v PC fans for air transfer.

[Tom Welch]

I built my grandson a wall unit for his bedroom with a coner unit designed for the TV, DVD, X Box, etc.. There was no design for the heat to escape from the TV and as a result the brand new TV I bought him for the unit only lasted about 6 months. I ended up drilling large holes (many) in the top of the TV compartment with 1" forstner bit for the heat to escape. This was not an ideal way to do it but the unit was already built in and he lived about 300 miles from my work shop. The New TV has lasted so far about 3 years.

[Matt Meiser]

I copied the heat-handling design of a high-end commercially available brand that a local AV dealer showed me. There's slots in the floor under the equipment areas. Each shelf has matching slots. Then there are slots in the tops of the back panels. As the heat rises and escapes the back, cool air is drawn in the bottom, through and around the equipment. I've been impresses as there's no wave of heat escaping when opening the doors.

[John Coloccia]

I copied the heat-handling design of a high-end commercially available brand that a local AV dealer showed me. There's slots in the floor under the equipment areas. Each shelf has matching slots. Then there are slots in the tops of the back panels. As the heat rises and escapes the back, cool air is drawn in the bottom, through and around the equipment. I've been impresses as there's no wave of heat escaping when opening the doors.

Ding Ding Ding! Vent from the bottom out the sides and/or back and the top if you can. The heat itself will produce a nice convection current that will clear the heat out of there.

[Troy Turner]

I built mine and left a 1" gap in the back from the shelf and back. I made the shelves (non-adjustable) with about 3" on either side and plenty of room on top depending on the the component in there. The air vents out the back, up and out. Wanted to put some fans in, but just haven't. So far (4 yrs) haven't had any problems.

[Lee Schierer]

No peg board will not work. The holes are too small for convection air flow to occur. You need to have air inlets and outlets. Let room air in near the bottom and out near the top. The larger the holes the better the air flow will be. You can hide these openings behind components or even make a baffle in front.

Muffin fans are an alternative, but they can be noisy and consume additional power. You also have to add some means to turn them on and off when needed or not needed.

On my EC there are 1 x 4 vent slots in the back panel near the top and bottom. You can't see them from the front when viewing the TV. I cut the ends with a Forstner bit and connected the two holes with a jig saw.
http://mysite.verizon.net/us71na/EC%20center%20open.jpg

[Matt Meiser]

Mine are 3/4" by about 12" long. I just made a router jig that I clamped in place, then indexed off the previous slot which went pretty quick.

[John Nesmith]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=224181#post224181

Check out this thread. I used 120v muffin fans (the kind on the backs of computers) that were wired and had a plug in transformer. I plugged them into the switched outlet on the back of the stereo components. That way, they turn on when the stereo component turns on. It has worked great for me.

Can you provide some links to the actual fan and transformer components you use? (Or, similar ones)

Thanks.

[Larry Frank]

I built a unit for all of my components and decided to leave the back of it open for both cooling and access to the cables. There are so many cables that it is difficult to run or change them if the back is closed in.

I also built a computer desk with the mid-tower case in a pull out drawer. I originally cooled it using several computer cooling fans. The life of the fans seemed to be too short and I still had some issues with the CPU seeing higher temperatures that I wanted. I ended up modifying the back of that part to of the desk to be half open to allow for passive ventilation. I do not have to worry about fan life or fan noise and the computer temperatures stay well within limits.

[Mark Grotenhuis]

I used 120v muffin fans (the kind on the backs of computers) that were wired and had a plug in transformer. I plugged them into the switched outlet on the back of the stereo components. That way, they turn on when the stereo component turns on. It has worked great for me.

I did exactly this as well. I have a hundred old ac to dc power converters from old cell phones, cordless phones, modems, etc. All I did was find one that output the right voltage in dc and the right amperage for the fan I used. I just cut the end off it ... wired it to the fan and plugged it into the back of my receiver. If the fan ever dies I'll spend $2.99 for a new one. It works very well, I was amazed at the difference.