My homelab is quieter after a guy on Reddit told me my fans were fighting each other

I had two 120mm fans on opposite sides of my rack both set to exhaust. Some user named tech_dad_42 pointed out I was basically creating a vacuum. Swapped one to intake and the noise dropped by half. Has anyone else messed up fan direction like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

zarab2414d ago

Same thing happens with box fans in a window during summer. People put one in each window thinking more airflow is better but they're just fighting each other creating a weird pressure zone in the room. The real trick is one intake on the shady side of the house and one exhaust on the sunny side, lets the house breathe like a lung instead of suffocating itself. Your ears will thank you for noticing the difference.

patb1214d ago

Ha! @zarab24 you just saved me from making that mistake next time the heat hits. What gets me is the people who put fans in windows on the same side of the house. Saw a neighbor do that once with two fans both blowing out. Ended up just sucking hot air from the attic down through the ceiling vents. Made the upstairs feel like a sauna. Have you tried using a thermometer to find the coolest and hottest rooms first? That's how I figure out which window gets the intake.

sageross14d ago

Yeah, I found putting one fan in a downstairs window worked best for me.