A few degrees of difference could make significant changes in your data center’s energy consumption, according to a new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Data centers typically operate between 68 to 72 degrees F. and currently account for about 1% of global electricity usage, with a large portion of power directed toward cooling.
However, extensive data collection from Google, Los Alamos National Laboratories, and other large data centers, plus testing of temperature’s effect on equipment performance, suggests that you may be able to save 2-5% of your energy spend by turning up the temperature just under 2 degrees F.
Most data centers could probably handle a larger increase, says Bianca Schroeder, a UTSC assistant professor of computer science.
“We see our results as strong evidence that most organizations could run their data centers hotter than they currently are without making significant sacrifices in system reliability,” Schroeder adds.