Aircond Precision Cooling Setup for IT Server Room Overheating in Bangi Office

The Customer's Situation

Encik Faizal Razak is the IT manager at a mid-sized logistics company operating out of a 2-storey office building in Bangi. The company's server room — a converted storeroom measuring about 12 sqm — housed two full server racks, a NAS storage unit, three network switches, and a UPS system.

The room was being cooled by a single 2.0HP Midea wall-mounted unit that was originally installed when the room was still a storage area for office supplies. When Encik Faizal took over IT operations two years ago, he inherited this setup and had been fighting temperature issues ever since.

The breaking point came when the aircond compressor failed on a Friday evening. By the time the office opened Monday morning, the server room temperature had climbed to 42°C. Two hard drives in their main file server had failed from thermal stress, and the company lost half a day of productivity recovering from backups.

Encik Faizal called us that same Monday, desperate for a proper solution.

Our Assessment

Our senior technician Hafiz visited the site on Tuesday morning to assess the situation. He measured the heat output from all equipment and calculated a total continuous heat load of approximately 6,200W, plus an additional 800W from the room's walls absorbing afternoon sun (the room had one external wall facing west).

Total cooling requirement: approximately 7,000W = 23,884 BTU/hour. That's roughly 2.7HP of cooling capacity needed just to maintain temperature — the old 2.0HP unit never stood a chance.

We recommended a dual redundant setup: two Daikin 3.0HP ceiling cassette units, each capable of handling the full cooling load independently. Under normal conditions, both units would run at reduced capacity (sharing the load), extending their lifespan. If one failed, the other could handle the full load until repairs were made.

The Installation

The installation took two days, scheduled over a weekend to minimise disruption to office operations.

For this IT room, we considered ducted and split options. Our guide on ducted aircond systems explains why they're often preferred for server rooms where precise, even air distribution is critical.

Why Ceiling Cassette Over Wall-Mounted

We specifically recommended ceiling cassettes over wall-mounted units for this server room. Ceiling cassettes blow air downward in four directions, creating much more even air distribution across the room. Wall-mounted units tend to create a cold zone near the unit and a hot zone at the far end — which in a server room means some equipment runs hot while the temperature sensor near the aircond reads a comfortable 22°C.

The ceiling cassettes also freed up wall space, which Encik Faizal needed for a planned expansion of his rack setup later in the year.

Results

One week after installation, Encik Faizal shared the temperature monitoring data with us:

• Average room temperature: 21.3°C (previously fluctuating between 24-32°C)
• Temperature variance across the room: ±1°C (previously up to 8°C difference between front and back of racks)
• Both units running at 45-55% capacity — well within comfortable operating range
• TNB consumption: Actually decreased by about 15% compared to the old unit, because inverter cassettes at partial load are more efficient than a non-inverter wall unit running at 100% capacity non-stop

The real test came three weeks later when a scheduled TNB maintenance caused a 2-hour power outage. When power returned, both aircond units auto-restarted immediately, and the temperature sensor confirmed the room recovered from 28°C back to 21°C within 25 minutes. Encik Faizal received SMS alerts throughout, so he could monitor the situation remotely.

Sizing the cooling system correctly was crucial — IT equipment generates concentrated heat that requires careful capacity calculation based on heat output rather than just room dimensions.

Pricing Breakdown

• 2× Daikin FCFC85A 3.0HP ceiling cassette units: RM7,200
• Installation (including copper piping, brackets, drainage): RM1,800
• Automatic changeover controller: RM450
• WiFi temperature sensor with SMS alerts: RM350
• Total: RM9,800

Encik Faizal noted that the cost of the two failed hard drives alone (RM1,200 for replacement drives plus half a day of IT team recovery time) was already a significant fraction of the total investment. One more weekend failure could easily have cost more than the entire new cooling system.

Maintenance Plan

We set up a bi-monthly maintenance schedule for both units — filter cleaning and general inspection every 2 months, with a full coil deep clean every 6 months. For more on why server room airconds need more frequent attention, check our server room aircond guide.

Customer Feedback

"I should have done this two years ago. The peace of mind alone is worth every sen. No more worrying about weekend failures, no more checking the server room temperature on my phone every few hours. The dual unit setup with SMS alerts means I can actually sleep at night. Hafiz really understood our requirements and designed a system that makes sense for our budget and our needs."

— Encik Faizal Razak, IT Manager, Bangi