Running Computers Cold

[Jules Richardson]

Ethan Dicks wrote:
>  The basement would
> routinely get to +40F, and sometimes colder if the wind was from the
> right direction (the water pipes had electric wraps).  I couldn't
> personally stand to work in that environment without a heater pointed
> at me, but the computers ran fine.

Yeah, that's what temp we run stuff down to overnight at this time of year (I 
don't bother keeping the office any hotter overnight). No problems so far, but 
that's with modern hardware; I'm not sure if vintage kit is better or worse 
for cold temperatures (I've certainly had vintage hard disks that would only 
work when cold, and others that would only work when warm :-)

That's also hardware which just gets left on - like you say, powering 
something up that's cold might be more risky. I've always let vintage kit 
brought in from cold environments acclimatize for a few hours before turning 
it on.

(it's currently 1.9F outside here, -15F with windchill)

cheers

Jules