Ventilating a Spare Room for Air-Cooled Mining

Most Korean apartment buildings prohibit residents from drilling exterior walls or installing permanent exhaust ducts. That constraint shapes every ventilation plan we design for home miners. Here is what actually works within those limits.

The Basic Principle

An air-cooled rig pushes hot air out the back and pulls cooler air in the front. Your job is to ensure cool air reaches the intake and hot air leaves the room before it recirculates. In a closed room, the rig ends up mining its own exhaust air, which raises chip temperature and reduces hash rate.

Option 1: Window Exhaust Fan

A reversible window fan set to exhaust mode pulls hot air out and draws replacement air through the door gap or a second window. This is the most effective method we have tested in apartments without ducting access.

Place the rig so its exhaust side faces the fan. Keep the intake side open to the room, not against a wall. In our tests, a ₩35,000 clip-on window fan reduced room temperature by 5–7°C compared to a cracked window alone.

Option 2: Cross-Ventilation

If you have two windows in the room, position the rig between them with the intake facing the cooler window (usually north-facing in Seoul). This works during spring and autumn but struggles in summer when outside air is already 30°C+.

Option 3: Seasonal Run Scheduling

Some clients run their rigs only during cooler months (October through April) and shut down during summer. At 0.05 TH/s, the revenue difference is modest, but the comfort difference in a small apartment is significant.

What Does Not Work

• Enclosing the rig in a soundproof box without active exhaust — heat builds up within minutes
• Pointing a desk fan at the rig without an exhaust path — you are just moving hot air around
• Running the rig in a closet with the door cracked — insufficient airflow for anything above 0.05 TH/s

When to Get an Assessment

If you are unsure whether your specific room can handle a rig, our ventilation assessment includes a heat load calculation and a written go/no-go recommendation.