Installation Effects on Air Temperatures Within Outdoor Electronic Cabinets

Abstract

A numerical model is used to assess the effect of shading by adjacent buildings on the peak average inside air temperature of an outdoor electronics cabinet. The numerical model was verified by comparing numerical predictions to experimental results obtained from a fully loaded telephone switching cabinet. The cabinet is assumed to be located in either Seattle, WA or Phoenix, AZ. Results indicate that careful selection of cabinet location around a building has the potential (at minimal cost) for providing a significant improvement in the thermal behavior of the cabinet, thus reducing the chances of thermal induced failures.