Thermal Mapping in Converted Storage Rooms

Korean logistics and tech parks offer abundant converted storage rooms at rates well below purpose-built data centre space. We have assessed seventeen such rooms in Gyeonggi Province alone. The thermal behaviour in these spaces follows patterns that standard equipment spec sheets never address.

The West Wall Problem

Storage rooms in single-story industrial buildings often have one exterior wall receiving direct afternoon sun. Our infrared scans consistently show 3–6°C higher ambient temperature along west-facing walls between 14:00 and 17:00. Racks positioned against these walls run 8–12°C hotter at the ASIC heat sink than identical units on interior walls.

The fix is usually repositioning, not HVAC investment. Moving racks to north or east walls, or leaving a 1.5-metre gap between rack and exterior wall, drops heat sink temperatures measurably within one afternoon cycle.

Concrete Floor Advantage

Unlike office conversions with suspended floors, storage rooms typically have concrete slab flooring. This provides better heat dissipation at the rack base and supports heavier PDU configurations. However, concrete also retains heat — rooms that ran warm equipment during summer may need longer cool-down periods before accurate cold-start benchmarks.

Ventilation Without Structural Modification

Most storage room leases prohibit cutting new ventilation openings. Portable exhaust solutions — ducted fan units routing hot air to existing loading bay doors — have worked in twelve of our seventeen assessed rooms. The key measurement is static pressure at the rack intake: if negative pressure behind the rack exceeds 5 Pa, portable exhaust is usually sufficient for pilot loads up to 0.3 total computing power.

Dust Accumulation Rate

Storage rooms near loading areas accumulate dust faster than office conversions. We recommend measuring dust accumulation on filter screens after 14 days of operation. Pilot rooms that skip this check often show 3–5% hashrate degradation within 60 days from clogged intake filters — not hardware failure, but maintenance scheduling oversight.