Which is better for heat: 120v or 220v?

I've got the following gear in a small 120sqft room. While AC is supplied it's a home/office and in the summer both the central air at full go and a standup indoor portable AC on full barely keep it below 25-28c.

• 4 servers HP/IBM 4u/5u
• 1 24port switch
• 1 1300va UPS
• 1 3000va UPS
• 4 routers/wireless aps
• 4 lcd monitors
• 1 workstation

I'd done some reading when working on a clients server room and read 220v is more efficient and generates less heat. But will it make any significant difference when the real culprits being the servers get switched to 220v? I might even go down to three servers this summer to help the heat situation.

The electrician quote about 400$ to run the BX cabling and install a new breaker. I've gotta use the BX armored cable because I'm in a older condo building.

I'm also going to have to spend money to replace the UPSs with 220v units.

Solution 1:

The efficiency improvements you get from moving to 110v to 220v are not that great. Yes, there is less heat, but we're talking a few percentage points. The few things I've seen, generally in commodity hardware not server hardware, show efficiencies moving from 83% to 86% efficient, or +3% efficiency. That can add up if you have a 10K sq/ft room full of stuff, but for four servers it barely twitches the needle.

Overall, I think going to 220v is a good move. However, cooling improvements aren't going to be how you get that move justified.

Solution 2:

You won't have much improvement by switching from 110v to 220v, If cooling is your issue you should invest in a better a/c, These portable units don't cool as good as seperated stationary units, I think this is your best bet.