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Comment by onion2k | Hacker News Reader

As far as I'm aware, data centers are 100% evaporated while farms are going to be some percentage lower than that(though still high).

Newer data centres use closed loop electric (refrigeration) cooling instead of induced draft open loop evaporative cooling.

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I would imagine plenty of data centers use both? Last time I worked at one they had both industrial heat pumps and evaporative cooling towers outside. While the heat pumps are effective, the cooling towers are way cheaper on cool dry days, so it mostly ended up being which one cost less that day vs strictly one or the other.

Which uses more electricity, at peak cooling times, when wet-bulb would advantage an open evaporative system.

Do they? That's been a sticking point for many regarding this big push to build more. Evaporative is cheaper and these companies aren't going to spend more if they don't have to.

But they have to, if not spending threatens the continuity of their operations, e.g. by allowing public perception to get so bad that laws get changed due to misinformation about the ecological footprint. Data centers are investments, they take time to build and get operational.

Or they move around to someplace they get less pushback.

What misinformation?

Evaporative is cheaper and these companies aren't going to spend more if they don't have to.

There's a cost either way (electricity or water), but electricity is much easier to get to your data centre so the capex cost at the start is lower, and municipalities have this annoying tendency to ban cooling towers because they're not pretty enough.

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