My iMac is my central heating!

T

tangosucka44

macrumors newbie
Afternoon guys,

I'm sure I'm not the only one whose office is the warmest room in the house!

I downloaded smcFanControl to increase the fan speeds which have lowered the temp from 50 deg C to 37 deg C.

Will it cause any issues with the machine to have the fans running constantly?

I have an air cooler in the room also so am not bothered by the extra noise from the iMac, I just don't want to do anything that could damage the machine by having them on constantly.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Pete
 
The fans always run, even if only at slow speeds.

As for 50" C, that is the temperature of the CPU, not the Mac itself, and it is a perfectly fine temperature that does not need faster fan speeds.

Maybe have a read with the following guide to calm you down and do not care that much about the temperatures, as knowledge fights ignorance and fear.

Those Macs in their heat - a sine of over-heating? - a short story by Mister GGJstudios
 
tangosucka44 said:
Afternoon guys,

I'm sure I'm not the only one whose office is the warmest room in the house!

I downloaded smcFanControl to increase the fan speeds which have lowered the temp from 50 deg C to 37 deg C.

Will it cause any issues with the machine to have the fans running constantly?

I have an air cooler in the room also so am not bothered by the extra noise from the iMac, I just don't want to do anything that could damage the machine by having them on constantly.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

Pete
Click to expand...

Why do you want to lower the temperature of your Mac? Do you not trust Apple's programmers and engineers to have ensured the Mac regulates its own temperature perfectly and to within strict parameters with any necessary fail-safes?
 
Thanks for the reply.

I've read a lot about running temperatures and am not worried about the iMac in general. My worry was would/could I damage anything by having the fans CONSTANLY running at MAX speed?

To re-iterate, this is not because I'm worried about the iMac, but because I need to lower the temperature of my room and other than opening a window, purchasing an air-cooler and working just in my underwear all day I've run out of ideas! :)
 
tangosucka44 said:
Thanks for the reply.

I've read a lot about running temperatures and am not worried about the iMac in general. My worry was would/could I damage anything by having the fans CONSTANLY running at MAX speed?

To re-iterate, this is not because I'm worried about the iMac, but because I need to lower the temperature of my room and other than opening a window, purchasing an air-cooler and working just in my underwear all day I've run out of ideas! :)
Click to expand...

No, it will not damage the fans. And how much temperature difference do you think or measured the lower fan speeds compared to maximum fan speeds will apply to the room?

My CPU's temperature is between 40° and 50° C at idle fan speeds, it does not heat my room in any way.
 
It's a small room so quite a bit! It literally is the hottest room in the house even though it's the only room with an air cooler. The only source of heat is the iMac
 
tangosucka44 said:
It's a small room so quite a bit! It literally is the hottest room in the house even though it's the only room with an air cooler. The only source of heat is the iMac
Click to expand...

Do you have a thermometer to measure the difference between the two fan speed levels or even the backplate of the Mac?
 
Umm ... perhaps I am missing something here? The iMac is generating the same amount of heat whether the fans are running normally or faster. Increasing the speed of the fan only distributes it out of the chassis and into the room faster ... it doesn't reduce the amount of heat generated by the computer which ultimately ends up as heat in the room. ???

Running the fan slightly faster isn't going to reduce their service life significantly, although lowering the temperature of the internal parts of the computer will probably extend their service life (at the expense of more fan noise) ... but there will not be a overall difference in the heat produced in the room. :)
 
Fair point and answers my question so thanks for that! :)

It's obviously all psychological because I feel colder already ;)

Thanks guys, nice speedy answers with no drama...unlike some Facebook groups! lol
 
Just out of curiosity though, doesn't the noise from high fan speed bother you? I have 2013 iMac and the highest setting makes horrible whooshing noise...I wish acoustic performances under actual heavy load would be more considered for these machines like new Mac Pro is.
 
I agree with the acoustical performance, however, the air cooler makes MUCH more noise! Aside from that, I quite often listen to music...plus it drowns out the sound of the kids downstairs :)
 
The fan itself will generate more heat at max than idle. Even though it's just a tiny amount of heat (compare to the CPU), you actually doing exactly the opposite of what you want.

I don't think keep the fan run at max speed will cause any damage. However, more air flow may bring more dust into your Mac, it's hard to tell will that cause you any trouble later on.
 
hfg said:
Umm ... perhaps I am missing something here? The iMac is generating the same amount of heat whether the fans are running normally or faster. Increasing the speed of the fan only distributes it out of the chassis and into the room faster ... it doesn't reduce the amount of heat generated by the computer which ultimately ends up as heat in the room. ???

Running the fan slightly faster isn't going to reduce their service life significantly, although lowering the temperature of the internal parts of the computer will probably extend their service life (at the expense of more fan noise) ... but there will not be a overall difference in the heat produced in the room. :)
Click to expand...

You're correct. The iMac will emit the same amount of thermal energy regardless of how fast the fan is running. All the fan does when running faster is carry the heat away more quickly.

Assuming you treat the room as a thermodynamically closed box, the delta E is the same - it just reaches equilibrium more quickly with the fan running faster.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top