The summer is here and that means it is time to try to stay cool.  Are you spending the day at the beach or inside your air conditioned home?  Whatever your method of staying cool this summer have you thought about your computer?  Do you give any thought to how your computer will stay cool this summer?  Not only do you need to be aware on how to keep your computer cool but what do you do with the excess heat your computer can put into your home?

1. Clean the computer vents.  Make sure all the vents and openings in your computer are clean of any dust buildup.  Use a small computer vacuum that will allow you to remove the dust and dirt completely without putting it back in to your home.  You will want to make sure that your computer is off when you complete this process and and use a light touch.  Do not try to suck everything from your computer, you want a get the dirt and clean the vents without causing damage to your computer components.  

2. If you computer is currently housed in a cabinet make sure there are air vent holes or better yet, move your computer out of the cabinet for the summer.  Even if you keep your computer air vents clean, placing your computer in a cabinet may cause an excess of heat build up around your computer.  Give your cabinet a test, run your computer normally for a day and stick your hand in the cabinet.  If the space and air around your computer are hot, move your computer.

3. Keep your home cool.  Your computer uses the air around it to cool the CPU and other components but if your home is too hot, you will have nothing to cool your computer with.  Avoid this problem by keeping your home as cool and comfortable as possible.  You do not need to overly air condition your home if you have computers but if you start to feel uncomfortable while working with your computer chances are your computer is uncomfortable as well.

4. Allow your computer to cool down by turning it off and unplugging it.  If your computer starts to give you errors and is too hot to touch, turn it off and let it cool completely off.  I can tell you that I have lived in some very hot climates and have never had this “overheating” issue, if your computer requires a complete cool down you should open the case and check to make sure all fans and vents are working correctly.  

5. Go crazy and water cool.  Take computer cooling to the next level and water cool your CPU and system.  While normally reserved for high end computers that require a considerable amount of cooling, creating your own water cooling system can be a DIY computer project that all your friends will ask about.  You can either purchase pre-designed cooling kits or create your own as long as create a system that will remove the heat from your CPU without drowning your computer.  

We will take a look at water cooling systems at a later day, right now I need to go check my computers to make sure the vents are open, the fans are running, and the cases are dust free.