April 18, 2025
Stock Fans vs Aftermarket Shrouds — Noise at the Property Line
Measured dB comparison from a Seogwipo mixed-use site with 0.07 TH/s installed.
Mixed-use buildings put mining rooms beside rental flats. Council letters ask for numbers at the property line, not inside the rack aisle. We tested three configurations at a Seogwipo client: stock shrouds, aftermarket baffled shrouds, and stock with intake silencer boxes built from local sheet metal.
Setup
- Distance: 1 m from rack face (maintenance aisle) and 5 m toward nearest boundary fence
- Instrument: Class 2 sound meter, A-weighted, slow response
- Load: steady hash, fans at duty after 45-minute warm-up
- Conditions: night measurement to avoid traffic — 22°C intake
Results (illustrative peaks)
| Configuration | 1 m dB(A) | 5 m dB(A) | Hash vs stock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock shrouds | 78 | 62 | baseline |
| Aftermarket baffle shroud | 74 | 58 | −1.8% hash |
| Stock + intake silencer box | 76 | 56 | −0.9% hash |
Aftermarket shrouds helped at the fence; silencer boxes helped more at distance with slightly less hash impact for this layout.
What Numbers Cannot Fix
Delivery trucks, generator tests, and neighbor conversations exceed fan peaks occasionally. Document steady-state fan duty separately from episodic noise in compliance files.
Sizing Shrouds
Match shroud depth to aisle width — tight baffles recirculate hot air and raise fan duty, which can increase noise again. Thermal verification after any shroud change is mandatory.