calc.engineer / Homelab & Networking / Cooling BTU

Cooling BTU v1.0.0

Estimate the cooling load (BTU/hr) for a homelab or server closet based on equipment wattage, room dimensions, insulation quality, and solar exposure. All electrical power converts to heat — this tool calculates equipment heat output, envelope heat gain through walls, and solar gain to produce a total BTU/hr cooling requirement. Recommends AC tonnage, mini-split sizing (rounded to standard 6K BTU increments), and exhaust fan CFM for ventilation-only cooling. Use after power_cost to size cooling for your homelab room.

← from power_cost.total_watts
Total power consumption in watts — all power becomes heat
Room length in feet
Room width in feet
Room ceiling height in feet
Wall/ceiling insulation quality: poor (uninsulated garage), average (standard drywall), good (insulated interior), excellent (server room with vapor barrier)
Ambient temperature outside the room in degrees Fahrenheit
Desired room temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
Solar heat gain: none (interior/basement room), partial (one exterior wall with window), full (multiple sun-facing windows)
Fill in the inputs and Compute to see the structured result.

From an agent (MCP) or the API

curl -X POST https://calc.engineer/api/cooling_btu \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"total_watts": …, "room_length_ft": …, "room_width_ft": …}'

MCP: connect to https://calc.engineer/mcp and call cooling_btu.

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