component venting? how much is needed?

[SpoonerMan]

Just moved into a new place that has a lot of built in cabinets under a wall of windows.
I'd love to hide my components in these cabinets.

Although the previous owner did put outlets in the cabinets, these were not designed specifically for placing components. There is no air ventilation. I'm thinking of getting some pros to help cut the cabinets and put in ventilation grills. I've got a receiver, plasma media box, dvd/cd player, digital cable box and vcr to put in there. All won't fit in one cabinet so i'll spread them across two. That means two vents.

My question: How big do the vents need to be?

Suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Scott

[AVMASTER]

your cable box and reciever are the only pieces that would need ventilation. Ideally the vents should be the width of the cabinet space. A squirrel cage ( cylinder shaped cooling fan ) from radio shack should do the trick if you want to tackle it yourself or you can try a Z-FAN2 from Elan for a quick fix

[SpoonerMan]

Thanks.
But i'm afraid I'm not getting you. I want to cut a hole in the top of the cabinet top, and with the use of a grate in there for aesthetics, allow the hot air to escape. I've heard that a 12" x 2" vent directly above the components would do it.

Will it?
Or
I need a fan? Why?

Thanks from novice Scott

[eisforelectronic]

I would never enclose my receiver or cable box. Even with top venting, it's gonna be an oven in there.

Once while I was working at Circuit City, someone had the bright idea of putting a Bose acoustimass with lighted bose stand on top of a technics receiver. It took maybe less than 30 minutes for smoke to start coming out of the top of the receiver. Now granted that Technics receiver ran pretty hot anyway and had about half the top vents of say an HK or Onkyo. The point is it took very little time for a misplaced speaker to cause a bunch of damage.

[AVMASTER]

Thanks.
But i'm afraid I'm not getting you. I want to cut a hole in the top of the cabinet top, and with the use of a grate in there for aesthetics, allow the hot air to escape. I've heard that a 12" x 2" vent directly above the components would do it.

Will it?
Or
I need a fan? Why?

Thanks from novice Scott
thats ok for a top vent with those dimensions but a fan is a must have

[Sidecar666]

I agree about needing a fan. You can get small quiet fans that can just plug into an outlet from an electronics store. Keep in mind that this requires 2 holes in your cabinets...on for the intake of cool outside air and one for the exhausting of the hot air in the cabinet. Basically, you just want to keep cool air moving across the components somehow. Computer stores have all kinds of fans for cooling computer racks...maybe try there if you strike out at the Radio Shack or other electronic parts store. Hope this helps!