{"slug": "questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1", "title": "Questions on Data Center Grid Impact (Re: Links with Friends 9/1)", "summary": "A commentator argues that AI data centers are highly power-intensive and that efficiency is not necessarily the primary goal, noting that cooling can consume as much power as computing. The piece cites ungleich.ch as an example of a data center using fans instead of air conditioning by spreading servers across large factory halls, and suggests that data centers could theoretically stabilize the grid by shutting down during demand spikes, though Texas miners reportedly suffered from bad contracts.", "body_md": "What makes you think that efficiency is even a goal to begin with?\n\nAI datacenters are very power-intensive. Maybe if you use the waste energy for teleheating, you could argue that a datacenter is efficient.\n\nEvery W you create inside a datacenter, you also have to get rid of. If you do that with an AC, you probably need 1W for every 1W created. That is why most datacenters, half the power consumption is for cooling.\n\nSo probably the most efficient are datacenters that don’t need ACs but only use fans to cool. ungleich.ch is one such company. To quote from their webpage:\n\n## How does a data center work without cooling?\n\nInstead of using high-density racks and putting them next to each other, we use the available space of the old factory buildings. Instead of hosting 40 servers on one square meter, we host one server on 4 square meters. We can do this because factory halls tend to be huge. And in Glarus, they are also available.\n\nYou probably can’t and it is also not my job. That is IMHO the job of the region and also the state. We had people complaining in Texas about BTC mining noise, which is IMHO a Texas issue. And I say that as someone who dislikes BTC.\n\nIt is not the fault of private companies that you have no consumer protection or regulations. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.\n\nRegarding the grid: in theory, datacenters could provide a more stable grid. Just like with BTC mining, where the miners sometimes made most of their money by shutting down their systems.\n\nIf a datacenter goes online, the total consumption grows, heck the total revenue grows, and if you also have a contract to shut them off to shave off demand spikes, everyone should be happy. However, it seems like at least in Texas, that they got ripped off by miners because of bad contracts.\n\nSo my answer is: it depends And unfortunatly I can’t provide you any good sources of information on that topic.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1", "canonical_source": "https://forum.level1techs.com/t/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1/254798#post_2", "published_at": "2026-09-02 15:42:59+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-02 15:55:36.243538+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["ungleich.ch"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/questions-on-data-center-grid-impact-re-links-with-friends-9-1.jsonld"}}