Here is my dilemma, I have a shipping dock area that has PC's that allow employees to scan shippments into our system. My problem is that these a regualar desktop PC's not designed for the extreme hot and cold weather that we experience in northern Kentucky. During the winters a couple of the PC's crash because of the cold weather. I have looked at some of the computer enclosures that are out there; however, I haven't seen any with any type of insulation to keep the CPU warm. I am not looking to spend thousands of dollars, so I need a good cost effective solution. I also need the enclosure to have fans for good air filtered flow, to help keep relatively cool in summer, and keep dust from entering the PC. I currently have 5 PC's at our shipping docks. Does anyone have any ideas?

Usually there should be no problem with the cold. The computer should produce enough heat to keep itself warm. Maybe a wind resistant box with a damp chaser (small closet heater). More air circulation in summer.

I think the main issue with the cold weather is with regards to the hard drive (EIDE). Most hard drives that I have read up about only have an enviromental operating temp of no less than 30-35 degree fahrenheit.

What is the temperature in the box with the computers left on? If you want to shut off you should heat it to about 40. (maybe 25 watts in a box)

can you put a small lightbuld 15 watts or so in case to keep warm while comp is off ? turn it off once comp is running . should keep things warm enough to operate

The computer(s) aren't currently in an enclosure, so I can't take a temp. I am looking to order som type of enclosures. I think just having the computers in an enclosure with fans and a filter would help quite a bit. What I am hearing from most of you is that if the computer is up and running, the cold wether would most likely not cause any issues. What about the monitor, I have seen enclusures that house just the CPU, or both the CPU and the monitor. I would like to just purchase the CPU enclusre and let the monitor stay outside of the box. What do you all think?

While low temperature itself is not a problem, condensation is. A daytime temperate of 40F falling to 20F at night would be enough to cause condensation. Generally speaking if the temperature is tolerable for a human, it is also tolerable to a computer. But humans aren't as sensitive to condensation as computers are. If condensation is the problem then you are going to need some kind of dehumidifier. Stuart