Cooling You Entertainment Center
We recently purchased a new entertainment center (really a big TV stand with a lot of storage). It is really nice, though. A problem I ran into is that even though it does have ventilation holes in the back, my PS3, cable boxes, and PC (yes I have a computer hooked to my TV) get very hot in there. I started leaving the door open but the PS3 still got hot and it is a pain to remember to open the door every time. My 3 year old likes to close the doors also and she makes sure she waits until I am not looking... I notice exactly 5 seconds after my PS3 freezes up.
I started looking into solutions and figured out that I wasn't the only one having that problem. There are many products made just for such reasons. There are also some do it yourself remedies to be found rather easily by just looking. Let me tell you about them then I will tell you how I took care of the problem.
First I bought a fan for the back of the PS3. $20 off Amazon. It works well but still there is a lot of heat in there. I needed something more to push the heat out of the entertainment center instead of it just hanging around in there cooking my electronics. I searched google and found these :
1) Cabcool Cooling Kit for Entertainment Center
This one is on Amazon for $39 plus shipping. I would need at least 2 and maybe more of these which takes the price up to $100+. Says it is easy to install. You have to mount these to your center. I really didn't want to put screw holes in my nice new entertainment center... This kit gets really good reviews though and most people say it works really well. I just wasn't crazy about putting it together. Also this plugs into the wall (or anything else with an outlet) so it will run all the time or when you turn on a particular component.
2) Thermaltake Mobile Fan II USB Cooling fan
I like this one, although not made especially for this purpose. It has a stand and I can hook it up to my PS3 via USB so that it only comes on when the PS3 or my computer does. It costs less than $12 plus shipping (or free if you buy 3 or more). It has lots of reviews and most are good although I am not sure how many people use it for cooling their entertainment centers. Looks like a good use for it though.
3) Cabinet Cooler Fan System
This one also gets good reviews. It comes on automatically when the temperature gets above 87 degrees and cuts off at 85 degrees so it doesn't run all the time. It is really quiet apparently and cools pretty well. The problem for me would be I would want 3 or 4 and the price is a whopping $100 EACH... whoa! I read some reviews that said it was worth it... I am not sure if I agree. I guess I should see it work before I dismiss it but at that price I would want it to cool the whole living room. Next...
Ok, this one looks pretty cool. It has 2 fan speeds. Most reviewers say you never need the high speed. Your component sits on top of this much like laptops sit on top of laptop coolers. The difference is the airflow comes out the back end and not the bottom (an idea I think would work well for laptop coolers also). This one also uses an AC outlet to power the unit. The drawbacks of this is that you would need one for each component that runs hot and they are $50 each on Amazon. Most reviewers say it works well but more than a few say it is made cheaper than they anticipated. The plastic, they say, is just cheap like a lot of laptop coolers. So maybe they took one and put AC power instead of USB?? Still if it works you may not care... I did.
5) Do it Yourself
I also found (and you can too) a few sites by searching the net that explain how to build your own cooling fans. Some even have thermal fan controllers to automate the system. The best I can find is about $60 for 2 fans, cases, thermal controller and power cables. That's not bad in the scheme of things. I decided against that too.
6) My solution
I looked at all these choices. I had to decide what was important. My main concerns were my PS3, my PC, and my DVR. All run pretty hot. Now I had to decide what features were important. Did I want automation? Did I want USB power or AC? did I even care? How much did I want to pay. Did I care if the fans ran all the time and what if I could hear them run. How do I want them mounted if at all?
I decided I did not care about any of it except cooling and the price. I went to Walmart - just to look at what small fans they had and whether I could use them. I expected to pay $6 to $10 for a small fan which would have probably made me choose another option. I found small fans for $1 a piece. I scanned them just to make sure. Sure enough, $1. They were small enough to fit in my entertainment center but not too small so I bought 6. I put one at my DVR, 1 behind my PC and 2 on my PS3 (on intake and one out). I am keeping the other 2 just for backups. I expected them to not give out much air or to be loud. Actually they put out enough air to keep all my components cool and I cannot even hear them. I plugged them all into a power strip so I can turn them off if I want. My stuff stays cool now and I don't even have to open the doors any longer. The total price was $6 plus tax and I have 2 extra fans. the fan casing is metal and also very well made. Maybe I got lucky finding these fans (I am thinking of going to get the rest of the $1 fans just in case I wear them out) but I am very happy with my solution. Maybe it's not for you but it works very well for me. I hope you find a solution you are happy with. 
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