Thermal Limits in Walls and Ceilings

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tylerjbrooks

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Hi everyone. I am new to the forums and would greatly appreciate some help/advice with a problem.

I am engineer and I have been given the problem of designing an audio amplifier and power supply that I can install in the walls and ceilings of a home. I was wondering if anybody could advise me about heat dissipation in walls and ceilings. Does the NEC address this issue?

I am looking to design an audio amplifier and power supply that is powered off the main house power lines. It will be in the 100W range (50W per speaker) but that depends on how efficient the device can be made and the thermal limits of common walls and ceilings.

I assume that the device will have to be installed in uninsulated locations of walls and ceilings. I also assume it will be attached to a stud. Furthermore, the device doesn't have to be 'pretty' so I will probably make its case a heat sink (aluminium case with fins).

I want all heat transfer to be passive. No fans.

The device itself can survive up to 125C. I know that drywall will withstand about 100C and I also know that a good upper ambient temperature in a house is about 50C. So, is it ok to design a heat tranfer that keeps the device below 100C when a house is at 50C ?? Or is there a set upper limit?

One more thing...
Please excuse my ignorance of the code, but does the code require that I place this device in a 'can' or metal box? Does it have to be vented in any case no matter what the heat transfer is? I know that halogen light power supplies can get pretty hot. Where can I find the rules about about their installation?

Thank you in advance
Tyler.
 
Unless all low voltage I would say yes to a can or enclosure. May have more luck looking at Nutone or the like, they have been doing what you want to for years with intercom systems and such, maybe their engineers could give you some pointers?
 
Thank you all for the advice.

barbeer: I am still looking around for an engineer that has done this sort of thing before. No luck so far.

larryfine: I actually have Nutone volume controls and speakers in my house. All the wires go back to a media closet. Works fine for me. However, this client is interested in a different deployment. They don't want a system that requires an equipment cabinet. In fact, they don't want any audio sources in their house at all. Instead, they just want to stream music from a service like Rhapsody or Pandora.

pertersonra: Good point. I called UL and they are searching for the right set of specs now.

Thanks again.
Tyler
 
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