For many people planning a home cinema or multi-room audio or video system, the lion’s share of the thought goes into the choice of equipment.  After all, it’s the interesting bit, and for most of us, it’s a significant investment.

But as a professional home entertainment installer, one of the best pieces of advice I can give anyone planning their own system is this:

If you’re investing all that money on the best, most future-proofed kit you can afford, you want it to last. So spend a little bit of time and a comparatively small amount of money keeping it cool.

One of the biggest - and most overlooked - factors affecting the reliability and working life of home entertainment, networking and automation equipment is temperature. (In the immortal worlds of Sir Michael Caine, not many people know that.)

For every 5.5’C rise over 29.5’C, digital equipment life is reduced by a massive 40%. OK, given that 29.5C is 86.5F, this may not seem like much of an issue, particularly in the UK. But in an enclosed rack, with number of pieces of equipment all producing heat, it’s not a difficult temperature to reach.

As long as you start thinking about it at the right point – ideally, at the planning stage – maximising equipment life through thermal management is a comparatively simple process to put in place.

There are two kinds of thermal management; active and passive. The amount and type of equipment you’re installing, how and where you’re planning to install it, will all determine which you need. (Any reliable installer will be able to make the necessary calculations for you.)

Passive thermal management is usually the preferable option, and involves making use of natural airflow around the equipment to dissipate heat. You – or your installer - will need to make sure that there are adequate vent openings at the top and bottom of whatever enclosure or rack you’re using, and that the airflow though it is unimpeded. You’ll also need to make sure that the equipment that generates the most heat – usually amplifiers – is at the bottom of the stack.

Active thermal management becomes necessary when the amount of equipment and the heat generated are likely to be too much for a passive thermal system to cope with. To keep temperatures below that all-important 29.5’C point, active thermal management uses fans to expel hot air from the top of the rack and draw cool air in from the bottom.

If you’re thinking that this is just another demand on an already-stretched budget, bear in mind one simple thought:

What you’ll spend installing the most expensive thermal management system is likely to be less than you’d spend replacing the cheapest piece of burnt-out kit.