Cabinet design and EMC 
12.9 Note on control cabinet cooling 
SINAMICS S120 Combi 
Manual, (GH9), 07/2016, 6SL3097-4AV00-0BP5 
315 
 
Dimensioning Climate Control Equipment 
Cabinet manufacturers provide calculation programs for selecting climate control equipment. 
It is always necessary to know the power loss of the components and equipment installed in 
the cabinet. 
The physical relationship is shown in the following example. 
Calculating the thermal power to be dissipated: q = Q - k x A x ΔT 
with 
q = thermal power that has to be dissipated using a cooling unit [W] 
Q = power loss [W] 
∆T = difference between the room temperature and the temperature inside the cabinet [K] 
k = heat transfer coefficient, e.g. sheet-steel, painted 5.5 [W/(m
2
 * K)] 
A = free-standing cabinet surface area [m
2
] 
Table 12- 17  Example, calculating the power loss of a drive configuration 
Total power loss [W] 
(including electronic losses) 
Line filter  1  16  16 
S120 Combi 3 axes Power 
Module 20 kW 
1  634  634 
A
ssumption: 
free-standing control cabinet surface A = 5 m
2
difference between the room temperature and the temperature inside the control cabinet ∆T 
= 10 K 
q = 1146.8 W - 5.5 W / (m
2
 K) * 5 m
2
 * 10 K = 871.8 W