The 500k-ton typo: Why data center copper math doesn't add up

Post by Fiveplus » Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 5:49 AM UTC

lm28469 wrote: post #118

Fiveplus wrote: post #30

The funniest part is beyond the typo, the complete lack of physical intuition from the analysts who circulated this. 500,000 tons is roughly the weight of 1.5 Empire State buildings. If your rack busbars weigh more than the structural steel of the facility housing them, you have a geotechnical engineering crisis on your hands. It is wild that we reached a point where financial modeling is so decoupled from physical r…

When I asked gemini it got it right away and as a source it provided a link to your comment... what a time to be alive, I hope you got the Empire State buildings calculations right because you're now part of the Truth ™ https://imgur.com/a/NaTfvtS

It feels strange to be cited this quickly (by gemini) about something so silly. I used Empire State as an example cause I had just been listening to that song by Jay Z :D

Post by matthewaveryusa » Sun, Jan 18, 2026, 4:43 AM UTC

quickthrowman wrote: post #123

matthewaveryusa wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to make it even more real: During covid I added a sub-panel and the wire (more like the sausage given the girth) between the sub-panel and main panel was aluminum because of cost. You just need to be a tad careful at the connection points with copper -- nothing a caring literate person can't handle

Did you use antioxidant paste on all of the aluminum terminations? If you didn’t, please pay an electrician to come fix it. If you did apply the paste, you are in the 0.01% of non-idiot non-electrician homeowners and can skip my rant about homeowners doing electrical work in the next paragraph. I sell electrical work and have seen some incredibly poor work done by homeowners. Do not install aluminum wire if you are a…

I always read relevant sections of NEC, UPC, and firecode whenever I DIY. I find the code books to be very clear and thorough and really don’t understand the culture of fear mongering tradepeople have around code. Almost like the code is some sort of mystic hydra only a tradesperson can comprehend. it’s really not complicated: read it and apply it like a recipe.

Re: The 500k-ton typo: Why data center copper math doesn't add up

Re: The 500k-ton typo: Why data center copper math doesn't add up