Heat in the office: why your laptop, router and NAS are struggling right now

Warm days mean sluggish laptops, humming routers and the occasional PC that shuts down out of nowhere. These simple checks will help you avoid most summer headaches in the office.

It's summer, temperatures are nudging 30°C and the laptop on your desk is humming like it's about to take off. Sound familiar? On hot days we consistently get more calls from business owners saying "my computer is acting up." Nine times out of ten, heat is the culprit. The good news: a few simple steps will prevent most of the trouble.

Why heat is a problem for your equipment

Every laptop, PC, router and NAS generates heat. Under normal conditions a fan blows that heat away. When it gets too warm indoors, the device starts protecting itself: the processor throttles back its speed, applications slow to a crawl, and in the worst case the device shuts down entirely. If that happens repeatedly, components wear out faster. An SSD that runs hot consistently has a noticeably shorter lifespan, and laptop batteries lose capacity when kept warm for extended periods.

In short: those hot days don't just cost you productivity in the moment — they can also cost you a few hundred euros in early replacements.

The usual suspects

The laptop on a soft surface

Working from home on the sofa or in bed? The ventilation slots are usually on the underside. A blanket, cushion or even a thick tablecloth blocks the airflow completely. Always place your laptop on a hard, flat surface. A simple laptop stand for around ten euros makes a real difference.

The PC pushed against the wall under the desk

Many desktop PCs sit with their back against a wall or wedged between cabinet panels. That's exactly where the hot air comes out — and if it can't escape, the intake at the front just pulls that same hot air back in. Make sure there's at least 10 centimetres of clearance all around.

The router in the meter cupboard

Meter cupboards are cramped, poorly ventilated and often packed with other devices that also give off heat. If you find yourself rebooting your router regularly in summer, there's a good chance it's overheating. Move it outside the cupboard if you can, or leave the cupboard door open on hot days.

The server rack or NAS in the loft

Got a NAS or small server in the loft because "nobody goes up there anyway"? On a hot summer day the temperature up there can hit 40°C or more. Move it to a cooler room, or invest in a simple fan that switches on above a set temperature.

What you can do today

• Blow out the dust. After a year, fans are clogged with fluff. A can of compressed air (a few euros at any DIY store) blasts the vents clean. Do it outside — not over your keyboard.
• Check the ambient temperature. Put a thermometer next to your equipment. Above 30°C it starts getting tight.
• Close the blinds on the sunny side. Simple, but effective. An office that warms up to 28°C by morning won't drop below 32°C in the afternoon.
• Schedule heavy tasks for the morning. Large backups, updates or exports? Run them before 10 a.m., not at 3 p.m. when it's hottest indoors.
• Use a cooling laptop stand. For anyone who works mainly on a laptop: a stand with a built-in fan typically reduces temperatures by 5 to 10 degrees.

Test whether your internet and devices are still performing well

Noticing things are slower than usual? Heat could be the cause, but so could your connection. A router that's throttling will deliver lower speeds. Run a quick measurement with our speed test on a cool morning and again on a warm afternoon. A big difference between the two tells you a lot about the condition of your router.

Don't forget your backup

When something fails due to overheating, it's usually a hard drive or SSD — and that's exactly where your files live. Summer is a great time to check whether your backups are actually working. Not just "are they still running," but also: can you actually restore something from them? A backup you've never tested isn't a backup — it's wishful thinking.

Give it a try. Pick a random file from last month and restore it. Does it work within 10 minutes? Great. Not sure where to start? That in itself is a warning sign.

If things do go wrong

Does your computer shut down in the middle of a hot afternoon? Don't force a restart. Switch it off, let it cool down for an hour in a cooler room, then start it up again. If the problem persists, or you see unusual messages on startup, get it checked before you carry on working. A drive that has overheated once can still fail weeks later.

Quick summary

• Ensure airflow around all devices — no cushions, no walls, no closed cabinets.
• Dust your equipment at least once a year, ideally before summer.
• Move routers and NAS devices away from hot corners.
• Schedule heavy tasks in the morning.
• Test your backup now, not when it's too late.

Not sure whether your website or email environment is still running properly, or want to be certain your backup is reliable? Take a look at our website backup and recovery service. Better to check one time too many than to find out one moment too late.