Data center operators are facing a cooling problem that traditional cooling systems were never built to solve. As chips get more powerful and racks get denser, immersion cooling has moved from a niche experiment to a mainstream liquid cooling solution for facilities that can no longer rely on fans and airflow alone. In simple terms, liquid immersion cooling submerges IT hardware directly in a conductive liquid to dissipate heat far more efficiently than air ever could, allowing facilities to support the high-density racks that modern AI and HPC workloads demand. Freedom Mechanical works with data center cooling solutions every day, and we’re breaking down what immersion cooling actually is, how it compares to direct-to-chip and air cooling, and how to know if your facility is ready for it.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What immersion cooling is and how it physically works
• The difference between single-phase and two-phase immersion cooling systems
• Why rising rack densities are pushing facilities toward liquid cooling solutions
• Signs that your facility may be ready for a high-density cooling upgrade
• How immersion cooling compares to air cooling and direct-to-chip cooling

What Is Immersion Cooling?

Immersion cooling is a data center cooling method that submerges servers, GPUs, and other IT hardware directly into a conductive liquid that is thermally conductive but electrically non conductive. Instead of relying on fans to push air across components, the dielectric fluid absorbs heat directly from the surface of the equipment inside the immersion cooling tank, then carries that heat away to be rejected through a heat exchanger or coolant distribution unit (CDU).

There are two main approaches used in the field today.

• Single-phase immersion cooling: The fluid stays in liquid form throughout the entire cooling cycle, circulating through a tank and heat exchanger loop.
• Two-phase immersion cooling: The fluid boils at a low temperature, absorbing heat as it changes to vapor, then condenses back to liquid as it releases that heat elsewhere.

Why Immersion Cooling Works So Well

Liquid conducts heat far more efficiently than air, which means heat transfer happens faster and more evenly across every submerged component. Because every component in the immersion cooling tank is in direct contact with the cooling fluid, hot spots that typically form around processors, GPUs, and power supplies are dramatically reduced. This is what makes immersion such an efficient cooling method, allowing facilities to pack more compute density into less physical space without equipment overheating or throttling under load, which is why immersion cooling has become a go-to solution for AI training clusters and other high-performance computing environments.

Immersion cooling isn’t limited to data centers either. The same principle is used in electric vehicle battery thermal management, where submerging battery cells in dielectric fluid helps regulate temperature more evenly than air or cold plate systems, improving performance and extending battery life under heavy load.

Why Rising Rack Densities Are Forcing the Issue

Just a few years ago, a typical server rack drew somewhere around 5 to 8 kilowatts. Today, AI training clusters and high-performance computing racks routinely demand well beyond 40 kilowatts, and some next generation GPU deployments are pushing past 100 kilowatts per rack. Traditional air cooling, even with hot and cold aisle containment, was never designed for that kind of thermal load, which is why so many operators are now evaluating liquid cooling solutions, direct-to-chip cooling, and immersion cooling as long-term answers for both density and energy consumption.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, cooling can account for up to 40 percent of a data center’s total energy usage, which means the cooling strategy a facility chooses has a direct impact on both performance and operating costs.

That reality is pushing more facility managers, particularly those supporting AI, colocation, and mission critical workloads, to look seriously at high-density cooling options like immersion cooling systems.

5 Signs Your Facility May Need Immersion Cooling

If you’re wondering whether your facility has outgrown traditional cooling systems, these are the indicators worth paying attention to.

1. Rising rack densities: Your team keeps adding GPUs or high-performance servers, and your current cooling infrastructure can barely keep pace with the added heat load.
2. Thermal throttling: Equipment is slowing itself down to avoid overheating, which directly hurts compute performance and job completion times.
3. Rising energy costs: Your cooling bill keeps climbing even though your compute footprint hasn’t changed dramatically, often a sign that your power usage effectiveness (PUE) is trending in the wrong direction.
4. Limited floor space: You need to add capacity, but there’s no room to expand your data hall or add more air handling equipment.
5. Sustainability targets: Your organization has water usage or carbon reduction goals that traditional cooling systems can’t meet.

If two or more of these sound familiar, it’s worth having a technical conversation about whether immersion cooling, direct-to-chip cooling, or another liquid cooling solution makes sense for your facility.

Immersion Cooling vs. Other Cooling Methods

Not every facility needs to jump straight to immersion cooling. Here’s how it compares to the two other most common high-density cooling approaches in use today.

Cooling Method	Typical Rack Density Supported	Water Usage	Best Fit For
Air Cooling	Up to 15-20 kW	Moderate to high	General purpose data centers, mixed workloads
Direct-to-Chip Cooling	40-100+ kW	Low	High-density racks with mixed component cooling needs
Immersion Cooling	50-150+ kW	Very low	AI training clusters, crypto mining, ultra high-density HPC

Facilities with mixed workloads often use a hybrid cooling strategy, running immersion or direct-to-chip cooling for their highest density racks while keeping traditional cooling systems in place for lower demand equipment.

Benefits Beyond Just Temperature Control

Cooling performance is the headline benefit, but immersion cooling systems bring several other advantages worth mentioning.

• Significant energy savings: Because dielectric fluid dissipates heat so efficiently, many facilities see a meaningful drop in overall cooling energy use compared to air-based systems.
• Reduced footprint: Immersion cooling tanks typically require about one-third the space of an equivalent air-cooled setup, since there’s no need for large air handlers, ductwork, or aisle containment.
• Reduced or eliminated air conditioning needs: Because heat is removed directly through the fluid rather than the surrounding air, many immersion deployments eliminate the need for computer room air conditioning entirely, saving an estimated 35 to 40 percent of the power that traditional air conditioning would otherwise consume.
• Reduced water consumption: Closed loop immersion systems use dramatically less water than traditional evaporative cooling towers, improving a facility’s water usage effectiveness (WUE).
• Extended hardware lifespan: Stable, consistent operating temperatures reduce thermal cycling stress on components.
• Noise reduction: Removing large banks of cooling fans significantly quiets the data hall environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Facility managers considering a switch to immersion cooling tend to ask a similar set of questions before moving forward. Here are direct answers to the ones we hear most often.

What is immersion cooling used for?

Immersion cooling is primarily used to cool high-density server racks that generate more heat than traditional cooling systems can safely manage. It is most common in AI training clusters, high-performance computing (HPC) environments, and cryptocurrency mining operations, and the same technology is increasingly used outside of IT as well, including in electric vehicle battery thermal management.

Is immersion cooling compatible with any server?

Not automatically. Some components, including certain elastomer seals, thermal interface materials, and specific capacitor types, need to be validated or modified for fluid compatibility. Many major manufacturers now offer factory validated hardware built specifically for immersion cooling systems, which simplifies the process considerably.

How much does immersion cooling cost compared to air cooling?

Upfront capital costs are typically higher than traditional cooling systems due to tank infrastructure and specialized dielectric fluid, but operators often see that cost offset over time through significant energy savings, reduced water usage, and less frequent hardware replacement.

Can immersion cooling be added to an existing facility?

In many cases, yes. Retrofitting is more involved than building immersion capacity into new construction, but it’s a common path for facilities managing rapidly increasing rack densities without the ability to build new space.

Does immersion cooling work in every climate?

Yes, and that’s part of its appeal. Because the system doesn’t rely on outside air temperature the way some air and evaporative cooling methods do, immersion cooling performs consistently whether a facility is in a hot desert climate or a cooler region.

We’re proud to serve data center and facility owners in Bluffdale, Utah, and nearby communities with high-density cooling assessments, chiller service, and equipment upgrades built for mission critical environments. Bluffdale sits in one of Utah’s fastest growing data center corridors, and the region’s dry summer heat makes efficient thermal management even more important for uninterrupted operations.

Freedom Mechanical: Your Partner in High-Density Cooling

Choosing the right cooling strategy for a mission critical facility isn’t a decision to make alone. Freedom Mechanical specializes in the mechanical infrastructure behind today’s most demanding cooling environments, including chillers, VRF systems, and the equipment that supports high-density and liquid cooling deployments. As a woman owned company built by technicians who understand what’s actually running behind the rack, we bring both technical depth and a genuine commitment to getting it right the first time.

Whether you’re evaluating immersion cooling systems for a new build or trying to solve a rising heat load in an existing facility, our team can help you assess your options and design a cooling strategy that keeps your operations running without interruption. Contact our team to schedule a system evaluation and find out what a high-density cooling upgrade could look like for your facility.