5 Unexpected Uses For Old PC Towers
If you've been a consistent PC user for long enough, odds are good that you've got a few old towers lying around in your closet or basement. Traditional logic dictates that when you have old electronics like this, you should recycle them somehow, either by bringing the tower to your local recycling center or removing the parts and using the case to house an entirely new PC build.
If you're not interested in creating a new rig, or the old desktop parts are too old to be useful, then what are you supposed to do with your old tower besides get rid of it and forget about it? Well, you can still do that with the parts, but don't chuck the case just yet. PC towers are built to be tough and compact, after all, and with a little bit of creativity and elbow grease, you could transform that old case into something entirely new.
1. Portable Garden
Home gardening is a great way to brighten up a dreary space, not to mention grow some practical plants like vegetables. If you live in a small space like an apartment and don't have an open area like a balcony, there isn't really anywhere you could set up a planter. If you're in need of a portable spot to set the miracle of nature in motion, try transforming an old PC tower into a portable garden.
All you need is to set up a lighting fixture within the case, screw in a fluorescent growing bulb, and maybe a portable power supply to activate the case's fans. The fans help circulate air within the case, which is important for the health of larger plants. You can also add some reflective Mylar lining to the case's inner walls to ensure all the light hits the plants. Beyond that, just place some seed starters in small pots in the case, and watch them sprout!
2. Novelty Mailbox
Assuming you still get physical correspondence, a novelty mailbox is a fun way to add a little pizzazz to your home, giving passersby (and particularly postal workers) an idea of your personality. If your personality happens to be "I really love computers," then why not transform one of your old PC towers into a novelty mailbox to broadcast that fact to the neighborhood?
PC towers are built fairly tough and some of them even have easy pull tabs for accessing the inside; they're basically begging to be mailboxes. Just remove all of the internal components, drill in a support board on the bottom or sides, depending on how your mailbox needs to be installed, and voila. If your tower is old enough to have had a disc drive, then you've already got a convenient letter slot, but otherwise, you'll also need to install some kind of flap on the front or side to receive your letters.
3. Stackable Shelving
Buying shelves for your home can be annoying because you're always reliant on what's available to purchase. If you can't find shelves that fit the dimensions of your available space, you end up having to move your entire room around just to accommodate them. Instead of that, use one or more old PC towers to create your own set of modular shelves.
After removing the internal components, remove the fastening screws from the outer panels, and turn them around. Use them to secure the tower to the wall, preferably into a wall stud. If you're worried that the screws aren't strong enough, you can also swap them out for something stronger like sheetrock screws. If you have multiple old towers, you can stack them on top of each other and secure all of them to the wall to create an entire shelving unit, ready to hold books, knickknacks, or whatever else you want to brighten up your room.
4. Toolbox and Workstation
What is a PC if not an entire metaphysical workstation, containing all of your tools for interfacing with the digital realm? If that's a bit too abstract for your tastes, though, then let's make things a little more physical by transforming your old tower into an entire workshop workstation. Forget the tools of the digital realm, you can store all you need for molding the real world.
A PC case has plenty of room for small, rectangular storage containers, which can be mounted to the inside with a combination of fasteners and existing mounts for things like drives and heatsinks. If you're feeling gutsy, you can use those mounts to create slide-out drawers that pop out of the back. You can even take it on the go with you by reattaching the side panel to close it up, and then attaching a carrying strap to the top. It might be a bit bulky, but think of how cool it will look.
5. Portable Barbecue
Have you ever been pushing your PC to its absolute limit with complicated games and software, feeling your office become noticeably warmer as it belches hot air from its vents? PC towers are surprisingly heat resistant, as they need to be to keep the internal components from melting under their own horsepower. If you're looking to harness that heat for practical purposes, then turn the tower on its side and bust out the grill apron.
Once you've removed the internal components, just lay the tower horizontally, remove the side panel, place a little tub of charcoal within, and lay a grill grate on top. You can even mount a stoker blower system to the exhaust port if you want to maintain greater control over the heat. Just remember to set your PC grill on a sturdy, foil-lined table when using it. You don't want it falling over and spilling white-hot charcoal everywhere, after all.