The optimal thermal design of a single heat source on one wall of a vertical open top cavity was studied experimentally. The temperature and flow fields in the cavity were visualized. The objectives of this study is to obtain the best location of the single heat source and to examine the effects of heat source protrusion, substrate thermal conductivity and cavity aspect ratio on the natural convection cooling due to a single heat source. As the results, the cooling effect for the copper substrate is superior to that of the epoxy-resin substrate and is improved with increasing cavity width. For the epoxy-resin substrate of lower conductivity, the protrusion of the heaters plays a role in decreasing the cooling effect. The best location was the mid-height of the substrate.