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Would it be possible to use a Thermoelectric Generator, similar to what is used in space probes but instead on the cooling system of mining rigs, in order to produce electricity to reduce the cost of electricity? How effective would this be and would it have a significant impact on the electric bill?

What is setup cost?  Most forms of generating energy have a high initial cost. 

The initial cost makes it hard if not impossible to compete against those using cheap electricity.   Normally they just don't make sense as an investment.

Yes its possible...but the economics makes no sense. Best case you could probably recover 25% of the heat back into electricity. So lets say for an S5 you recover 200 watts, that would end up being roughly $15-20 a month in electric savings. 200 watts worth of thermoelectric generators would cost you about how much an S5 costs now. It would take you 2 years to ROI. Better off putting that money in a new more efficient miner.

It really is hard to justify the cost upfront.  Unless you have a amazing deal and a deal on taxes or something, it does not work out.   Miners just use a lot of electricity so you need a bigger system then you would normally.

If you do it really really long term it might pay off if your able to sell extra to electricity company.  But your talking about a lot of time and money.

Thermoelectric generators (TEG) have low conversion efficiency, below 5% at temperature differentials of 80 deg C.

TEGs would recover a tiny fraction of the power used to drive the miners, basically the ROI for the generators would be poor to none.

If you are interested in generating power with TEG then I would recommend using geothermal sources or solar heating solutions, they would have the required temp. differentials and abundance of power.

some quick reading on wikipedia and youll find this true; typical TEG's have 5-8% efficiency, pretty bad. factor in the "efficiency" of the energy to heat produced by the miner, and you get an even lower value. hard to justify the investment for a TEG setup with these values.

is there a solar miner availiable?

you mean a small panel integrated in the miner? like those casio's watchers? would be cool indeed, but i doubt something like this could work, you need al the other stuff, and a battery for that

while casio's watchers, works with a non existing wattage, miners are another different story

Don't do it, man!  That's like plugging an extension cord into itself.  You never know what kind of entropy loop-of-doom could be unleashed...


 ;D

 Very low percentages can be recovered from the waste heat under lab conditions so there is little hope it would working for mining rigs (http://www.ijcns.com/pdf/6.pdf). It would not pay for itself see what Marto74 tried to do at BTCJam people were too smart to invest in that losers of a scam idea.

https://btcjam.com/listings/35145-mining-equipment-heat-to-power-recuperation-project

There are some numbers of people looking at any angle to screw people over. Be very careful of anyone associated with Marto74 like projects.

This thread was completely theoretical. I just wanted some opinion on the feasibility of this since I don't quite understand electronics and electrical engineering. Hopefully some day TEGs will be efficient enough that this could be feasible. Or miners can be made more efficiently to draw less power and produce less heat.

No.

This thread is insufficiently theoretical. It is a classic example of preying on the uneducated and undereducated. If I remember correctly the 2nd law of thermodynamics is taught in decent schools around 8-9 grade. So anyone who would fall for it has a mental capacity of approximately 15 years old high-school student.

Since 1824 the theoretical limit of efficiency of any theoretically ideal heat engine is well known:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot%27s_theorem_(thermodynamics) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot%27s_theorem_(thermodynamics))

So assuming the hot side at the temperature of boiling water (371K) and the cold side at the room temperature (300K) one gets the theoretical unattainable efficiency of about 20%.

The only progress that can really occur is in education.

Theoretical in that I have no plans of implementing such a thing and I am not encouraging nor claiming that this is a good idea at all.

The very fabric of reality could well be torn asunder!! :p

I think you meant efficacy of the miners.  Their heat efficiency is pretty much 100% since they're not generating matter  ;D

In most places, fossil fuels are still the most economical heat source but they're not 100% efficient since the polluted exhaust causes heat loss from the heating system.  For electrical systems this can often be dumped into the ambient air that is being heated.

I don't think there is a solar miner available but you can use certainly buy some panels to install yourself for generating power to partially fuel a rig. I wouldn't suggest going solar only because even MR. Sunshine goes to bed :P

I did the plugging an extension cord into itself once purely by accident. Before I knew what was happening a small black hole began forming and started to pull me in. Due to my quick thinking I was able to reach out and unplug the loop and the black hole instantly vaporized. Except for a few knocked over paint cans and a missing shoe, I was no worse for wear after the incident. It still give me shudders to think I could have destroyed the world had it not been for my quick reflexes. ;)

A lot of you guys are doubters, say that its not worth it. Screw the haters. I just placed an order for sidehack's usb miner, and I just placed an order for a fucking peltier device. Cost me 2 bucks on aliexpress.

Game plan:

• Take off the heatsink
• Duct tape on a peltier module
• Let the magic happen

I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to electronics, but next month I will come back to this thread, and I will fucking deliver. With pictures of the miner I probably just destroyed.

Love that!  ;D I was also planning to do that but on a yellowjackt miner not on the new sidehack stick!  :P

How about a stationary bike that generates energy as you exercise?  This helps you lose weight and generating energy at the same time?

That is a cooling device right? It is similar, but not what I was talking about. I don't think that it is able to convert the heat to electricity, which is what a Thermoelectric Generator does.

You can mount a bike onto a device that makes it stationary and is a generator. One of my friends has one. It can power a light bulb and provides exercise.