Would you colocate an AntMiner S9 @ $500 a year?

[MineBank]

I'm looking at a colocating service in Texas that charges $500 a year per AntMiner S9.

This would save me about $300 a year per miner.. seems like a no-brainer, what are the downsides?

[davemanet]

$41/month.. if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is

[mghaynes]

How can it be legit?

Do the math. An S9 uses 1.35kWh. Over the course of a day thats 32.4kWh.

If they are hosting for $500/year, divide that by 365, and they are hosting for $1.36/day.

Now, lets divide the daily fee by the S9 daily electricity usage. $1.36 / 32.4kWh = $0.04/kWh. Look at your electricity bill, are you getting anywhere near $0.04/kWh. Average in US is like $0.10/kWh. Cheapest I've heard is some people in hydroelectric area getting $0.3/kWh. So, at most, they could make like $0.25/day hosting your miner. Now ask, would you host someone's miner for $0.25/day profit (assuming you had super cheap electricity)?

But, if you somehow know they are legit, then it's a heluva deal.

[MineBank]

They are using solar and micro-wind turbines or something, apparently their energy expenses are super low.

It's in an old freestanding bank building, security isn't an issue, I just want to know what the pitfalls are for co-locating other than money.

Oh, and the $500 is paid annually.

[bizalaz]

Only 500?  This is a good moment that can save a few percent to your budget!  It is necessary to study this question in more detail

[Gabrics]

Biggest risk I think would be stealing your machine/earning.

If you can visit the place and they seem ok (and legit) it is not too risky IMHO. Also check the fine print as there could be hidden charges (still looks like a good deal). Like $500 for hosting and +power or reverse.

Which city? Please share the place if you can, I would be interested (I am in TX now, so I can actually visit them)!

[eternalgloom]

Quite difficult to tell you the downsides if you're not sharing which company it is, but if it's not a scam this would be an amazing bargain indeed.
I would try and see if you can find someone online who has also purchased services from this company, look for some legitimate reviews if possible.

Do you have any idea how they get their power? Perhaps it's possible to charge that little if they have a solar powered set-up, but I'm not sure.

[alh]

You should visit and ask about ventilation and cooling, as well as how many miners they expect to host. Texas is known for getting hot in the summer, and while $500 is an excellent price with electricity, it won't do you any good if come June your miner gets "cooked" along with 200 others in a poorly ventilated building.

You'll also want to understand Internet access and controls. If there are 100 other "tenents", will they end up having access to your S9, both physical and on-line? What are their plans?

I would agree that this price sounds "almost too good to be true".