Bitfury - Mining Lighbulb

[klondike_bar]

Can you think of a single benefit that comes from combining a light bulb and a miner?

Let's say home miners have two options (both using the same chips):

Option 1: 60W, 200 GH/s lightbulbs for $80 each (0.3 W/gh and $0.4/gh)

Option 2: 400W, 2000 GH/s blade style miner for $500 (0.2 W/gh and $0.25/gh)

In what scenario would it make sense to go with option 1?

quiet comfortable longterm solomining?

Solomining with cheaper and more efficient hardware is still a better option.

Honestly the spread of heat and no noise seem to be a pretty good positive.

There's no reason a home miner can't be practically dead silent. I replaced the fans on my SP20 and BTCgarden miners and they were so quiet you couldn't here them from more than a few feet away.

One that mines gives heat (and hopefully app controlled) would be pretty neat.

A regular miner already gives off heat and can be remotely controlled. Adding a light bulb doesn't change this.

If your goal is to recycle heat (i.e. save money), then it would definitely make sense to go with the cheaper and more efficient miner (option 2).

It is essentially the stick miner debate, it isn't better in any way but it is a nice, hopefully easy fun thing to do and while packed into a new neat design.

100% agree. Its basically a novelty device that doesnt make sense if you are serious about mining a reasonable amount of coins.
even loud hardware can be put in a spare room or a shed, and will be far more cost effective, and not require every lamp in your house being a heating element.

[CanaryInTheMine]

They should make a product for commercial applications too.  You can do some decent mining in that setup vs. home.  Lots of buildings replacing older lights...

[s1gs3gv]

IOT market to triple to $USD 1.7 Trillion by 2020

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/internet-things-market-triple-1-140200967.html

[Finksy]

I wonder if it's possible to send enough information by powerline networking to have the controller hub hooked into a building's wiring, and have all the devices connect to it that way.  Obviously the price of adapters would have to both shrink significantly and come down in price, but it may be more feasible than using wi-fi in all the devices and require controllers in all of them as well.

As has been said, I think the only practical products you could substitute ASIC chips in would be those that already produce heat.  Otherwise even if it is a novelty product, why would you pay MORE for a novelty product and have no regard for ability to ROI when you could just buy stickminers and bulbs and reap all the same rewards of those for less money? Or go buy an old S1 and watch the blinking lights...  This is not designed to be a product for us, this is a product for them, their marketing team's job will be to convince us otherwise.

Has anyone ever experimented with stickminers using peltier elements to use the heat to offset some of the electricity use and boost efficiency (even by a small margin)? *COUGH* sidehack??? *COUGH*

[notlist3d]

I wonder if it's possible to send enough information by powerline networking to have the controller hub hooked into a building's wiring, and have all the devices connect to it that way.  Obviously the price of adapters would have to both shrink significantly and come down in price, but it may be more feasible than using wi-fi in all the devices and require controllers in all of them as well.

As has been said, I think the only practical products you could substitute ASIC chips in would be those that already produce heat.  Otherwise even if it is a novelty product, why would you pay MORE for a novelty product and have no regard for ability to ROI when you could just buy stickminers and bulbs and reap all the same rewards of those for less money? Or go buy an old S1 and watch the blinking lights...  This is not designed to be a product for us, this is a product for them, their marketing team's job will be to convince us otherwise.

Has anyone ever experimented with stickminers using peltier elements to use the heat to offset some of the electricity use and boost efficiency (even by a small margin)?

Yes if done right you can use electricity wires.  It makes a fun project and I personally was surprised with speed, was much faster then I expected.  Mine seemed good till I put to many on it then slowed down.

I price wise a wifi dongle will beat the electricity parts for over lines by quite a bit.  So I predict wifi.

[OgNasty]

I wonder if it's possible to send enough information by powerline networking to have the controller hub hooked into a building's wiring, and have all the devices connect to it that way.  Obviously the price of adapters would have to both shrink significantly and come down in price, but it may be more feasible than using wi-fi in all the devices and require controllers in all of them as well.

I wondered the same thing.  My pool's light operates by a signal that is sent through the power line.  I'm not aware of any retail networking devices functioning in that scenario though.

[TheRealSteve]

I'm not aware of any retail networking devices functioning in that scenario though.

I'm probably misinterpreting that, but powerline communication devices are quite readily available.  I don't know how well they work in the U.S. on the typical dirty lines, but in the EU they work fine.  With laptops, tablets and smartphones, wifi is much more popular, though.

Edit now that I remember what term they're typically sold under: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=powerline+adapter

[sidehack]

The project Novak's working on involves signal injection into a power feed sorta like powerline networking, so we might get around to playing with messing with mains one of these days. I was just thinking the other day that one of Philipma's favorite ideas, the oil-radiator spaceheater miner, would be a good thing to have mains networked. Stick a receiver "hub" plugged into the wall at your switch and send signal to two or three heaters around the house without needing any wifi infrastructure (or range limitations). Using a central "controller" with mains signalling to controllerless lightbulb miners might work if the chips are designed to use a basic protocol like UART; cook up a simple transceiver chip that basically converts addressed packets and sends them directly to the chips' data bus. Your receiver hub could enumerate each lightbulb miner as a separate device, like sticks in a USB hub, and pipe it all off a single cgminer instance if you wanted. Most of what you need to run data over mains is a carrier wave modulated with your signal data and a really really good highpass filter to block your 50/60Hz from the transceiver. Not really all that cumbersome.

Not saying it's a particularly efficient idea, but if lightbulb miners are going to happen I'd rather see something like that than I would a separate controller, cgminer instance and wifi transceiver in every single bulb. It makes a whole lot more sense for machines whose existence is to produce heat. Lightbulbs are a stupid idea because all the developments in lighting from the last several decades are designed around making them produce less waste heat, so taking a 60W-equivalent efficient light and making it a 60W light again (with several times the initial cost) seems pretty backward.

[Finksy]

The project Novak's working on involves signal injection into a power feed sorta like powerline networking, so we might get around to playing with messing with mains one of these days. I was just thinking the other day that one of Philipma's favorite ideas, the oil-radiator spaceheater miner, would be a good thing to have mains networked. Stick a receiver "hub" plugged into the wall at your switch and send signal to two or three heaters around the house without needing any wifi infrastructure (or range limitations). Using a central "controller" with mains signalling to controllerless lightbulb miners might work if the chips are designed to use a basic protocol like UART; cook up a simple transceiver chip that basically converts addressed packets and sends them directly to the chips' data bus. Your receiver hub could enumerate each lightbulb miner as a separate device, like sticks in a USB hub, and pipe it all off a single cgminer instance if you wanted. Most of what you need to run data over mains is a carrier wave modulated with your signal data and a really really good highpass filter to block your 50/60Hz from the transceiver. Not really all that cumbersome.

Not saying it's a particularly efficient idea, but if lightbulb miners are going to happen I'd rather see something like that than I would a separate controller, cgminer instance and wifi transceiver in every single bulb. It makes a whole lot more sense for machines whose existence is to produce heat. Lightbulbs are a stupid idea because all the developments in lighting from the last several decades are designed around making them produce less waste heat, so taking a 60W-equivalent efficient light and making it a 60W light again (with several times the initial cost) seems pretty backward.

Yeah, what he said!

What about peltier elements, ever messed around with them as a means to dissipate heat? They've become quite inexpensive and could serve as an intermediary to the heat sink and offset some amount of power use?

[Mikestang]

It's coming during 2015!! We can buy one

http://www.coindesk.com/bitfury-light-bulbs-mine-bitcoin/

I would only use these in "ninja" applications where I didn't have to pay for the electricity, like a desk lamp at work, or maybe in a garage.  I like my lights to be as cool and efficient as possible, I'm not seeing either of those aspects in these bulbs.  Novel, but not practical.

[jimmothy]

They should make a product for commercial applications too.  You can do some decent mining in that setup vs. home.  Lots of buildings replacing older lights...

A lot of industrial buildings don't have heat installed but instead use large space heaters, this seems like something that could be replaced by these a bit but it would need a way to spread the heat around.

Can we stop pretending this makes any sense financially? I think just about everyone is in agreement that these things will never be competitive and are purely a novelty item for hobbyists/beginners.

[TheRealSteve]

I think just about everyone is in agreement that these things will never be competitive and are purely a novelty item for hobbyists/beginners.

They even say as much themselves in that interview;

BitFury suggested that the target market for the light bulbs would be hobbyists who have an interest in exploring new technologies

[alh]

You better hope there is a quantity discount. There are 71 light bulbs in that sign. 

Not going to hide that rig anywhere!!!

[kano]

I can see it now ... Hey guys! check out my new mining rig!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0237/3773/files/coca_cola_bulb_signs.jpg

I can see it now ... hey why has the electricity bill doubled from $2k to $4k ?
Oh, that's coz we made $1 bitcoin mining ...
(and spent $1k on new light bulbs ...)

[Bicknellski]

I can see it now ... Hey guys! check out my new mining rig!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0237/3773/files/coca_cola_bulb_signs.jpg

I can see it now ... hey why has the electricity bill doubled from $2k to $4k ?
Oh, that's coz we made $1 bitcoin mining ...
(and spent $1k on new light bulbs ...)

So nothing would change from light bulbs that mine to deicated machines. Unless you have millions to spend everything is a "hobby".

[alh]

I can see it now ... Hey guys! check out my new mining rig!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0237/3773/files/coca_cola_bulb_signs.jpg

I can see it now ... hey why has the electricity bill doubled from $2k to $4k ?
Oh, that's coz we made $1 bitcoin mining ...
(and spent $1k on new light bulbs ...)

Why all the negativity? Everyone knows it's all about "securing the network"!

Exactly what it's being secured from isn't clear. Maybe ISIS will attack Bitcoin? The more hash, the more secure it is, right? If this is right, then we must be at least 1000x more secure than 18 months ago.

[kano]

I can see it now ... Hey guys! check out my new mining rig!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0237/3773/files/coca_cola_bulb_signs.jpg

I can see it now ... hey why has the electricity bill doubled from $2k to $4k ?
Oh, that's coz we made $1 bitcoin mining ...
(and spent $1k on new light bulbs ...)

So nothing would change from light bulbs that mine to deicated machines. Unless you have millions to spend everything is a "hobby".

Yeah that's what everyone says who mines and loses BTC ... it's just a "hobby"
Though, based on that assertion, it seems it's a hobby for everyone ...

[sidehack]

Decentralization is securing the network from a single entity controlling the majority of the hashrate. It's considered cost-prohibitive for any one company to build that much hardware, so overly popular pools are a more likely threat.

But if one company is able to put a few hundred GH in every household (paid for by said households) and controls the pool being mined at...

[RoadStress]

Decentralization is securing the network from a single entity controlling the majority of the hashrate. It's considered cost-prohibitive for any one company to build that much hardware, so overly popular pools are a more likely threat.

But if one company is able to put a few hundred GH in every household (paid for by said households) and controls the pool being mined at...

Why always assume only the bad thing that can happen?

I think not allowing users to choose the pool would be a shot in the foot for them. They said that they plan to run some kind of p2pool. Chill.

[CanaryInTheMine]

pretty soon we won't actually own things... we'll just pay to use them instead.

I'm leaving if it gets to that point. 21e6's idea discussion is already worrisome.

I wonder how hard it'd be to proxy the connection away from the manufacturer's pool to your own?

it's headed that way... look at millenials etc... they own very few things... uber, no cars, bike and car rentals as needed etc... I really do foresee that the desire to own physical things is going away with younger generations.  they want to use them, but not own them outright...