Bitcoin heating

[broutille]

Hi,
Just a shower thoughts I wanted to share.
I live in France (That's why how awful my English is), winter is cold. My flat is electric heated.

Electric heating is basically, transforming electricity in heat with close 100% efficiency (less some IR/electromagnetic).
From some point of view (data processing apart), a computer is nothing else than an electric heater.
Is the following idea somehow smart?: replacing heaters by mining bay, that turn in winter, getting (feedbacking with arduino) a constant overall 20°C ?
Would I have a substantial rake-bake ? (Like "pay the bay in a year or so" substantial)
(Though Ether mining seems more profitable, it's not the subject)

[1713272275]

1713272275

[1713272275]

1713272275

[1713272275]

1713272275

[miguelik]

Hi,
Just a shower thoughts I wanted to share.
I live in France (That's why how awful my English is), winter is cold. My flat is electric heated.

Electric heating is basically, transforming electricity in heat with close 100% efficiency (less some IR/electromagnetic).
From some point of view (data processing apart), a computer is nothing else than an electric heater.
Is the following idea somehow smart?: replacing heaters by mining bay, that turn in winter, getting (feedbacking with arduino) a constant overall 20°C ?
Would I have a substantial rake-bake ? (Like "pay the bay in a year or so" substantial)
(Though Ether mining seems more profitable, it's not the subject)

A nice amount of people actually use their miners as heaters in winter.

That way, even though they might be losing money overall with mining , they save in heaters.

But be careful, because the miners that produce enough heat are also VERY noisy due to the fan speed.

[unholycactus]

I partially heat with my miners during the winter.
There's a limit to how much heat you can generate too, it's very cold where I live.

Also, there are significantly more efficient ways to heat using less energy.
Regardless of the price of your electricity (unless it's free), you will save money using a more standard HVAC solution.

[philipma1957]

I partially heat with my miners during the winter.
There's a limit to how much heat you can generate too, it's very cold where I live.

Also, there are significantly more efficient ways to heat using less energy.
Regardless of the price of your electricity (unless it's free), you will save money using a more standard HVAC solution.

wrong  since the miner can earn coin and save on heat.

for instance the s-7  uses 1300 watts    hashs at 4700 gh  and at 10 cent power it loses 11 cents a day

So as a miner it is a loser if you have 10 cent power  you lose 3.30 usd a month.

but 1300 watts is 5000 btus of  heat an hour  and  120,000 a day and  you can not get heat that cheaply from any hvac that I know of.

is it really practical to heat a whole home with s-7's  depends on your setup.

s-9's  are better but cost a lot.

[QuintLeo]

Using a miner or multiple miners to heat with instead of an electric space heater or electric baseboard heat makes 100% sense.

 In essence, your "mining" electric is free 'till you get to the point you have more heat generation than you need.

 1300 watts isn't 5000 BTU but it's fairly close, works out to more like 4400ish.


 Last winter, my mining farm (at the time a mix of some A2s, some S5s, a single SP20) and some computers I used for non-mining purposes generated enough heat to make me keep 2 windows OPEN at least a crack all winter in a older mobile home with VERY POOR insulation.
 I also had a "time of day" rate there that made electric usage somewhat CHEAPER for heating than natural gas about 65% of the time, and only a LITTLE higher the rest of the time (I DID have a "high efficiency" furnace thanks to a Federal weatherization program but I never needed to fire it up that winter).

 I anticipate a similar situation where I'm at now, though the mix of miners has changed somewhat and the place I'm in now bigger but a LOT better insulated (for the most part).


 There are MANY areas that traditional gas-fired HVAC is NOT cheaper than electric heat - and miners are a lot more likely to LIVE in those areas. Natural gas isn't even AVAILABLE where I live 'cause the Electric rates are so cheap as to make gas non-competative.

[philipma1957]

Using a miner or multiple miners to heat with instead of an electric space heater or electric baseboard heat makes 100% sense.

 In essence, your "mining" electric is free 'till you get to the point you have more heat generation than you need.

 1300 watts isn't 5000 BTU but it's fairly close, works out to more like 4400ish.


 Last winter, my mining farm (at the time a mix of some A2s, some S5s, a single SP20) and some computers I used for non-mining purposes generated enough heat to make me keep 2 windows OPEN at least a crack all winter in a older mobile home with VERY POOR insulation.
 I also had a "time of day" rate there that made electric usage somewhat CHEAPER for heating than natural gas about 65% of the time, and only a LITTLE higher the rest of the time (I DID have a "high efficiency" furnace thanks to a Federal weatherization program but I never needed to fire it up that winter).

 I anticipate a similar situation where I'm at now, though the mix of miners has changed somewhat and the place I'm in now bigger but a LOT better insulated (for the most part).


 There are MANY areas that traditional gas-fired HVAC is NOT cheaper than electric heat - and miners are a lot more likely to LIVE in those areas. Natural gas isn't even AVAILABLE where I live 'cause the Electric rates are so cheap as to make gas non-competative.

Yeah you are right about the btus it is closer to 4400 then 5000.
Still comes to over 100000 btu of heat for 11 cents that is dirt cheap.

My real winter power cost is 11.9 cents a kwatt.

I get so much heat from my miners my gas power bill drops from 200 a month to 75 a month.

I adjust my winter rates for calculation from 11.9 to 8.9 cents.

Just for the savings on heat

[Ryan Dugan]

Using a miner or multiple miners to heat with instead of an electric space heater or electric baseboard heat makes 100% sense.

 In essence, your "mining" electric is free 'till you get to the point you have more heat generation than you need.

 1300 watts isn't 5000 BTU but it's fairly close, works out to more like 4400ish.


 Last winter, my mining farm (at the time a mix of some A2s, some S5s, a single SP20) and some computers I used for non-mining purposes generated enough heat to make me keep 2 windows OPEN at least a crack all winter in a older mobile home with VERY POOR insulation.
 I also had a "time of day" rate there that made electric usage somewhat CHEAPER for heating than natural gas about 65% of the time, and only a LITTLE higher the rest of the time (I DID have a "high efficiency" furnace thanks to a Federal weatherization program but I never needed to fire it up that winter).

 I anticipate a similar situation where I'm at now, though the mix of miners has changed somewhat and the place I'm in now bigger but a LOT better insulated (for the most part).


 There are MANY areas that traditional gas-fired HVAC is NOT cheaper than electric heat - and miners are a lot more likely to LIVE in those areas. Natural gas isn't even AVAILABLE where I live 'cause the Electric rates are so cheap as to make gas non-competative.

Yeah you are right about the btus it is closer to 4400 then 5000.
Still comes to over 100000 btu of heat for 11 cents that is dirt cheap.

My real winter power cost is 11.9 cents a kwatt.

I get so much heat from my miners my gas power bill drops from 200 a month to 75 a month.

I adjust my winter rates for calculation from 11.9 to 8.9 cents.

Just for the savings on heat

This is amazing and surely is very beneficial. You can mine alt currency too and trade in it or invest. You saved lots of money and you can even sell the money coins to help pay for the eletricals bill. How many watts per hour are you guys using ? I need to compare prices.

[unholycactus]

I partially heat with my miners during the winter.
There's a limit to how much heat you can generate too, it's very cold where I live.

Also, there are significantly more efficient ways to heat using less energy.
Regardless of the price of your electricity (unless it's free), you will save money using a more standard HVAC solution.

wrong  since the miner can earn coin and save on heat.

for instance the s-7  uses 1300 watts    hashs at 4700 gh  and at 10 cent power it loses 11 cents a day

So as a miner it is a loser if you have 10 cent power  you lose 3.30 usd a month.

but 1300 watts is 5000 btus of  heat an hour  and  120,000 a day and  you can not get heat that cheaply from any hvac that I know of.

is it really practical to heat a whole home with s-7's  depends on your setup.

s-9's  are better but cost a lot.

Heat pumps are significantly better than any pure electrical heating device in terms of energy consumption.
Even taking mining compensation into consideration.

[philipma1957]

I partially heat with my miners during the winter.
There's a limit to how much heat you can generate too, it's very cold where I live.

Also, there are significantly more efficient ways to heat using less energy.
Regardless of the price of your electricity (unless it's free), you will save money using a more standard HVAC solution.

wrong  since the miner can earn coin and save on heat.

for instance the s-7  uses 1300 watts    hashs at 4700 gh  and at 10 cent power it loses 11 cents a day

So as a miner it is a loser if you have 10 cent power  you lose 3.30 usd a month.

but 1300 watts is 5000 btus of  heat an hour  and  120,000 a day and  you can not get heat that cheaply from any hvac that I know of.

is it really practical to heat a whole home with s-7's  depends on your setup.

s-9's  are better but cost a lot.

Heat pumps are significantly better than any pure electrical heating device in terms of energy consumption.
Even taking mining compensation into consideration.

If the home has a heat pump system installed you are correct.
If the home has gas or oil heat or worse yet electric radiator heat ( I know of many homes with costly radiator heat) then a miner is cheaper and is,worth using.

[adaseb]

Wasn't there a Russian company that was suppose to release a water heater powered with Bitfury mining chips?

[philipma1957]

Wasn't there a Russian company that was suppose to release a water heater powered with Bitfury mining chips?

Yeah. When I pointed out that it was not economical at all the response to my post was shut the fuck up.

I do not think they ever sold any thing since they were a long time preorder.

[HagssFIN]

Wasn't there a Russian company that was suppose to release a water heater powered with Bitfury mining chips?

Yeah. When I pointed out that it was not economical at all the response to my post was shut the fuck up.

I do not think they ever sold any thing since they were a long time preorder.

It was an Ukrainian company and the web site is still up http://en.hotmine.io/

[PantminerS7]

I'm running an S3 for heating somewhere way north. The temps are pretty cold here, but the insulation is decent and the space I want to heat is really small.

Anyway, the S3 has been the only 'heater' running for more than 4 months now. During summer, the room gets slightly too hot with all windows open, but now that the outdoors temp is dropping, the room feels comfortable with one open window. If it gets real cold, you can always close your windows and maybe even overclock the machine a little.

The issue is really price, as mentioned by several posters above. Certain heating systems may get you a better price, but you'll miss out on the whole mining part (supporting BTC by providing hashpower, looking at numbers and graphs, listening to the sound of running fans, rigging the miners etc.).

Another issue you might have trouble with is that miners can make a whole lot of noise, especially if they get above 40C. If you wanna be in the room with the miners a lot, be sure to think about wether or not you\re willing to put up with the noise .

[LordCoder]

Wasn't there a Russian company that was suppose to release a water heater powered with Bitfury mining chips?

Yeah. When I pointed out that it was not economical at all the response to my post was shut the fuck up.

I do not think they ever sold any thing since they were a long time preorder.

It was an Ukrainian company and the web site is still up http://en.hotmine.io/

This seems like a nice project, if the project is still being sold I'll probably purchase some for this winter.

[HagssFIN]

Wasn't there a Russian company that was suppose to release a water heater powered with Bitfury mining chips?

Yeah. When I pointed out that it was not economical at all the response to my post was shut the fuck up.

I do not think they ever sold any thing since they were a long time preorder.

It was an Ukrainian company and the web site is still up http://en.hotmine.io/

This seems like a nice project, if the project is still being sold I'll probably purchase some for this winter.

I don't know what is their status with the miner though. I haven't heard anyone at the forum buying one.

[ImHash]

I think the bitcoin mining has the most heating production but still there are other coins that produce the same heat if you try to mine them in a way that gives any profit.

[QuintLeo]

Doesn't matter what miner or coin you're mining, it matters how many watts of miner(s) you are using - they're all basically 100% conversion efficiency on watts to heat.


 Yes, heat pumps CAN be more efficient - but the up front cost on them is VERY high and they're NOT AN OPTION in many places folks live.
 Same thing on geothermal, but some places don't have the OPTION to install geothermal heat/cooling systems.

[Gahs]

I see no reason for heat pumps since the miners can do a similar job. But OP needs a ventilator for cooling his apartment when summer comes around. Happy mining.

[xhomerx10]

Hi,
Just a shower thoughts I wanted to share.
I live in France (That's why how awful my English is), winter is cold. My flat is electric heated.

Electric heating is basically, transforming electricity in heat with close 100% efficiency (less some IR/electromagnetic).
From some point of view (data processing apart), a computer is nothing else than an electric heater.
Is the following idea somehow smart?: replacing heaters by mining bay, that turn in winter, getting (feedbacking with arduino) a constant overall 20°C ?
Would I have a substantial rake-bake ? (Like "pay the bay in a year or so" substantial)
(Though Ether mining seems more profitable, it's not the subject)

 This is not a good idea.  These ASIC devices are not meant to be turned on and off like your electrical resistance heaters to maintain your flat at 20 degrees; they tend to have very large current draws at power up so turning them on and off frequently could cause serious problems with the device itself or the power supply and there is a risk of fire.  Black Arrow, KNCminer and Asicminer had issues with their devices catching fire under normal use.  There are probably other companies that also had issues.

 If you are set on mining, figure out a minimum power that would maintain your flat at a nominal temperature below 20 degrees when continuously running and use your normal heating to get to 20 degrees.  There isn't a huge selection of miners to choose from though if you want a chance to "pay the bay".  At least this way, your miner isn't powering on and off and you have no need for the arduino.

 Looking at the price of the miners, I doubt this would be a way for your to lower your heating costs.  Obviously you would need to give some data for anyone to make a proper calculation and since you haven't done that, I would take the advice here with a grain of salt.  I wont mention names because their hearts are in the right place, it's just that they are somewhat fanatical about bitcoin mining.  Oh hell, not even somewhat!

 

[leowonderful]

I'm currently running a few S5s and S3's at my house, and they run pretty well in the winter, warming my house up to an acceptable level. Price will be the main issue, but older miners can still work; heating is really the only reason I even have these miners left; they've stopped profiting for me a while ago. Up in northern PA the temps get pretty cold, and lake effect snow happens every winter, so it's a nice way to get some cooling and have some mining done. Noise won't be a tremendous issue as long as you replace fans on S5s and s7s, S3's are relatively quiet and reliable. My miners run 24/7 either way, and I just overall enjoy mining. It's just a tiny boost; I move them around during the winter to provide optimal heating, but that's about it.

[Youresioure]

People who use your miners to heat. That's a straight idea since miners generate alot of heat, but How do you control the heat? Won't your miners overheat? Won't they get damaged? Using them to heat and still keeping the temperature between safe values could be complicated...

[philipma1957]

People who use your miners to heat. That's a straight idea since miners generate alot of heat, but How do you control the heat? Won't your miners overheat? Won't they get damaged? Using them to heat and still keeping the temperature between safe values could be complicated...

not at all.  just run the miner at normal setting and it still gives off lots of heat.

[Shiroslullaby]

If you don't mind the noise of the miners, you could definitely put some in a room and use it for heating. 
You may even be able to heat the room where you will sleep, if you don't mind the noise. 

Since I'm used to the hum of racks of computer equipment (from my job), I can fall asleep with the sound of fans easily.
Depends on how easily you sleep through the noise.

One of the main issues here is going to be your electricity cost.
If your cost is low this may be a way for you to make a little money, otherwise you are probably better off just heating your space through normal methods.

[wmabern]

Unfortunately, my heat is from a gas furnace but gets pushed throughout the house with a HVAC unit. So, when it gets cold I will open the door to my mining room some hours each day to let the heat flow into other rooms. It won't save me much on electricity, but I'll probably end up using less gas and may not have to run the HVAC fan as much.

I wish there were an easy way to redirect the heat from the miners into my HVAC system, but there isn't and I can't make any structural modifications to the house as I don't own it.
But I may try to corral the heat from my 4 miners and duct it to one of the HVAC air intakes in the mining room and see how that does.

[justdimin]

It's actually a good idea to do this in most cases; you get a little hashpower and a bit of heating as well. It's also one of the reasons why the hashrate of the network spikes during the winter and falls back down.

[QuintLeo]

People who use your miners to heat. That's a straight idea since miners generate alot of heat, but How do you control the heat? Won't your miners overheat? Won't they get damaged? Using them to heat and still keeping the temperature between safe values could be complicated...

 Termostats on the fans I used to draw air into and out of my place.
 It's NOT really complicated, even if you have too much heat out of them.


 If you don't have enough miner heat to keep your place warm by themselves, your regular heating system handles keeping the temperatures in the right range.



 wmabern - try putting a fan blowing air INTO your register in the room with the miner(s) in it.
 The ducting thing might cause enough of a fight between your central HVAC fan and the fans of the miners to cause the miners to not be able to cool enough due to their fans not being able to push enough air against the force of the HVAC fan when it's on.
 *IF* your HVAC system has return air ductwork instead of relying on drawing through hallways and such, duct the output of the miners into the return air intake duct for their room - then the HVAC fan will be working WITH the miner fans to draw air through them.

[ALToids]

Unfortunately, my heat is from a gas furnace but gets pushed throughout the house with a HVAC unit. So, when it gets cold I will open the door to my mining room some hours each day to let the heat flow into other rooms. It won't save me much on electricity, but I'll probably end up using less gas and may not have to run the HVAC fan as much.

I wish there were an easy way to redirect the heat from the miners into my HVAC system, but there isn't and I can't make any structural modifications to the house as I don't own it.
But I may try to corral the heat from my 4 miners and duct it to one of the HVAC air intakes in the mining room and see how that does.

If you seat a couple or rigs in front of the return that should pre-heat the air going to the HVAC and reduce the the delta for the heat exchanger.  You just need to have power cords thick enough to run that length.