Want to purchase Bitcoin mining ASIC.

[DannyHamilton]

I've been around BitcoinTalk for a long time, but I'm very new to the mining section of this forum. I apologize if this post belongs in the Marketplace section of the forum and not in the Mining Hardware section.  Just let me know and I'll move it.

I've got this idea about using the waste heat from mining equipment to heat my garage here in the cold northern Illinois winter. Since the main purpose of the equipment is to heat the garage, the equipment doesn't even need to turn a profit. It just needs the NET cost of operation to be cheaper than running a heater in the same space.

As such, what I'm looking for is the highest watts per purchase cost that I can get.

If you've got some used equipment to sell that is no longer profitable to run, please contact me. The higher watts the better.

Obviously, I'll need a PSU to run the equipment as well. I'm in the U.S. and I currently have access to both 120V 15A (NEMA 5-15R) and 240v 50A (NEMA 14-50) in my garage.

Initially, I'm wanting to spend less than $500 all together for all the necessary equipment. If I'm happy with the results, I may spend more in the future.

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[HagssFIN]

With that budget you can barely buy two Antminer S9 or two AvalonMiner 841 to heat your garage.

[wndsnb]

With that budget you can barely buy two Antminer S9 or two AvalonMiner 841 to heat your garage.

I think he could barely buy a single one. Last price I saw was $462 each for an S9j with MOQ of 75 from China... Gear prices are super high right now, even for gear several generations old.

I run a single S17 (~2400W) in my well-insulated garage at a time, which is enough to keep it nice and toasty in there all winter long. But it is also loud enough to hear on the street, so keep that in mind. People have posted various ways of modifying S9s to take them down to a tolerable noise level, but it usually involves running them at lower clock rates so they use even less power, maybe 700W max. If you don't care about the noise, then 2 S9s running full speed for a combined 2400W or so would probably be good to keep your garage warm, but that's most likely going to cost you $1000 for two miners that could be 4 years old...

S9s might get cheaper if the BTC price tanks some more... another 50% drop or so and the break-even power cost for an S9 will be under 7c/kwh.

What is your power cost?

[DannyHamilton]

I run a single S17 (~2400W) in my well-insulated garage at a time, which is enough to keep it nice and toasty in there all winter long.

Initially, I'm not looking to keep the garage "nice and toasty", I'd just like to keep it above freezing. If I can get any noticible temperature difference at all, then I'll consider spending more money and getting more equipment. If I can't even get a noticeable difference with $500 of equipment, then it probably isn't going to be worth it to spend more.

But it is also loud enough to hear on the street, so keep that in mind. People have posted various ways of modifying S9s to take them down to a tolerable noise level, but it usually involves running them at lower clock rates so they use even less power, maybe 700W max.

Noise isn't too big of a concern at this point.  I suppose if my wife can hear it all the way in the house, or if the neighbors complain then I'll have to re-consider.

If you don't care about the noise, then 2 S9s running full speed for a combined 2400W or so would probably be good to keep your garage warm, but that's most likely going to cost you $1000 for two miners that could be 4 years old...

That's a bit more expensive than I was hoping.  Perhaps I'll have to wait a few more years and then look into it again.

S9s might get cheaper if the BTC price tanks some more... another 50% drop or so and the break-even power cost for an S9 will be under 7c/kwh.

Yeah, also if newer/better equipment comes along then the older equipment might get cheaper.  I'm in no hurry. I guess I'll just keep an eye on things and take this time to learn a bit more.

What is your power cost?

Doesn't really matter, since I'm not trying to make a profit.

Extreme examples:
If my power cost were $0.50/kWh
A 1500 watt space heater would cost me $504 to run continuously for 4 weeks.
Meanwhile, a 1500 watt PSU running a miner that earns 0.000003 BTC (300 satoshis) per day would generate the exact same heat and would use the same $504 of electricity BUT would offset it's cost of operation by generating about $4.12 worth of bitcoin over that same period of time.  I save $4.12 every 4 weeks by buying and running mining equipment instead of buying and running an electric space heater.

If my power cost were $0.01/kWh
A 1500 watt space heater would cost me $10 to run continuously for 4 weeks.
Meanwhile, a 1500 watt PSU running a miner that earns 0.000003 BTC (300 satoshis) per day would again generate the exact same heat and would use the same $10 of electricity BUT would still offset it's cost of operation by generating about $4.12 worth of bitcoin over that same period of time.  I still save $4.12 every 4 weeks by buying and running mining equipment instead of buying and running an electric space heater.

Since the goal and purpose of the equipment is to generate heat, the bitcoins generated are effectively free. Therefore, regardless of my power costs, I come out ahead by the amount of bitcoin that the heater (I mean miner) generates.

[HagssFIN]

One effective solution for your garage heating would also be using a heatpump, like for example Mitsubishi LN25..

It creates more heating power than it takes electric power from the outlet.

[DannyHamilton]

One effective solution for your garage heating would also be using a heatpump, like for example Mitsubishi LN25..

It creates more heating power than it takes electric power from the outlet.

Certainly. And that's something I'll look into. I was curious though as to how much heat I could reasonably expect to get from $500 worth of mining equipment and how much the mining would offset it's operating costs.  I thought it might work out to be even more cost-efficient than a heat pump after considering the revenue generated.  It's sounding like that's probably not going to happen with the equipment currently available.

[wndsnb]

Yeah, also if newer/better equipment comes along then the older equipment might get cheaper.  I'm in no hurry. I guess I'll just keep an eye on things and take this time to learn a bit more.

In today's market, it doesn't make much of a difference at all. Bitmain will be shipping a 21.5W/TH miner next year. But if you look at the difference in profit right now between 21.5W/TH and a 1 generation old 42W/th, it is in the noise. At least for now. At least for now, the only way gear prices are going to fall is if BTC price tanks way more than it has recently. Those S9s will be back to $100 each if we get below 25k...

What is your power cost?

Doesn't really matter, since I'm not trying to make a profit.
...
Since the goal and purpose of the equipment is to generate heat, the bitcoins generated are effectively free. Therefore, regardless of my power costs, I come out ahead by the amount of bitcoin that the heater (I mean miner) generates.

The reason I ask is that with where profitability is now if you have 10c power even the S9 would cover the whole bill plus about $25 a month. Break-even power cost for an S9 running full speed is about 13c/kwh. A T17 would cover the whole bill plus $190 more a month. Right now I think you'd have a hard time finding a miner that isn't profitable since they are so old most have already died....

[DannyHamilton]

The reason I ask is that with where profitability is now if you have 10c power even the S9 would cover the whole bill plus about $25 a month. Break-even power cost for an S9 running full speed is about 13c/kwh. A T17 would cover the whole bill plus $190 more a month. Right now I think you'd have a hard time finding a miner that isn't profitable since they are so old most have already died....

Sure, but my point is that the profitability doesn't matter to me.  I'm looking to purchase heat, not hashpower. A miner that generates a net profit of $25 worth of bitcoin per month but puts out almost no heat at all is useless for me.  Meanwhile, a miner that runs at a net loss of $25 per month but keeps my garage toasty warm would be amazing.

Therefore, the metric that is most important to me is watts per unit of purchase price.

A 1000 watt miner that I can purchase for 0.003 BTC and hashes at a rate of 1TH would be better for what I want to accomplish than a 2500 watt miner that I can purchase for 0.01 BTC and hashes at a rate of 5TH, since I could purchase 3 of them for 0.009 BTC and get a total of 3000 watts out of it.

[wndsnb]

I understand what you're saying. In your situation, the power is free, since you're saying you would be paying to heat the garage using electricity anyway. I'd bet 1 S9 would be enough to at least keep your garage above freezing. So in that case it is generating about $130 a month and would nearly pay for itself by the end of winter, no matter what your power cost is.

[ruber1]

I heat my garage in MN (similar to you weather wise) successfully
I mine for profit and my heating has evolved form a bunch of miners in a partially insulated garage to now fully insulated and even duct runs to distribute heat in 1000 square foot garage. Long story.

Size of garage and insulated vs. non-insulated all need to be considered.
I would say a typical 24 x 24 to 26 reasonably insulated garage would need at least 2 S9's to keep above 50 deg F most of the time. That a guess from my experience.

Your 240v 50A power is sufficient to run that and even more (wired correctly of course).


If you were to invest a chunk (well quire a bit over you budget) initially and get your hands on, say a Whatsminer M20 series. They are solid units and crank quite a bit of heat, I'd say more than a pair of S9's (I have an M20), use about the same space overall (longer but integrated power supply) as a single S9 (with separate power supply) you'd have a fair payback this winter/early spring and if you run for a full year into next winter, more that recover your investment and have a free/profitable heater next year potentially. (Of course you never know what miner profitability will be month to month).

[thak777]

Another option is to buy some shitcoin ASICs--I've got a few D3 boxes that currently are right around break-even in terms of profitability. Hook them up to a pool like Nicehash that automatically converts to Bitcoin (for ease of use) and you've got Bitcoin-generating heaters like you want.

Ping me if you're interested.