Hello All - my first post, please be gentle!
I have been reading the forums for a while now and doing a little bit of research on bitcoins and mining. I have come to the conclusions that a) it is extremely interesting & b) there are some questions I needed answering before I decide whether or not mining is a viable option for me and continue my research.
I have several offices. One of my offices has a set rate for utilities regardless of how much electricity I use. One of the few things I have learned is that electricity costs are very important to monitor when mining!
My questions:
1. I have a budget of around £2,500 (GBP) to spend on a "project", which I would really like to consider mining as a project to take on. Are there any reputable suppliers of rigs / machines in the UK, that you guys recommend?
2. In terms of profitability calculators I found several, but couldn't get them to work! When I input the electricity cost of "0", several of the calculators didn't like it!
Thanks in advance
You can write off mining with anything less than a current-generation ASIC miner; anything else isn't even worth your time to set up.
Even with someone else paying the electricity, you need to look at whether you will even get a break-even return on your hardware investment. Bitcoin mining difficulty is extremely high and run by large miners and may continue an unstoppable uptrend, this makes your future earnings a guess. The block reward will be halving in less than two years.
You also should not take a possible future rise in Bitcoin price into account when choosing to mine. If you predict the price will increase, you can just buy bitcoins now with your money instead of trying to earn them over months and years.