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If you have a choice between a radiator and a miner, then you do mine to make the heat. The added btc (or any other) is a bounus which perhaps helps to cover th

by kreetx 6y ago

If you have a choice between a radiator and a miner, then you do mine to make the heat. The added btc (or any other) is a bounus which perhaps helps to cover the electricity. Since the bulk of mining is done in specialized facilities then home-mining can be about heat (plus tinkering/hobby).

smolder 6y ago
That's oversimplifying a little. Miners are much more expensive than radiators, so again, the heat is the bonus, you are investing in mining equipment, not a heater, and the resources for making said mining equipment are much more than what it costs to make a heater. Using old junk equipment works but won't make you much. It's also less efficient than a normal heater, especially compared to heat pumps. The difference is only made up in mining, which is itself a super inefficient process, as we know. Less so when you use them as heaters... but they aren't great heaters.
- billytetrud 6y ago
  > It's also less efficient than a normal heater, If you're saying that "normal heaters" produce more heat for a given amount of electric usage, that is absolutely wrong. Yes heat pumps are more efficient, but those are not "normal heaters". Sounds like you're either being disingenuous or you have a misunderstanding of basic physics.
- kreetx 6y ago
  Perhaps it's not that simple, true. What I meant was that there are people who need to heat a room, but are hobby IT people. So instead of getting a radiator they put a mining rig in the room. It won't mine in any substantial amount and won't generate a massive profit, perhaps just pays for the electricity. What I'm just saying is that people do mine in a situation where heat is primary and the rest is hobby. Also, as the sibling says, miners are just as efficient as radiators for the same amount of electricity. Heat pumps are another story, they don't generate heat from electricity but transfer it from somewhere else.

by kreetx 6y ago

smolder 6y ago

That's oversimplifying a little. Miners are much more expensive than radiators, so again, the heat is the bonus, you are investing in mining equipment, not a heater, and the resources for making said mining equipment are much more than what it costs to make a heater. Using old junk equipment works but won't make you much. It's also less efficient than a normal heater, especially compared to heat pumps. The difference is only made up in mining, which is itself a super inefficient process, as we know. Less so when you use them as heaters... but they aren't great heaters.

billytetrud 6y ago
> It's also less efficient than a normal heater, If you're saying that "normal heaters" produce more heat for a given amount of electric usage, that is absolutely wrong. Yes heat pumps are more efficient, but those are not "normal heaters". Sounds like you're either being disingenuous or you have a misunderstanding of basic physics.
kreetx 6y ago
Perhaps it's not that simple, true. What I meant was that there are people who need to heat a room, but are hobby IT people. So instead of getting a radiator they put a mining rig in the room. It won't mine in any substantial amount and won't generate a massive profit, perhaps just pays for the electricity. What I'm just saying is that people do mine in a situation where heat is primary and the rest is hobby. Also, as the sibling says, miners are just as efficient as radiators for the same amount of electricity. Heat pumps are another story, they don't generate heat from electricity but transfer it from somewhere else.