4 ms·

Technically if all electric space heaters were crypto miners as well then crytpo mining would be well distributed, resistant to attack and unprofitable to mine

Technically if all electric space heaters were crypto miners as well then crytpo mining would be well distributed, resistant to attack and unprofitable to mine - win, win, win. Edit: Looks like matheusmoreira below doesn’t understand a 500w electric heater and a 500w crypto miner produce the same amount of heat and use the same amount of electricity.

matheusmoreira 5y ago
Exactly! This sounds like the perfect way to create a distributed proof-of-work network.
- DonHopkins 5y ago
  More like Proof-Of-Waste, both of precious electricity, and of precious rare earth elements and other materials. Not to mention how much precious time cryptocurrency shills waste, and dangerous greenhouse gasses they produce from all the hot air of their rancid breath, by droning on and on and on about cryptocurrency all the time, parroting all the lies they heard in youtube get-rich-quick pyramid scheme videos. Another shill in this thread just mindlessly repeated the same old lie they parrot all the time: >Crypto helps accelerate the growth, demand, and build-out of renewable energy. That's like saying using more Cocaine helps you quit using Cocaine faster. "Cocaine makes me feel like a new man. And he wants some too!" In an unfortunate and unintended way, it's true... And the absurd idea of using a crypto rig as a space heater has already been completely debunked in this thread. Go back and read it. If it's such a great idea, then why doesn't everybody already have one or a hundred of them, huh? matheusmoreira: Do you really believe in get-rich-quick schemes and perpetual motion devices and miracle cures, even when you can't seem to find any for sale that actually work? Then you must not believe in the free market, either. Is it easier to believe there's a huge well organized conspiracy suppressing these technologies, instead of simply the laws of physics and economics? Go back and read astoor's comment again, which trixie_'s fancifully wishful reply simply doesn't refute. But of course you can't argue facts with a true believer. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29095560 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29095560 >Theoretically if every space heater right now was also a crypto miner, it would make any dedicated mining operation completely unprofitable. If your grandmother had wheels, then she'd be a bicycle. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=If%20my%20grandma%20had%20wheels https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=If%20my%20gr... >Sir, this is a casino. Please direct your anger towards Wall Street. POS = Proof of Shock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
  - rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
    If only we could harvest hate for energy, then we could power our mining machines from your opinion alone! Sir, this is a casino. Please direct your anger towards Wall Street.
  - trixie_ 5y ago
    Did you miss the point? An electric space heater that is also a crytpo miner would be the same efficiency. Theoretically if every space heater right now was also a crypto miner, it would make any dedicated mining operation completely unprofitable.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    I'm just gonna ignore the hateful parts of your post. > More like Proof-Of-Waste, both of precious electricity, and of precious rare earth elements and other materials. Is it really a waste if the heat produced is useful? > idea of using a crypto rig as a space heater has already been completely debunked Where? I've read detailed posts describing that it probably wouldn't be as efficient as other heat transfer methods. Doesn't mean it is "debunked". I'm convinced it could work in certain circumstances, such as availability of free energy in the form of solar power. > If it's such a great idea, then why doesn't everybody already have one or a hundred of them, huh? I don't know. I've been wondering for a while. That's why I started a discussion. Maybe the idea is too new or there aren't consumer products in the market that make it easy for people to do it.
astoor 5y ago
There have been a number of startups selling crypto-mining electric heaters, but they've all faced the same problems: - They're much more expensive than normal heaters, and the returns on mining don't make it cost effective. - If you've spent that much money on heaters/miners, you're going to want to max them out 24/7 before they become obsolete rather than just switch them on when its cold, which defeats the point. - They'll also need to be upgraded every 6-12 months to keep up with the mining arms race, and no-one wants to have to replace their super-expensive heating system that often.
- trixie_ 5y ago
  The chips can be less powerful, cheaper, and higher volume because the goal would be to put them in millions of heaters without increasing the base price too much. People buying them would be for heat, not mining. It could be advertised to save a few bucks on heating each month but nothing major.
geraneum 5y ago
But imagine when you want to warm yourself up in a cold time, instead of plunging a simple heater in, you have to deal with a machine which might even need to connect to internet to work (if looking at current IoT devices is any indication). I don't like to deal with such a complexity, unless they make it so simple that I can gift a crypto heater to my suburban grandma and not worry about installing it for her.
- trixie_ 5y ago
  I’m sure it would still generate heat still without doing anything other than plugging it in.. Stick a LTE chip in there as a fallback to mine for the company’s pool. Would probably make enough money to offset the cost.
sudosysgen 5y ago
A 500w crypto miner produces much less useful heat than even the cheapest and most primitive 500w heat pump. So no, crypto mining is always less efficient.

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Exactly! This sounds like the perfect way to create a distributed proof-of-work network.

DonHopkins 5y ago
More like Proof-Of-Waste, both of precious electricity, and of precious rare earth elements and other materials. Not to mention how much precious time cryptocurrency shills waste, and dangerous greenhouse gasses they produce from all the hot air of their rancid breath, by droning on and on and on about cryptocurrency all the time, parroting all the lies they heard in youtube get-rich-quick pyramid scheme videos. Another shill in this thread just mindlessly repeated the same old lie they parrot all the time: >Crypto helps accelerate the growth, demand, and build-out of renewable energy. That's like saying using more Cocaine helps you quit using Cocaine faster. "Cocaine makes me feel like a new man. And he wants some too!" In an unfortunate and unintended way, it's true... And the absurd idea of using a crypto rig as a space heater has already been completely debunked in this thread. Go back and read it. If it's such a great idea, then why doesn't everybody already have one or a hundred of them, huh? matheusmoreira: Do you really believe in get-rich-quick schemes and perpetual motion devices and miracle cures, even when you can't seem to find any for sale that actually work? Then you must not believe in the free market, either. Is it easier to believe there's a huge well organized conspiracy suppressing these technologies, instead of simply the laws of physics and economics? Go back and read astoor's comment again, which trixie_'s fancifully wishful reply simply doesn't refute. But of course you can't argue facts with a true believer. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29095560 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29095560 >Theoretically if every space heater right now was also a crypto miner, it would make any dedicated mining operation completely unprofitable. If your grandmother had wheels, then she'd be a bicycle. https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=If%20my%20grandma%20had%20wheels https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=If%20my%20gr... >Sir, this is a casino. Please direct your anger towards Wall Street. POS = Proof of Shock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjbPi00k_ME
- rfd4sgmk8u 5y ago
  If only we could harvest hate for energy, then we could power our mining machines from your opinion alone! Sir, this is a casino. Please direct your anger towards Wall Street.
- trixie_ 5y ago
  Did you miss the point? An electric space heater that is also a crytpo miner would be the same efficiency. Theoretically if every space heater right now was also a crypto miner, it would make any dedicated mining operation completely unprofitable.
- matheusmoreira 5y ago
  I'm just gonna ignore the hateful parts of your post. > More like Proof-Of-Waste, both of precious electricity, and of precious rare earth elements and other materials. Is it really a waste if the heat produced is useful? > idea of using a crypto rig as a space heater has already been completely debunked Where? I've read detailed posts describing that it probably wouldn't be as efficient as other heat transfer methods. Doesn't mean it is "debunked". I'm convinced it could work in certain circumstances, such as availability of free energy in the form of solar power. > If it's such a great idea, then why doesn't everybody already have one or a hundred of them, huh? I don't know. I've been wondering for a while. That's why I started a discussion. Maybe the idea is too new or there aren't consumer products in the market that make it easy for people to do it.

astoor 5y ago

There have been a number of startups selling crypto-mining electric heaters, but they've all faced the same problems: - They're much more expensive than normal heaters, and the returns on mining don't make it cost effective. - If you've spent that much money on heaters/miners, you're going to want to max them out 24/7 before they become obsolete rather than just switch them on when its cold, which defeats the point. - They'll also need to be upgraded every 6-12 months to keep up with the mining arms race, and no-one wants to have to replace their super-expensive heating system that often.

trixie_ 5y ago
The chips can be less powerful, cheaper, and higher volume because the goal would be to put them in millions of heaters without increasing the base price too much. People buying them would be for heat, not mining. It could be advertised to save a few bucks on heating each month but nothing major.

geraneum 5y ago

But imagine when you want to warm yourself up in a cold time, instead of plunging a simple heater in, you have to deal with a machine which might even need to connect to internet to work (if looking at current IoT devices is any indication). I don't like to deal with such a complexity, unless they make it so simple that I can gift a crypto heater to my suburban grandma and not worry about installing it for her.

trixie_ 5y ago
I’m sure it would still generate heat still without doing anything other than plugging it in.. Stick a LTE chip in there as a fallback to mine for the company’s pool. Would probably make enough money to offset the cost.

sudosysgen 5y ago

A 500w crypto miner produces much less useful heat than even the cheapest and most primitive 500w heat pump. So no, crypto mining is always less efficient.