It’s no secret that bitcoin mining machines, or ASICs produce a lot of heat. But this heat can be captured, transferred, and repurposed. Repurposing heat can offset costs, reduce energy waste, and create new revenue streams for miners.
This article highlights a few ways miners have gotten creative with heat recycling.
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Farming and food preparation
Greenhouse heating
Excess heat from bitcoin mining can be recycled for food production. Genesis mining is actively working to make this a reality. Through their partnerships with Swedish academic/research institutions, they are developing and deploying mining-heated greenhouses. Genesis Mining’s technology redirects ASIC residual heat to 300m2 greenhouses using 600 kW air-cooled datacenter containers. (Read more)
Dehydrating fruit
Although the Genesis mining technology pictured above can also be used to dry fruits and vegetables, the first known case of this mining heat application was in 2011. A bag of mining heated dried strawberries bearing the label: “These berries were produced using filtered, recycled heat produced by computers that perpetuate Bitcoin: the world’s first alternative, decentralized currency.” sold for 1.5 BTC at a local grocery store. (Read more)
Whiskey production
Yes, you read that right. Mining and booze make the perfect pair. Crypto mining firm Mintgreen has launched a program with Canadian whiskey company, Shelter Point Distillery. Mintgreen will sell recycled heat waste to Shelter Point, this heat will be used to power part of the whiskey production process. (Read more)
Water heating
Residential water heating systems
Heat from bitcoin mining can be integrated into residential home water heating systems. Sato, a bitcoin miner powered water boiler produced by WiseMining, makes this possible. Sato utilizes immersion cooling technology to stabilize temperature and works with regular water-based emitters like radiators to deliver up to 5Kw of power. Sato heats water and mines bitcoin without excess energy use. (Read more)
Pools and hot tubs
Traditional or solar water heating technology for swimming pools can cost between $2,000-5000. But miners can heat their pools by recycling an ASICs’ residual heat at no additional cost.
A visualization of the process:
For a detailed explanation on how this process works, check out this video
Excess heat from mining can also be used to heat hot tubs. What does this look like? Here’s an example: Spa-256
Space heating
Using ASICs in the place of conventional space heaters has been a common use case for excess heat since bitcoin’s early days. This is a popular solution for small scale retail miners. Surprisingly, this has also gained popularity among university student miners. Students are footing part of their tuition bill with mining revenue while heating their dorms in the winter. (Read more)
The setup below is from a small scale North Carolina miner who uses S9 bitcoin miners to heat his home. (Read more)
Heat repurposing comes down to the law of thermodynamics, energy can not be created or destroyed, just converted from one form to another. By this definition, ASIC heat reuse is a function of science and mathematics, like bitcoin itself. Recycling heat increases the overall efficiency profile of bitcoin mining.
