Has anyone done the math to determine whether it is cheaper to burn natural gas directly for heat, or to drive a generator that powers a bitcoin miner that produces heat plus sats?
I know that there is an efficiency loss due to converting heat to electricity then to back to heat, but wondering if sats gained is a net positive?
#asknostr nostr:nprofile1qqs9ez06ea26rc45f4rf0cyckdxkvvhlvekeawqee29jttp0hjm5mkcpzemhxue69uhkummnw3ex2mrfw3jhxtn0wfnj7z4ez5p
Should be easy to maf (not for me but for a smart person). But im curious watts the cost of the gas and how are you radiating the heat into the home?
Really going to depend of the cost of natural gas, cost of gasoline (for the generator), and how much heat you need.
Yup. Looking for a formula with variables. Somebody might have done the work already.
That "efficiency loss" is just more heat, so I believe mining wins out in energy terms. You still need to pay for a miner.
What changes the picture more drastically is if you put heat pumps in the picture. Each watt of electricity can give you a few watts of heat!
I haven't done the math, but a few factors to consider:
Additional infrastructure cost of genny
Extent of efficiency losses (new vs old genny)
Price of sats now vs future (some will mine at loss anticipating appreciation)
Some folks have looked into similar set ups
https://x.com/SoftwarmLLC/status/1850585505018323227?t=QUQTXV96EsupXd1YnKfp_g&s=19
Though most just use grid power and recycle heat from what I've seen (they've reported lowering nat gas costs, but can't find tweet rn & to what extent it offsets power cost)
The simpler case of an electric-only bitcoin miner-heater would be great. For example knowing how many BTUs is required to heat, the cost of electricity and what return might be expected from mining. Electric heating is brutally expensive in Canada (in Ontario, at least) - anything that could offset that expense would be great. Imagine buying one of these at Best Buy!
nostr:nprofile1qqsvdu0gthe3rknfrq32crjvl2vcpkv658739jr48amnjy8xz3jk38qpzfmhxue69uhhqatjwpkx2urpvuhx2ucpzamhxue69uhhyetvv9ujucm4wfex2mn59en8j6gpgdmhxw309a5xvdn80fmhyde5wfjkyamnw3khq6rzxa4x56rzvumxxenpdv6xwmrcdfeh2a34wp6xy6r6xsmrvvn609sk2unkd9jzummwd9hku7hwqle is writing a book on heat recovery
