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[–] 94 points 1 week ago (10 children)

The built in computer is mining bitcoins and the generated heat is used for boiling the water.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago* (1 child)

    Back when it was actually worth it, I used a mining rig as a space heater in my shed, made from some 2nd hand gpus. It paid for the electricity it used so it was good. Gpu mining is pointless today though.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago

    There was at least one company selling this sort of thing as a product back then. It was more efficient than conventional electric heating, if I'm not mistaken, even without the income from mining.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

    i wonder if it could actually make economic sense, instead of burning the electricity directly in some heat spiral.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago* (3 children)

    Move into a cold climate, and buy a house that has only electric heaters. Those were popular in the 70s, and nobody wants them now, so you can buy one with pocket change. Build a mining cluster in one bedroom and install air ducts to distribute the warm air throughout the rest of the house.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    yeah, that is nothing new, friend uses heat from small datacenter (i don't think that 20 racks constitutes datacenter, but i am not sure if there is better word 😀) he has in a basement of that building to contribute to its heating.

    i really mean if you could make bitcoin coffee-maker and if it could eventually pay for the price difference between normal and bitcoin one and how much coffee would you have to drink to make that work.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago*

    It’s doable, but you’ll need at least four heat pumps in series. Each one would bump up the temperature of the water, until you get 165 °C steam. The last few steps aren’t very efficient, but it’s still cheaper than using electrical heaters. Those heat pumps will take a fair bit of space and money. Oh, and those machines make as much noise as a big freezer. Other than that, it should be fine.

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