Re:Square: Bitcoin Is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future
by kreetx on Friday April 23, 2021 @03:51AM
(#26912187)
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.
Re:Square: Bitcoin Is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future
by billytetrud on Thursday April 22, 2021 @12:37PM
(#26904766)
> 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.
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.