Building a revenue generating workshop heater?

R

ryanjg11

Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
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I'm new to mining like all the other vermin that have been coming out of the woodwork lately, but after seeing how my year-old video card is now selling for three times its old price, I figured maybe there's some opportunity here. I've started to mine on my rendering desktop while not in use, with NiceHash Miner Legacy and a single GTX1080 non-TI.

I was about to pay my utility about $500 to run a separate gas line to a detached 1,100 square foot garage on my property to provide heat for the workshop, which got me to thinking... What if I just built a mining farm to provide the heat instead?

I've got a standalone commercial electrical panel in this shop, total of 200A so dedicating 60A or so to a setup won't be an issue.

I know the bigger problem is going to be air conditioning during hotter times of the year. And finding efficient GPUs affordably - if anyone has any tips there, please let me know.

I'm in the Seattle area and pay about $0.098 per kWh.

What kind of initial investment in hardware would be required to build something that would generate meaningful returns whilst heating (at least partially) the workshop during the fall and winter?
 
Good luck buying any cards right now. Nearly sold out everywhere. And where they aren't sold out they're 100-300 over MSRP.
 
+1 to DriveEuro's comment. The biggest problem is going to be finding video cards near MSRP. If you're paying $400-500 for an RX 580 for example, it will take quite a while to reach the break even point and that's assuming the coin prices remain where they are or go higher.

Also, while I understand the heat generated is a desired byproduct of mining for your use case, keep in mind that a mining rig is way way less efficient at producing heat vs gas. Your heating bill savings will be negligible, and any savings there will be greatly exceeded by the cooling costs you'd incur in the summer. Someplace like a basement, with a lower ambient temp year round, is a better spot than something like a garage.
 
doublejack said:
...and any savings there will be greatly exceeded by the cooling costs you'd incur in the summer.
Click to expand...

It's in a workshop, so in the summer I'd get them running in a non-AC area and find a way to vent the heat outside. And drop power targets down a bit, if necessary, to keep them at a reasonable temp.
 
That's what I was thinking... Basically the farm would be in a closed-off carport in the shop, separated by an insulated wall. When it's cold in the shop I can turn on the ducting to blow in some of the warm air from the farm. In the summer, I can close that duct or redirect it to the outside.

I realize it's a terribly inefficient way to generate heat but if it pays for itself (and then slightly more)... Well, it's a better option that paying for gas each month, even when gas is as cheap as it is. Yes?
 
ryanjg11 said:
That's what I was thinking... Basically the farm would be in a closed-off carport in the shop, separated by an insulated wall. When it's cold in the shop I can turn on the ducting to blow in some of the warm air from the farm. In the summer, I can close that duct or redirect it to the outside.

I realize it's a terribly inefficient way to generate heat but if it pays for itself (and then slightly more)... Well, it's a better option that paying for gas each month, even when gas is as cheap as it is. Yes?
Click to expand...
I use mining rigs as heaters. If anything it's a fun project. When summer comes I'll cross that bridge, but if you're willing to spend and you'll have fun doing it why not?
 
I turned off the heat to my office and I have 7970, 7950, and a couple of 580 4gb cards in 2 computers mining 24/7.

It still get cold as shit and I regret telling my wife i was going to lower the electricity bill while keeping my office warmer. Now I am stuck with a cold office because the electric bill dropped 20 bucks.

Thinking about buying the wife a new hair dryer so I can blame her and turn back on the heat down here. I am in Denver for reference. It's also hellish if I leave the house and a warm front moves through, I have walked into an 84 degree office before.

What would be really cool is to use a thermal couple(or whatever they are called) and link the mining load directly to heat in the room like an actual heater.
 
stealthballer123 said:
Thinking about buying the wife a new hair dryer so I can blame her and turn back on the heat down here. I am in Denver for reference. It's also hellish if I leave the house and a warm front moves through, I have walked into an 84 degree office before.
Click to expand...

I got my g/f a Dyson and she was wet for three days. Stupidly expensive, but girls seem to love the damn things because they're quiet and cut drying time "in half".
 
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