Replace Your HVAC with BTC? These Innovators Are Doing it

   People have gotten excited about Bitcoin for all kinds of reasons: Crypto promises to be a more efficient financial ecosystem, it helps you send money abroad and it can be used as an investment. But what if you could use it to offset your heating costs? Bitcoin mining is the process that creates new Bitcoins — and it is done by computers performing complex calculations. And, as anyone who has worked with a laptop on their lap knows, computers doing complex work produce heat. Large-scale crypto mining operations often have massive fans to cool their computers, but some creative thinkers are looking for ways to utilize that heat instead of wasting it. Plug in a miner, cut your propane bill Zack Bomsta is a former electrical engineer, founder of Owlet Baby Care and one of the founders of unbound NETWORKS in Provo, Utah. He is currently running pilot programs for a plug-and-play system where people can essentially have small-scale Bitcoin miners act as space heaters in their homes — and save a lot of money on their heating bills. Bomsta’s company also shares some of the Bitcoin mining profits with homeowners. Bomsta says that homeowners don’t need to know anything about Bitcoin in order to participate. “We essentially just say, ‘Hey, if you're willing to host a piece of our distributed data center, we can lower your monthly heating bill by anywhere from $200 to $600 depending on your home and the market dynamics in your area,’” says Bomsta. Bomsta’s team shows up with the Bitcoin miners, sets them up and plugs them into the wall in different places throughout the home where they will evenly distribute heat. The miners are essentially computers the size of a large air purifier and as loud as a typical space heater. The technician can hook them up to Wi-Fi so you can control the temperature of the room as you would with a thermostat. Where mining makes sense Bomsta’s system makes the most economic sense for people who live in an area where propane is expensive and electricity is cheap. The miners run on electricity, so you can expect that cost to go up as your propane costs go down — but Bomsta says homeowners should still come out ahead. According to Bomsta, residents in Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, North and South Dakota and Montana — where one of unbound NETWORK’s pilot programs is currently running — are most likely to benefit. Bomsta estimates that there are close to a million homes in the U.S. that could be good candidates for this kind of system. It’s a symbiotic relationship: Bomsta’s company gets space in a house and free electricity to mine Bitcoin, and homeowners get heat at a reduced cost. Customers also earn a share of the Bitcoin that is mined. Bomsta says that anywhere from 5% to 35% of the Bitcoin rewards generated are shared with the homeowner, either in Bitcoin or transferred as dollars into the homeowner’s bank account. The DIY approach While Bomsta is trying to create a plug-and-play solution, others are creating systems for themselves. Cody Harris, co-founder of Citadel Construction in Lander, Wyoming, and his wife are building a new home, and they decided to make a Bitcoin mining system that would heat their house via radiant floor heat. Harris has no engineering background, but that hasn’t stopped him from building his own setup. He learned through YouTube, online forums and lots of trial and error. Similar to Bomsta’s system, Harris’ system is automated to turn on when the temperature drops. With a DIY system, there are two important costs to consider: The cost to install it and the cost to run it. Harris says he comes out ahead on both counts. He believes the total cost of parts for his system (not including the radiant floor components) will be around $3,500 — similar to the price of a propane boiler. The cost of running the system is a little more variable, because you have to factor in the highly volatile price of Bitcoin. But for Harris, so far it has worked in his favor. “Last winter, I was basically producing free power,” says Harris. “The miners were producing the exact same amount of Bitcoin that it was costing me in electricity to run them. So if I was spending $100 a week to heat my house, I was making $100 a week in Bitcoin.” Harris' rig is a part of a larger collective of miners who share the Bitcoin profits of what they mine. Savvy energy savings Building your own Bitcoin mining heater may feel unapproachable, but anyone who makes the leap could help the tides turn in the direction of more efficient, more resourceful heating. “It's just always going to come down to who has the cheapest energy and who can be the most efficient with the use of it,” says Harris. Even for someone so involved in the creation of his own setup, Harris is still pretty excited by the thought of it. “Miraculously, it just works.”