Due to its high energy consumption and contribution to rising global temperatures, Bitcoin mining is considered quite a controversial topic in conservation debates. With that, it is still considered a highly effective way of making money, especially in underprivileged areas.
To prove that Bitcoin mining comes with benefits that go far beyond financial gains in cryptocurrency earnings, a mining company is now providing heating solutions to homes in Siberia.
How Bitcoin Mining is Providing Heating in Siberia
The initiative to offer mining-powered heating solutions to homes is being led by Hotmine, a Bitcoin mining equipment company that has been in operations since 2013.
Based out of Ukraine, Hotmine stays true to its name and turns around the rising temperature problem to the benefit of its users as well as the planet. Instead of trying to suppress the heat produced through its mining equipment, the company uses it to power its space heating solutions.
According to research collated by the company, an average Bitcoin miner produces enough heat to warm about 10 square meters of a room. This heat spreads to the miner’s proximity despite utilizing usual cooling equipment.
For instance, cooling fans that are made for mining rigs keep the mining system’s temperature regulated. This feature allows the mining system to work correctly. But the system still makes the surroundings warmer even if it is running on optimal efficiency.
Seeing this problem, Hotmine mining equipment is built using its heat production as a strength instead of a weakness.
How Does Hotmine Use Its Heat Production as a Product Feature?
Hotmine produces mining systems that are meant to mine Bitcoin with efficiency while also using the heat they produce to provide warmth to their surroundings.
The company is targeting the use of this equipment in colder regions, where residents need additional warmth to be healthy and safe in the face of cold weather.
Since select areas in Siberia provide some of the coldest weather conditions in the world, Hotmine has picked the region as one of the prime examples of places that could benefit from its solutions.
This way, homeowners who live in colder temperatures no longer have to spend additional funds to power separate heating solutions. They could be comfortable in their surroundings by simply buying a Hotmine mining system, which lets them earn money in Bitcoin while also saving them the hassle of paying additional heating or electricity bills.
Hotmine Allows Users to Enjoy Heating Along With Additional Income
Hotmine users could enjoy the comfort provided by heating solutions without spending any additional funds on them. According to calculations provided by the company, this is not just a pipe dream but a very achievable goal.
As described by Hotmine CEO Oles Slobodenyuk, Hotmine’s primary heating and mining equipment combo could perform mining calculations at the rate of 8 tera hashes per second (th/s) while producing heat for around 10 square meters.
Slobodenyuk has assessed that 1 th/s generates around $7.20 a month. This concept means that a Hotmine miner could quickly produce approximately $55 a month.
Given that a usual heater costs around $10 month in Siberia, this income of $55 could not only cover the costs very easily but also provide some additional income for its owners.
The best part is that those who use Hotmine’s heating equipment to generate profits do not have to worry about manual currency conversion from Bitcoin to fiat. The company is teaming up with payment processors to help do the conversions. This way, even those who do not want to learn how to use Bitcoin wallets or exchanges could make use of the profits generated by Hotmine’s solutions.
The Company Has a Range of Bitcoin Mining-powered Heating Equipment
From a miner-heater combo to specifically built boilers, Hotmine is providing a range of solutions that would fit the needs of homeowners, as well as those, operate business locations.
While Hotmine has been in operations since 2013, the company’s initial range of Bitcoin mining-powered boilers didn’t scale according to plan during its launch. While the equipment provided free heating to its owners for about two years due to the same mining and heating combo system, the mining chips in the boilers needed to be replaced after two years.
Seeing that they had to pay for equipment all over again, customers who had gone with Hotmine boilers decided to revert to conventional heating.
But with the launch of its new crypto-powered heaters, Hotmine is willing to turn this around for the better. The company is confident that the current system would do away with any shortcomings provided by its predecessor.
The Company Will Launch Its New Heaters Before the End of 2019
Hotmine is looking at offers from three different companies to manufacture its specialized heaters. If the company accepts one of these partnerships and builds its equipment in time, it could very well start selling the Hotmine heaters by November 2019.
Hotmine is aiming to release an initial batch of approximately 60 heaters by November. According to the demand seen at the time, the company will continue manufacturing new heaters accordingly.
The company is planning to sell an ambitious number of 100–200 heaters before the start of 2020. The initial price offered to customers has been set at $1,050. But the company might change it in the future.
For now, Hotmine is aiming to make the most of the opportunity and appeal to a larger user pool through the efficiency and cost-saving mechanism of its equipment.
With that, Hotmine is not the only company offering Bitcoin mining-powered heating solutions in Siberia. It sees fierce competition from providers such as Imagine8, which uses ASIC chips by Bitmain to power its heating solutions.
But seeing that both companies are only now spreading their wings in the cryptocurrency sector, the upcoming season could belong to either of them — at least in the Siberian market.
The ZB Group sees this story as one that proves compelling use cases of the current blockchain technology. While mining is crucial for network security and blockchain incentivization, it can also serve as a way to provide heat in rather chilly regions. The ZB Group is excited to see current uses and future uses of primary mining to bring about more value for all parties.
About ZB Group
ZB Group was founded in 2012 with the goal of providing leadership to the blockchain development space and today manages a network that includes digital assets exchanges, wallets, capital ventures, research institutes, and media. The Group’s flagship platform is ZB.com, the industry leading digital asset exchange. The platform launched in early 2013 and boasts one of the world’s largest trading communities.
Learn more about ZB Exchange by visiting www.zb.com.
