If you are updated on mining and cryptocurrencies, you might know that proof of work currency mining generally require a lot of electricity. There are horror stories about currencies consuming electricity equal to countries. Which is a very questionable reality of that particular type of mining. There are even examples on youtube where miners heats up a room, and then climate control units consume even more power to cool the same air. In short - power waste.
So let's get to it, I would like to show some ideas I am realizing around my crypto mining, with smaller environmental foot print and faster return of investment. The basic idea is to replace direct electric heat generation, and thus not substract power consumtion from the income calculation. Instead of radiators giving the heat, graphic cards are producing a steady base, radiators support satellite rooms, and prevent cold draft from windows. This is very applicable to my old house with direct electric heating, but with modern windows. It also happens to have a suitable closet centered in the house at the first floor.
As I plan to have up to 2kW of heat generation in the closet, the air needs to be replaced quietly at a steady pace as the system is in the living area of the house. For this job I have choosen two Noctua NF A20 pwm fans, which will both push air in and push air out of the closet. They operate more or less silently but move plenty of air thanks to the 200mm size.
Here is the idea on how the system will work.
The plan is to have 2-3 rigs of 6 fairly low power gpus each in this closet. Typically Nvidia 1060 cards that can mine well around 75-80 watts each, with low fan settings. Noise can not be tolerated! :)
For the air intake there will be an easy to replace air filter. All the parts for the air system are 3d-printed for the application. I'll end this part one by showing some pictures of the parts, and cover the mining rigs and their buildprocess in the next part.
Intake
Intake with fan
Intake filter protection
Exhaust
Intake mounted in door
Intake with fan
Mounted exhaust
Intake filter holder
Neodymium magnets will hold the intake filter case
Until next time!
-Henrik