jujubanzen t1_j0081bk wrote on December 13, 2022 at 3:15 AM

Reply to comment by beardedbrawler in Cash crops: Dutch use bitcoin mining to grow tulips by cinwald

There's no such thing as an efficient space heater. They are all the same efficiency: 100%, because all the energy goes to it's intended use, which is heat.

In Bitcoin mining, generating heat is an inefficiency. Computers generate heat as a waste product, so in effect them using the waste heat from Bitcoin mining to heat their greenhouses makes the computers into the more efficient space heaters.

10ebbor10 t1_j0178o5 wrote on December 13, 2022 at 9:43 AM

>There's no such thing as an efficient space heater. They are all the same efficiency: 100%, because all the energy goes to it's intended use, which is heat.

That's not true. Or at least, it's only true for resistive heaters.

Electric power can also be used to drive heat pumpts, which can turn 1 electricity into 3-5 units of heat (depending on the outside temperature).

Stealing heat from the outside is more efficient than creating it.

Zwets t1_j0139xl wrote on December 13, 2022 at 8:46 AM

Partially I suspect the increased Dutch gas heating prices have caused the price of "warmtepompen" (electrical hot air machines that pull in outside air) to increase dramatically. As businesses faced with massive gas bills rush to buy every available one.

Buying and installing a warmtepomp at 3 times or more the market price might return that investment in 5 years, but gas prices are already going down, so that might not be worth it (even though you should invest in one anyway for environmental reasons). Buying a mining rig that has sharply dropped in value recently and changing how the fans on it work, is probably cheaper than buying one of the hot air units right now.