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by Andrew_nenakhov 1629 days ago
People use way more energy for dumb heating. In my region humans can't survive in winter without it. There is no reason why mining rigs can't be used for 'smart' heating, heat being a byproduct of mining.

It is not done currently only because the energy use of bitcoin is so miniscule compared to other uses, that it's not even worthy to bother yet. Down the road, it'll likely change, but currently complaints about 'massive costs to the environment' are mostly virtue signalling.
2 comments
8note 1629 days ago
Resistive heating is still dumb heating.

Smart heating involves heat concentration, not heat production

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SantalBlush 1629 days ago
If the energy use of bitcoin was minuscule while heating a building, and it could generate mining rewards while doing so, then people would be using it for that purpose. They aren't.
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Andrew_nenakhov 1629 days ago
People absolutely do use bitcoin mining for heating. It's just not yet popular enough, and it makes sense only in certain climates.
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SantalBlush 1628 days ago
That's my point. It's not popular because it's not economically viable in many cases. So heating buildings is another thing that Bitcoin is supposed to improve, except it really doesn't.
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notch656a 1628 days ago
Why do you think it would be less economically viable to use mining for rewards + heating rather than just rewards? It's both economically advantageous and arguably slightly less pollutive to offset energy consumption used for heating.
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SantalBlush 1628 days ago
Because professional Bitcoin miners--the ones who are actually getting rewards--are not using rigs in their homes. They make more money by using industrial-level setups, buildings dedicated to mining that are located where the energy, taxes, laws, etc. are most favorable. These miners are the ones making the actual money from Bitcoin, not the hobbyists running a home rig who never mine a single block before their hardware is ruined. Home rigs do not compete with industrial setups on cost, not even when taking heating into account.

"Smart heating" is just one more example of where Bitcoin in theory does not match Bitcoin in reality.

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notch656a 1628 days ago
That's a fair point, but isn't your beef with externalities associated with electricity not electricity itself? Blaming bitcoin sound like whack-a-mole where you can blame video games, AI, whatever for wasting electricity. The real problem IMO is that electricity consumers create negative externalities, be it from making their home a bit too warm and comfy or from using a crypto-currency instead of a gold bar.
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