[dn3500]

What a useless article! I found some actual information here:

https://www.techspot.com/news/97995-data-center-uses-waste-h...

The "data center" produces about 28 kW of heat and the swimming pool has cut its gas bill by 62%. They are saving US$24,000 per year.

[alexpotato]

I don't know about in swimming centers in England but I do know YMCAs in the US often have budgets that look like:

- Revenue: $25.01M

- Expenses: $25M

So "small savings" like this can add up for them.

[appplication]

This is mostly just due to how nonprofits work. If you have excess revenue, you can’t return it to shareholders so you might as well spend it on mission-oriented activities.

[choilive]

Non-profits have treasury functions.. it is prudent that many of them have some sort of cash reserves.

[pocksuppet]

You can, and should, keep it in case you have less revenue next year though.

[SoftTalker]

You can do this up to a point but if it looks like you're actually making a profit it might raise questions eventually. Keeping enough to cover one year's operating costs is pretty common though.

[throwaway27448]

God forbid a non-profit try and compete honestly

[SoftTalker]

Non-profits usually don't "compete" at least in the economic sense. They exist for a charitable purpose that isn't normally well-served by the competitive market.

[swiftcoder]

> They are saving US$24,000 per year.

Keeping in mind that the datacenter operator is also paying the power bill for that (which presumably is roughly 28 kW), amounting to something like £65,000/year at current UK rates

[beAbU]

> 28 kW

So not even a single rack by modern standards.