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I had an excellent question once from a seminar participant: "What's the average lifespan of a mining rig and what happens to it at the end of it's lifespan? Is it landfill?"
AFAIK some parts might be recycled but the rest is landfill.
I was given 2 S9 antminers and after learning how they operate and testing them out... here are my thoughts. Likely, anyone mining has had a similar trajectory of cranial rumblings.
-They're LOUD. So to keep indoors would require some good sound dampening and piping. -They aren't currently profitable. (But could be with a lower time preference if the Sats are stacked.) So to use as a heater is intriguing. -The lifespan of these ASICs is short. So it's basically recycling and landfill after 3-5 years. Not great for sustainability 😐 All that metal and plastic mined. Oooof. -Should I bother joining a pool or just lottery solo mine? Hm.
And that's where I am with this. Moore's law essentially guarantees the obsolescence of these rather quickly. Which is why a decentralized algo like the Monero one in theory seems better.
I'm open to more thoughts and perspectives. Advice?
Another thought is to keep it on stand by in a closet in case there is an emergency case when the community needs to fight against a 51% attack.
Like Operation Dynamo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation) where every thing that floats were called into action.
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I mean... not a bad idea. But also seems insignificant compared to entrie warehouses filling with newer ones.
I like the idea of plebs banding their small hash together to secure the network.
Interesting.
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it's a lot better than nothing
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S9's a great for learning so I would say go ahead and set it up with a good mining pool like Lincoin. I wouldn't go into it with the mindset of making money but gaining knowledge. That is if you wanted to gain this knowledge.
Who knows, you may end up wanting to do home mining.
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Amazing resource! Thank you
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Id recommend the upgrades less the 3d printed case found on page 3 of this guide. Changing the fans out will change the noise dramatically. My s9 is able to run in any room of my house with the sound equivalent to a large box fan or a bathroom fan. If im not in the room with it i dont hear it.
The future of space heaters pdf.
As for other questions - i think if you are using them for heat, id run them in braiins until the halving. Then id prolly solo mine until they die.
Using mine at 800w to heat my garage. It generates about 2000 sats/day, not much but i consider it a freebie for energy i would have used anyway.
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If I had a garage I would 100% build a soud insulator box and use it for heat. No questions asked.
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at 800w, a S9 is not very noisy 😅 a S19 at full power would be a different story...
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I hear my house with 3 S9s running at 800 watts each. I'll be turning 1 or 2 on this month and the 3rd one probably next month or December.
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yeah, heatings a good plan, I think particularly hot water heating
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I have one S9 at home (flat) which I turn on from time to time as a heater, at 750W.
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Sell them for a discount at https://plebeian.market/
If anything, a hobbyist pleb would salvage any useful parts.
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Lol. I'm the hobbyist pleb. Asking what we do with these hahah. Part it out I guess is what you're saying
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You can play the lottery and solo mine? I mean I probably wouldn't but you could.
There aren't profitable unless you have very cheap or free power but if you do they are very affordable and easy find parts for.
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can just imagine Grampa saying this as we are all freezing cold huddled up
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