john holmes

Bump for the upcoming winter!  Starting to fire up the heaters!

Updates in the niche.

LuxOS firmware now allows temp control based on hash rate.  So I can set a manual fan speed,  target a temp like 60c or 65c on the device, and it will control hash rate to keep temp constant.  As the room tries to heat up it will naturally scale back power to keep the device temp down due to fixed fan speeds.  Can also target a hash rate and temp and let the fans go wild for spaces that don't need tight regulation of noise or heat.

Really slick passive automation via hash rate that's a pretty new feature built into the firmware itself

John C Daley wrote:Would a lime mortar work well?

That could be used as part of the mix but any refractory or high temp mortar needs fire clay as well.  

Found some in Saint Louis that is being shipped for a pretty low price, so Im good!   The local refinery requires a pallet to buy, which Im not quite there yet

thomas rubino wrote:Having worked in refineries many times, I suspect that you will find,
Firebricks both heavy and insulated, full size and splits.
Refractory cement, ceramic blanket and ceramic boards.
What I doubt you will find is fireclay.
A masonry supply would carry fireclay for fireplace builders.

I talked with someone that wasn't a sales agent earlier there about it, they have a lot of fireclay products.  Missouri is evidently the place for fireclay.  Christy minerals is the place

thomas rubino wrote:Hi John;
Locate a masonry supply house, any larger city near you should have one.
I pay $8-$14 for a #50 sack in Missoula or Spokane.
In Canada, it is apparently hard to find.
I can ship you #20 for $35 if you can not find it locally.

Evidently a huge refinery is 40 minutes away! I'll be contacting them after the holidays to either find some vendors or buy bulk direct from them.  Euclids Pottery in canada actually gave me their info!  


I'll start playing around with mortar mixes.   1pt portland cement, 2pt sand, 2pt clay to begin and start tweaking from there.   maybe add some lime and see how it changes.   I'd love to morph this into a mass heater somehow

thomas rubino wrote:Hi John;
I used a clay mortar on my outdoor brick oven.
3 scoops of sharp medium sand and one scoop of fireclay.
It makes a beautiful pale white mortar.
I do have a roof over it so I'm not sure how it would hold up exposed to rain and wind.
Matt Walker uses the same mix on outdoor stoves and he says that a springtime touchup of mortar with your finger works well for him.

I'm having trouble finding fire clay that's not $100 a bag except one spot in Canada.  Any recommendations?

I'm currently learning rock shaping and stacking to start the base knowledge to build a cob with stone fireplace later.

To start I'll dry stack a bit

Then I'd like to build an outdoor stone oven.  Mortar mix? 1 portland cement, 2 sand, 2 clay?  Or other recommended mix?  

Then, I'll be ready for the cob.  Different mix for a rock foundation?  

Thanks for any tips!  I've read so many different mortar mixes that my head is spinning now!

David Baillie wrote:

john holmes wrote:This is the second year I'm running bitcoin miners for heat.  It seems they would be great in a greenhouse, they currently heat my shop and certain rooms at home. By securing the network with these mining machines, there is a payback in bitcoin.  The payback subsidizes the energy cost of making heat.

Internet (slow is fine) and power is required. I almost broke even on last years electric in dollar terms. The constant heat turns the concrete and all objects into radiators if there is any pause of heat creation.

I assume there is nobody else here doing this yet, do please ask any questions you may have.  Machines are very cheap right now.  

HI John, I think you found an interesting use of extra solar electricity as we had been discussing here:
https://permies.com/t/209079/Manufacturing-energy-storage-brainstorm

One of the interesting "problems" of solar energy in northern latitudes is the disparity between summer production and winter production.  I could see a bitminer being a good dump load for extra summer production. Hell i could imagine pairing it with a heat pump powered hot water heater for even more kicks at the energy can.
Cheers,
David Baillie

Absolutely.  The 100acresranch.com  has controllers specifically for load dumping that dynamically control the miner .   Bitcoin miners are moving more and more to waste /excess energy because marginal cost is zero.  Actually carbon negative now too from methane flair mitigation.

Id suggest not looking too heavily into future price/ hash predictions.   fine for fun but impossible to know.   The s19 or m50 will be the best profit/ price models right now with break even around 10c kwh but high up front investment.  the s9 will give best long term returns for investment but run at a loss above 3c kwh.   But for heat... any subsidy is better than nothing.  

If you want "gains" just buy bitcoin.   If you want heat, buy the model of miner that you can afford between 3x s9 at $300 or one s19 at $1500.   And then you can add a $200 temp controller from 100acres and they will simply hash at the perfect rate to keep your environment at the right temp.  

John Wolfram wrote:About 25 years ago there was a program call AllAdvantage which paid people to surf the internet with an extra ad bar on their screen. My college dorm room was quite poorly insulated so for a bit of extra heat I ran my computer 24/7 with a program that mimicked browser movement. The computer running raised the temperature of the room by about 5F, and every now and then I got sent a bit of extra cash.

It looks like college students are still doing something similar to this day https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-mining-in-a-university-dorm-a-cooler-btc-story
.

I remember that app!  Same thing. Computers are 100% heat.  

Marty Mitchell wrote:

Which type of BTC miner do you recommend... and where do you recommend buying them from?

I know they are noisy... so... if I were to ever get a greenhouse... a BTC mining machine would go great out there  

The bitmain s19 or whatsminer m50 are great "profitable " 2nd gen 220v single phase machines and are currently running $1500 new.  Both are 3300w machines.

Bitmain s9 is older tech, 1/3 the hash power per watt, but $100 each. They are tough as nails. Great on 120v at 800w or so.  

Kaboom racks has tons of machines

100acresranch.com has solar/wind integrated controllers that will load match the machines to your output!!  They are also coming out with a controller for temp control, perfect for home or greenhouse if you don't want to automate an exhaust system.

When wattage is lower, the machines are more efficient and actually run quiet.  Very quiet. But in a greenhouse you also want airflow and they can deliver that at high efficiency if you target a lower chip temp.

I've been in the space for 4 years.  Also had the wife poopoo early bitcoin purchases. Currently a half million dollar mistake.  She is no longer in charge of that portion of budgeting, lol