Bitcoin Miners Warm Homes and Cities with Recovered Heat

Bitcoin miners have found a way to put the heat produced by their machines to work. Early projects warmed homes, greenhouses, and other buildings, while more ambitious plans promised to feed municipal heating networks. Newer projects are offering a clearer test of whether the idea can work at commercial scale.

In 2010, Satoshi Nakamoto suggested that heat from Bitcoin mining could one day be used to warm homes. Over the next 16 years, miners repeatedly tried to put that idea into practice.

Canaan, a mining hardware maker, provided the latest example in May when it won a contract to supply hydro-cooled Bitcoin miners to a Nordic district-heating provider. An initial 2-megawatt installation using 228 miners is already supplying hot water, while another 692 machines are expected to increase total capacity to 8 MW.

Canaan estimates the completed project could provide heat for about 2,800 homes.