https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/cryptocurrency-mining-home-heats-eco-friendly-miner/
This is an interesting article, as it relates to something I've been thinking about for a while.
All the excess heat from mining could be used to heat homes. The device in the article is a space heater that is powered by POW mining. It is not a beast by any means, and lacks fans, which makes the device run "silently". It is said to pay itself off within a few years. Its really not a bad investment as most people don't replace or upgrade their furnace that often anyway, so having a device that will pay for itself as well as potentially be profitable, is an interesting concept that could change home heating products all together.
All over the blogs, miners always mention that their mining equipment often provides enough heat to heat a small home or portion of their house. Given how much energy is needed to mine, and will be needed in the future, it makes a lot of sense to build mining equipment into other devices that already draw lots of power. Like a Mining Furnace. Maybe one day companies will even be able to have the blow off heat from mining pump directly into a house venting system.
Given the concern over global warming and power consumption, it makes a lot of sense to me to start to create products that help support the bitcoin ecosystem, but also the real world ecosystem and environment. It would be cool to see solar powered miners that also heat the home.
Would love to hear what others think about this, or what ideas you might have to help reduce the carbon footprint left behind by the vast energy consumption of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.