Antminer T17 Space Heater Edition 

A dual purpose mining product from D-Central Tech. 
A little something I have my keen eye on for a variety of reasons. 
First and foremost am I a big great fan of dual-purpose mining (as which can be evidenced by my 2 entries on Bitcoin mining here and here. 
Secondly, I am a big fan of supporting builders within the Bitcoin community. Especially where it concerns builds that will and can help support the network overall. 

Why the zoom-in on this product? Why the focus on dual-purpose mining? 
All falls back to lower costs in relation to mining in order to maximize profits in the long term. 
Profitability calculations take into account all costs in regards to maintenance, use and upkeep of the AntMiner. 
A miner with a healthy sense of finance, and diamond handing Bitcoin, will prefer not to sell his $BTC and cover costs in fiat as much as possible. 
This means the miner will take a look at his global household finances and see if he can ” afford” to keep his rig running. 
By going with the AntMiner T17 – Space Heater Edition he will make better use of the electricity used by AntMiner as he will manage to lower his costs in heating. 

There is creativity to be had in regards to this product. While it can serve as a handy money-printing local heater, it can function as a stand-alone heater in small rentals (think tiny-homes on AirBnB).  

Onwards to the SPECS. 

The Antminer T17 Space Heater Edition can be tailored based on the miners’ needs. 
The standard version with Stock Heatsinks and fans can be a bit of a noisy bugger and more reserved to heat up workspaces due to the “elevated” noise levels. In my own case would this standard version best be used in my laundry room where my clothes hang to dry. It is a distant room where only the washing machine, a freezer and clothes dryer are. It is attached to the bathroom and “isolated” from other living spaces where noise is a more serious issue when seeking to wind down from a long day of work.

Luckily this product is customizable and a version is available which allows for noise-reduction. This more silent version is a perfect fit for use in bathrooms year-round ON THE CONDITION IT IS WELL VENTILATED. While the integrated AntMiner CAN fonction at humidity levels of 5-95%, advice is to keep it in more dry spaces (between 50-65% like living rooms). Electricity and humidity are, after all, not the best of friends. 

Why use the heater in a bathroom? Bathrooms see intense activity at certain intervals of the day whereby the space becomes energy-intensive for short whiles. As an engineer in HVAC I know bathrooms are standard equipped with infrastructure that is energy-intensive in short use. Even during summer do people want comfortable temperatures when leaving their shower. Small electric heaters tend to be present in most households to get that little “boost”. Heat also helps to dry the bathroom so no excess humidity can settle on and inside the walls. By supplying the bathroom with produced heat from the miner 24/7 are you actively taking countermeasures against all problematic side-effects of humidity in your home (though some ventilation is still required). 

Most “traditional” electric heaters consume upwards of 1kWh in electricity for about 2-4 hours a day. That is 2-4kWh in electrical costs down the drain. The Antminer T17 Space Heater Edition can use upwards to 2.6 kWH when pushing it to its maximum limit when wanting maximum hashrate 24/7 (that is; when it is performing 60TH/s). A balanced approach is more in order and having it run at about 34TH/s will have it consume around 1kWh. The big advantage here is that at this (current) hashrate you’ll still be in profit if the price of electricity does not exceed 0.20 $USD/kWh. You will actively be making money while heating. Naturally, if you have the means of generating your own electricity (photovoltaic cells and/or other renewable technology) will the amount of money be printed much higher while benefiting from a comfortable bathroom year round! And this without taking into account the cost you would otherwise have if you hadn’t had the Antminer T17 Space Heater Edition. 

Balanced approach, and making use of customized silent fans, can make this the perfect solution to heat-up tiny houses. With a bit of creativity can the miner run 24/7 year round in these tiny-houses. Just a matter of “flipping” the heater so it no longer ejects its warm air into the tiny-house. 

The design. 

Antminer T17 Space Heater Edition has a rather simple design. It is quite “neutral” when it comes down to it and, in my own fair opinion, can be integrated in most homes without attracting too much attention. The fact that the heater itself is available in a plethora of different colors (black, gray, white, orange, red, green and blue) allows you to “play” with it. It can be a discreet little heater that doesn’t draw any attention OR have it stand-out as a little attention grabber. 

Final notes: 

It is a handy top product from D-Central in collaboration with CryptoCloaks (the people who designed the space heater). I suggest opting in for the upgraded heatsinks for better performance overall (both for heating as efficiency of the miner). 
In regards to connectivity is the wired version most easy but limits the placement of the Space Heater. The better choice (although connectivity can become a bit of an issue) is the WiFi-version in my opinion. Just make sure once opting in for the WiFi-version that it has excellent connection anywhere in your home. Otherwise, installing some WiFi-repeaters is advised to ensure good functioning and connectivity.