Advice for home mining \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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594 sats \ 30 comments \ @Fiat_Revelation 11 Dec bitcoin_Mining

I've seen a few posts about the Bitaxe miner on here. And I'm vaguely aware about decentralized mining pools.

I did a quick SN search and I didn't see much about setting up a home miner in today's market.

Does someone with experience have any tips or advice for getting into this? I understand there are a few different factors to consider, but at the very least it seems like I could basically trade a portion of my hydro-payment for non-kyc sats.

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306 sats \ 4 replies \ @Dr_Nickamoto_FM 12 Dec

A bitaxe is a cheap way to get introduced to home mining.

It uses about the same amount of power as a phone charger and basically gives you a lottery ticket every ~10 minutes which is the main use case here. I don't think its worth it to contribute your hash to a FPPS (Full Pay Per Share, aka a steady stream of guaranteed payments based on the hashrate you contribute) pool.

If you want to earn some sats to off set utility bills by using a miner as a space heater, I would recommend getting an Antiminer S9. Crypto Cloaks sells a case for these to make it a bit more aesthetically pleasing and BTC sessions has a tutorial video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csmHvuzUECU) on how to set it up. While the efficiency on the S9s aren't the best, it is the most budget and user friendly way to get into home mining while earning a steady stream of sats via FPPS pool like Braiins.

If you really want to tinker, look into the Loki kit by Pivotal Pleb (https://pivotalpleb.com/). Their kit allows you to run a S19 hashboard from a normal 120V home outlet (they normally use a 220V to 240V). This does require some modification of the PSU (Power Supply Unit) but some resellers like Altairtech.io sell them already modified so that they are plug and play (Theirs is called the Ulacher https://altairtech.io/product/urlacher/). This option is a bit pricey, but the miner is much more efficient than the S9.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 12 Dec

Thanks, this gives me quite a bit to go off. S9 option looks enticing, especially as we head into winter.

22 sats \ 2 replies \ @Dr_Nickamoto_FM 12 Dec

No problem. If the S9 option is appealing to you, I'll elaborate a bit more on it.

There are a few vendors where you can get a S9 like Kaboom racks, D-central, Zeus mining etc. Some vendors will sell them without a PSU so make sure that if they offer that option, you get one with a PSU or you won't be able to power your miner.

You'll want to swap out the fans to make this miner quite if using for a space heater. The stock fans are quite loud. The Arctic A14 and Noctua NF-14 are both good options with a slight edge to the Noctua fan, which you will have to pay a little more to get. These will require a 3D printed adapter to fit onto the S9 as they are 140mm fans, the miner is meant for 120mm. You can download the files to print yourself or buy them from places like Crypto Cloaks or D-central.

BraiinsOS/Pool is an easy way to get started, you can flash BraiinsOS to a SD card and create a Braiins account to point your hash at their pool. If you want to connect your miner via wifi, get a Vonnets device (https://a.co/d/gpah0ii) otherwise you can connect directly into your router via ethernet.

Like I mentioned in my post, Crypto Cloaks has a case that you can put your S9 in to make it more aesthetically pleasing. If you don't mind the miner looking like it does, the case isn't necessary.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 14 Dec

Just put in an order today.

It will be an experiment to see how much it reduces my heating costs this winter. If it does even a bit, then great! Otherwise, I'll essentially be paying the hyrdo comoany to DCA for me.

My strategy is going to be to leave it in the livingroom next to my furnace air intake and basically leave the central heating thermostat to do it's thing. If the a9 it's running 24-7 then the furnace won't kick in as much. If it gets too toasty I can crack a window. Probably in the spring I'll have to give her a break until next winter.

I'm wondering how it will affect humidity, if at all.

Also not sure how the girlfriend is going to react.

Lots to learn! Thanks for the input anyway.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 13 Dec

Cool, this and the btc sessions tutorial should be more than enough to get me going. I'll try to post an update here once I've figured out the route I'm going to take.

227 sats \ 5 replies \ @1GLENCoop 11 Dec

If you have a your own Bitaxe already and are looking to just generate a few sats per day income by running it, I recommend https://braiins.com/pool - I have a few Bitaxes already set up to use that pool and I few sats sent to my lightning wallet daily. You're not going to get rich by doing it this way, but you are contributing your hashpower to the bitcoin network, and you see a (tiny) daily reward for doing it.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 11 Dec

Haven't made any miner purchases yet

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @1GLENCoop 12 Dec

Got my first Bitaxe from SoloSatoshi. Good experience, so I ordered a 2nd one. It just arrived, but I haven't had time to set it up yet. Would recommend them; https://www.solosatoshi.com/product/bitaxe-gamma/

1 sat \ 2 replies \ @j7hB75 12 Dec

Same here. I recommend them as well!

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 12 Dec

The vendor, the product, or both?

101 sats \ 0 replies \ @j7hB75 12 Dec

Both.

122 sats \ 0 replies \ @j7hB75 11 Dec

I have a Bitaxe Supra that I run at home.

Advice:

Keep in a cooler place. Use a fan if need be to keep temps down. Pay special attention during winter when you're running your heat as that can raise the ambient temp of the room the miner is in.
If you're using a Bitaxe make sure to update both stratum user and fallback stratum user to point to your own address. I've found that when you first get a Bitaxe it will have a default address that belongs to someone else.
Don't expect much if you're solo mining with a Bitaxe as the odds of mining a block is very slim. However, there are supposedly a couple instances where Bitaxes have mined blocks.

110 sats \ 0 replies \ @windward 11 Dec

this winter I have been running an antminer S9 setup in a CryptoCloaks case. thoughts:

you can run it at whatever wattage is right for you. at about 800w I'm heating my apartment and getting around 10/TH.
unmodified, noise is a thing. Not as bad if it's downclocked, but still definitely noticeable. think vacuum in the next room over. you can add fans to make it quieter as well.
it can be plugged directly into the wall for most US homes, so that was nice to figure out

112 sats \ 3 replies \ @OT 11 Dec

Using a single Bitaxe won't earn you many sats. With Ocean you get about 70 sats per TH when they find a block.

Its still good to run one and help decentralize the network. If you solo mine you could get extremely lucky and find a block yourself.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 12 Dec

What is TH?

12 sats \ 1 reply \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 12 Dec

Terrahash

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 12 Dec

Tera*

110 sats \ 0 replies \ @blockdyor 12 Dec

We’ve put a few home miners to the test, including the Avalon Nano 3 and the Antminer S9i, testing their performance, energy efficiency, and overall profitability. Link: https://blockdyor.com/canaan-avalon-nano-3-review/

110 sats \ 5 replies \ @kruw 12 Dec

I'm home mining for the first time this winter. A local meetup guy sold me a custom single board S19J Pro that runs on a 120V power supply. It costs me $70 worth of electricity to earn $42 worth of Bitcoin each month, effectively reducing my heating cost by 60%.

I have no use for the device once summer comes around though, so it's definitely just a personal investment into the Bitcoin network rather than a money making opportunity. Also, fuck Ocean, use Braiins pool instead.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 12 Dec

Cool man. Sounds like you're offsetting some of your electricity cost and exchanging it for some sats. How's it look and sound?

12 sats \ 0 replies \ @kruw 12 Dec

It's quiet enough for my cat to warm up in front of :)

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @ek 12 Dec

fuck Ocean

Why?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kruw 12 Dec

Ocean is the ONLY pool that censors valid Bitcoin transactions, they literally have the worst block health % out of any mining pool out there: https://mempool.space/mining/pool/ocean

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 12 Dec

Never considered block health. Ocean seems to censor spam transactions though. So this could be why. And it seems like they let you choose whether you want to mine the censored block formats.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @thebullishbitcoiner 12 Dec

I wrote a post highlighting the S9 here. I think it’s still a great option, especially if you’re able to use the heat.

34 sats \ 2 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 11 Dec

I have 4 different miners I run at home. None of them are commercial, they’re all made for home mining.

I’d recommend buying something small and cheap to get your feet wet. Use it to learn how to connect to a pool or solo mine. It’s really just an ongoing learning experience. Once you’re comfortable, look to get beefier equipment to start earning more, or increasing your odds if you’re solo mining.

I’ve got some posts about my mining setup if you review my post history and bio.

100 sats \ 1 reply \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 12 Dec

I was thinking about setting up a bitaxe and joining an Ocean mining pool. The team there seems pretty reliable. Still looking into it. Your guides should be useful thanks for the tip.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nikotsla 12 Dec

I mine using bitaxe and point the hashrate to Ocean, but take into the account that you will need to generate a BOLT12 (https://ocean.xyz/docs/lightning#blog-bottom_post).

So, if you are new to this, start small and learn, try to enjoy the process. The easiest setup for a "cashflow" of sat to your LN wallet is BitAxe + Braiins pool.

Once you understand all the pieces, maybe you could add more miners and use the heat, right now the noise is the main issue.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @denlillaapan 13 Dec

I almost bought this guy on Black Friday sale this year. Very tempting, very beautiful, and I've seen them in live action (very quiet!).

A lot of sats up front, and you're never really making that back-- even when, like me, most of your heating is electric.

https://21energy.com/products/ofen-pro

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Fiat_Revelation OP 14 Dec

https://d-central.tech/product/antminer-s9-space-heater-edition/

Apparently with the nf-a14 cooling fan this guy is pretty quiet and uses less wattage than most space heaters. Not sure if they ship to Europe.