Image: SunBit · Original source.
Renewables & heat reuse / project case study
SunBit reports fitting a Bitcoin Boiler alongside the oil boiler in a 200 m² Kotka home. An outdoor unit rejects unwanted summer heat and allows additional use of solar surplus. SunBit customer reference: Kotka.
- Published project reference
- 200 m² home · hybrid heating
- Evidence date / context
- Operator page reviewed 29 September 2026
- Financial evidence
- Project accounts not established by the cited evidence
- Comparison in this article
- Explicit UK scenario per 1,000 miner kWh
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What this project demonstrates
Keeping an existing boiler can make a retrofit more resilient and permit selective operation. It also means the comparison must include both heat sources rather than assume the older system disappears from the bill.
Follow the electricity and the heat
Heat rejected outdoors is useful for equipment cooling but has no heating credit. Summer mining on solar surplus should stand on its own economics unless there is a measured hot-water demand.
Mining income, heat value and running costs
The figures below are The Mining Shop’s own worked comparison for a prospective UK site. They are not the operator’s earnings, a current tariff or a forecast. All inputs are shown so you can see which conditions create or remove the benefit.
Worked scenario · not the operator’s accounts
What 1,000 kWh could contribute
1,000 kWh to miners + 50 kWh of auxiliary electricity. GBP comparison for a prospective UK site; no currency conversion of project results.
Before capital and omitted costs
The 5p/kWh rate represents the export payment forgone for electricity diverted to mining and its auxiliary equipment. It is an opportunity cost, not an additional grid-import bill. The example assumes existing generation; include new generation costs if building it specifically for mining.
| Gross mining income | 8p per miner kWh; a scenario, not a current machine yield |
|---|---|
| Electricity | 5p/kWh × 1,050 kWh = £52.50 |
| Pool fee | 2% of gross mining income |
| Useful heat | 60% of miner electricity = 600 kWh; 6p per delivered kWh |
| Other operating costs | £10 per 1,000 miner kWh; placeholder allowance |
| Not included | Equipment, installation, finance, tax, depreciation, major replacements and any costs beyond the stated allowance |
The operating contribution is mining income after pool fees + useful heat value − electricity cost or export forgone − other running costs. Electricity consumed in pumps or extra fans earns no mining income in this example. Recovered heat is a second use of the same energy, not extra electricity.
| Gross income per miner kWh | Without heat credit | Including useful heat |
|---|---|---|
| 5p | −£13.50 | £22.50 |
| 8p Chart scenario | £15.90 | £51.90 |
| 11p | £45.30 | £81.30 |
- Break-even gross mining income
- 2.70p
- Maximum electricity cost / export value
- 9.94p
per miner kWh
per total electricity kWh
These are alternative operating thresholds using the chart’s inputs. Capital and omitted costs would lower the supported electricity price and raise the required mining income.
Heating alternatives, annual costs and payback
The heat credit must reflect the real alternative. For example, purchased electricity at 20p/kWh and a heat pump delivering a seasonal COP of 3 gives an energy-only heat cost of about 6.67p/kWh, before its other costs. That is a different comparator from a resistance heater using 20p of electricity per kWh of heat. These are arithmetic examples, not measured performance at this project.
To turn this into an annual assessment, use the miner electricity actually expected in the profitable operating windows. Multiply the contribution by annual miner kWh ÷ 1,000 only if the assumptions remain valid in those windows, then deduct annual fixed costs. Simple payback is total installed capital divided by positive annual cash contribution; it is unavailable when that contribution is zero or negative. No project payback is claimed here because the necessary capital and operating accounts are not published in the cited evidence.
What to take into a UK project
Hybrid heating can preserve resilience while allowing mining to run only when heat demand or electricity economics justify it.
Record boiler fuel, miner and pump electricity, useful heat and rejected heat separately. Compare like-for-like comfort and hot-water service.
Questions to resolve for your site
- Which controller chooses between the two sources?
- How much annual mining occurs when the home does not need the heat?
Build the decision around your own interval electricity data, the real alternative use of that power, and a heat customer with a measured demand. Choose hardware using its dated revenue estimate, efficiency and service requirements. A higher gross earning figure is only the start; useful operating margin and the installed cost determine whether the project deserves investment.
Compare all supported mining algorithms, electricity use and dated earning estimates. Start with zero heat credit, then add only the heat you can use or sell.
Sources and original imagery
Project statements are attributed to the operator, filing, research paper or reporting listed below. Engineering interpretation and the GBP calculations are our analysis. Review date: 29 September 2026; this is a source review, not a site visit or independent audit.
Image provenance: SunBit (source). Image context is recorded with each photograph.
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