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BBC News has an article about "nerd power" in the form of heat from datacenters being harnessed to warm homes and businesses:
Ask Jerry van Waardhuizen about his new radiator and you get an excited response. "I'm very enthusiastic," he says. "It's a beautiful thing." The sleek white box, which has been hugging his wall for two weeks, looks nice enough as radiators go. But what's really got Waardhuizen excited is what's going on inside.
Instead of hot water, it contains a computer connected to the internet, doing big sums and kicking out heat in the process. It was created by a Dutch start-up called Nerdalize, and could be part of a solution to a big problem for the tech industry.
We talk about data being "virtual" and stored on a "cloud". In fact, those clouds take the form of very large, noisy data centres containing tens of thousands of servers. To prevent the server stacks overheating, tech companies spend vast sums on cooling technology - more than a third of a data centre's hefty energy bill may go on air conditioning. With data centres estimated to account for 1.5% of global electricity consumption (in 2010), this wastage is costly to businesses and to the environment too.
Nerdalize's solution is, effectively, to spread their data centre across domestic homes linked by fibre-optic cable. The excess heat can then be used instead of going to waste.
The radiators take a little longer than average to heat up - about an hour, Waardhuizen says - and a single unit won't be enough to heat a room in mid-winter. But, after a small set-up fee, the heat is completely free to users. Nerdalize gets its money for providing data services. During this year-long pilot, its clients include Leiden University Medical Centre, which uses the radiators to crunch through lengthy protein and gene analysis.
Mentioned are Nerdalize, a 2011 paper by Microsoft Research and the University of Virginia (pdf), Facebook's Lulea, Sweden datacenter, Bahnhof, Iceotope, and the Westin Building sharing heat with Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 24 2015, @10:59PM
Takes about an hour to heat up? Won't keep a small room warm? Try a mining rig and get ready for a naked dance party in your living room with the windows wide-open on New Year's Eve. Been there!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 24 2015, @11:02PM
Good idea, bro! Spend $5000 building a badass rig to mine 5¢ of bitcoin. You're so fucking clever.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 25 2015, @03:40AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by KGIII on Monday May 25 2015, @04:52PM
I have been reading here for a while but just decided to join (I won't post AC - I said it, I own it, my moniker is all over the web) yesterday but, even having read a lot, the is the most salient point made in any comment on the board. I am humbled, impressed, and genuflect in your direction.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25 2015, @12:57PM
Way to keep up with 2015 Mr Clever. Sure the rigs are off for the summer. Yes they'll be plugged back in for the winter. In the meantime you just go on with your bad self.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bitcoin-Mining-machine-1-6-TH-/261896856009?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cfa44e1c9 [ebay.com]
Yeah 1.6 TH for $225 then depending on local rates ~$100 month in electricity. But I'm sure the coil in your house is more efficient so you are a winner in your own mind no matter what right?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday May 24 2015, @11:15PM
You are most likely better of by leaving a couple of old and large crt monitors running around the clock. That will warm up a room quickly. It won't get you any bitcoins tho.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 24 2015, @11:23PM
But then how will I brag to my idiot homies about my stash of bitcoin?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 24 2015, @11:57PM
Sell drugs.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday May 25 2015, @03:45AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford