I. Introduction
This guide is intended for anyone interested in heating their home with the waste heat from a Bitcoin miner. In the meantime, used ASIC miners have dropped in price so much that they have become attractive as a replacement for electric heaters. The advantage of a Bitcoin miner compared to an electric heater is obvious: Not only does it generate almost the same amount of heat as a heater, but it also allows Bitcoin mining. A well-suited Bitcoin miner for such an undertaking is the Antminer S9, which has become increasingly affordable in recent times and is now available for under 200 USD. (Even under 50 USD if you buy in large quantities)
II. Necessary changes
1) Brains OS+
By default, the Antminer S9 outputs 13 TH's and requires 1300 watts of power to do so (= approx. 1300 watts of heating power).
In this standard configuration, however, the miner can only be used for heating to a limited extent, as it is extremely noisy. Only the heating of an uninhabited building comes into consideration here.
However, if the Brains OS+ software is installed, the power consumption can be controlled precisely. Up to a power consumption of about 600 watts, the included fans have to run with only 1% (!) of the maximum speed in my case. The noise development is accordingly very low. The miner still performs about 7.5 THs at this power consumption.
What bothers me about Brain's OS+ is the fan behavior at startup: The fans briefly turn to 100% and only turn down after about 15 seconds. This behavior is due to the design and cannot be controlled via the software. (Link to the topic:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/stop-fans-from-going-100-at-startup-braiins-os-5417649) However, this is annoying if the miner is to be switched on and off frequently, which is necessary to be able to regulate the temperature reasonably.
Note: Brains OS+ will take a small percentage of your hashrate as "development fee". You can find more informations and alternative software in the forum.
2) External fan control
If you want the fans to run with 1% of the speed already at startup, you have to modify the miner further. For this purpose an external fan controller is used. I chose this one:
https://www.amazon.de/MEIRIYFA-Adapter-Chassis-Splitter-Controller/dp/B09MN4BMPK/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=Pc+Fan+Controller+Pwm&qid=1670259225&s=industrial&sr=1-11 . This can be connected directly to the existing power supply with a 6 pin splitter.
In the Brains OS+ software, "Immersion Mode" is now selected and the correct fan speed is set using the knob on the fan controller. The fan speed is now fixed to this value and is immediately applied as soon as the miner gets power. Since the control can now no longer take place dynamically, the miner shuts down at the "Hot" temperature set in Brains OS+ for safety.
I (and many others) used their miner successfully with Brains' third-party software. However, I cannot guarantee that the software will shut down the miner reliably. If the miner does not shut down when the temperature is exceeded, there is a significant fire hazard!
3) Modified fans
Lastly, the fans of the miner can be replaced by using the separate fan control and using the "immersion mode" in Brains OS+. The Fan Control is needed, because without it the miner will stop to run due to an error message. However, I have not been able to gain any experience here yet, as the only fans I currently have available are too weak for the Antminer. If anyone here has any experience, feel free to share it.
The fan of the power supply can also be replaced. But you have to be very careful, because the power supply has to be cooled very well.
III. pictures
The fan control in detail:
In this case you can see an example on how you can integrate this setup, but keep in mind that a very good air flow must be maintained at all times!
I hope I could help some of you with this little guide, who are thinking about using a Bitcoin Miner instead of an electric heater. It is important to make sure that the Bitcoin Miner does not exceed the prescribed temperatures and is well ventilated. Everyone has to decide for himself if he wants to run a Bitcoin Miner unattended permanently at home.
There is always a certain risk of fire!