even if you buy a S7 it should ROI before the halving.
BUT they are loud. you will not sleep with one in a room. I have one in a guest house about 60 feet away from my home and anytime i step outside i hear it screaming. like someone was running a loud vacuum.
I would never run one in my own home.
you are exaggerating...
I and my family are totally fine with S7 in a spare room, especially with ambient at 75F (23.8C) or lower with fans at 4200/3980.
Believe me, they would have told me if it was bothersome-which happened with unshielded S5.
I just had to put in on a wire cart and put some some couch pillows on three sides and on top. On the exhaust side I made a bit of a labyrinth with cardboard posters so exhaust has to bounce around before exiting. This does not result in miner overheating.
These modest measures resulted in just 62-63 dB at 1 meter distance at full speed.
I think one of the key words is spare room. I would hate to put a lot of my miners in bedroom or living room. But a spare room is perfect in most cases.
I think it depends on how much OP want's to risk with free electricity the safe bet is S3 or newer hardware that's used and cheaper. This is quicker on ROI in most cases considering no electricity cost. If you wan't a bigger risk (and return most likely) you can go with the S7.
Keep in mind even with free electricity never invest more money in a miner then your willing to lose.