It seems as though 2018 will go down as the year of the cryptocurrencies. With market highs and lows marking a new age for digital currencies and their faithful miners. A French startup named Qarnot is looking to cash in on that trend with its new wall-mounted heater that also doubles as a mining rig. Yes, heating your home via crypto mining.
While the idea may seem rather out there to some, Qarnot has managed to create a pretty sleek design here that is capable of pulling up to 60MH/s. So if you’re going to mine for virtual currency, you might as well heat your space too…
Most folks have resorted to using a laptop build these days for computing, but mining at an efficient rate requires the use of more computing power. Qarnot’s system is two-fold, first it’s a computer capable of mining cryptocurrency at a respectable rate. Secondly, it has a nice, unassuming design that leverages the heat from your mining sessions to warm your home, office or basement.
Qarnot is actually new to cryptocurrency, but its roots have been in computer-powered heating for some time. Back in 2010 the company started working with data centers to develop a system that leveraged heat produced by computers to keep temperatures at comfortable levels. While there was some success in this venture, Qarnot is hoping that its first end-user product is more of a larger-scale home run.
The QC-1 crypto heater is the natural extension of the Q.rad computing heater, released in 2013 by Qarnot computing and that was internationally praised for its design, technology and positive environmental impact. The computing heater is the result of 5 years of development by our Paris Team. Its patented technology has been designed to dissipate a soft and comfortable heat, and is fully integrated with the finest materials, wood and aluminium.
Each Qc1 model sports two AMD GPUs and can be set up via plugging in an ethernet cable to the unit. It works in tandem with a free smartphone app, which helps manage your Ethereum wallet and other settings. Qarnot says that it stays out of your business when it comes to mining, and that 100% of the profits stay with the user.
There are no moving parts, hard drives or really any other traditional computer parts on the QC1. The heating aspect is strictly passive, so you won’t hear any buzzing or other noises that are typically associated with these type of builds.
Based on the current price of Ethereum, Qarnot estimates that users can mine around $120 per month. With each unit costing $3,600, you’re looking at around three years for this rig to pay for itself, minus any savings from your heating bill. But market volatility could make the process of recouping costs go much faster…or slower.
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