Prepare Your Home
Here are some things to check beforehand and ways to get your home ready for your miner.
Noise Management
Bitcoin mining isn't a quiet activity. ASICs are loud.
A typical ASIC's noise levels range between 50 DB and 75 DB, or a noise level similar to a food blender or a loud vacuum.
Preparing an at-home mining operation with robust noise cancellation or noise control materials is essential. Noise management strategies can vary from installing ASICs in a remote outbuilding to installing acoustic foam panels to placing ASICs in insulated portable coolers with exhaust ports.
Power Supply
Bitcoin mining needs a lot of reliable power.
Mining at home typically requires a 220 to 240 volt connection. The typical American household outlet, for comparison, is 110 V with the exception of outlets for electric dryers and ovens. The cost of installing a 220 V outlet is typically a few hundred dollars.
For miners without 220 V outlets, ASIC manufacturers like Bitmain sell power supply units (PSUs) for their machines. The APW3++ PSU, for example, has an input voltage range of 100 to 240 V. Decreasing the power supplied to an ASIC also decreases its hashrate.
Cooling System
Beside noise, heat is the primary byproduct of mining. Preparing a reliable cooling system for ASICs is essential to a profitable mining operation and better ensures a longer lifespan for mining machines.
Most at-home miners use air-cooled systems consisting of everything from large fans circulating air in the mining room(s) to flexible exhaust ducts attached to the fans of each ASIC. Some miners even direct the heat exhaust to warm pools and baths.
Immersion cooling is an alternative strategy that requires a more complex buildout, but some at-home miners have built their own immersion systems to replace air cooling.
