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Server as heating device - how do I do this? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So I have this silly idea/longterm project of wanting to run a server on renewables on my farm. And I would like to reuse the heat generated by the server, for example to heat a grow room, or simply my house. How much heat does a server produce, and where would you consider it best applied? Has anyone built such a thing?

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

A server produces an amount of heat equivalent to it's wattage.

A 500W server rack will produce 1/3rd the amount of heat as a 1500W space heater. If your rack draws 100W at idle, than that's how much heat it produces. So if it's cold outside you could spin up folding at home or some other thing to burn excess CPU cycles

As long as your server is inside your house it is offsetting the amount of heat your HVAC system needs to produce - granted it is also greatly increasing the amount of work your AC needs to do in the summer

There is a cricket farm in Quebec that heats it's enclosures with Bitcoin mining rigs.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Servers are 100% efficient at heating, but heat pumps are 300% efficient. Get the most energy efficient devices you can, and heat your house with a proper heat pump.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I think OP's point is he's going to be running the server regardless, so why not recoup the heat.

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