How Miners Keep Their Cool

🔥 Cooling Wars 🧊 : Exploring Air vs. Immersion vs. Hydro Cooling in the Real World

When the Heat Is the Problem

Bitcoin mining doesn’t just produce blocks — it produces heat. Every ASIC is a miniature heat engine, turning electricity into computational power and expelling that energy in thermal form. Managing that heat isn’t just about keeping machines alive — it’s about efficiency, uptime, and unlocking new ways to reuse wasted energy.

This issue, we’re diving into the three main methods miners use to manage the heat: air, immersion, and hydro. Each has its own quirks, costs, and advantages — and miners around the world (especially in heat-prone places like Texas where I’m from) are getting creative with how they implement them.

Air-Cooled – The Classic Workhorse

Air-cooled mining is the OG. Fans pull ambient air across the hot hashboards and blast it out the back. It’s how most ASIC ships, and it's still the most widely used cooling method in the world.

It works great — until it doesn’t. In hot environments, air-cooled setups can hit their limits fast. When outside temps hit 100°F, airflow alone won’t cut it. That’s why air-cooled miners in places like Texas rely on airflow hacks, exhaust tunnels, shade structures, and even time-of-day mining to survive the summer.

It’s loud. It’s dusty. But it still gets the job done. It’s always the quickest (cheapest) way to start utilizing a miner’s heat, and the best place to start learning.

Immersion – From Niche to Normal

Immersion cooling flips the script: instead of fighting air, it gets rid of it completely. Miners are submerged in dielectric fluid, which pulls heat from the chips and sends it off through radiators and heat exchangers. The result? Cooler, quieter, and often faster machines.

Immersion setups make overclocking easy and protect your gear from dust and wear. They’re more expensive to set up, but many miners see the ROI over time — especially when pairing immersion with heat reuse.

Texas miners are embracing immersion from all angles — from garage-scale tanks to massive farms like Riot. And for the Heatpunk crowd, there’s another perk: that hot fluid is already perfect for warming greenhouses, dehydrating food, and even heating homes.

Hydro – The Future?

Hydro-cooled miners are a different beast. Machines like the Antminer S19 Hydro are designed with water channels that push coolant directly through the internals. It’s sleek, compact, and surprisingly quiet — no fans, no airflow, just a loop of circulating water that pulls heat out with precision.

But hydro isn’t plug-and-play. You’ll need pumps, filtration, and smart design to make it work. That makes it less common — but in dense mining environments or locations with access to sustainable water, hydro is starting to catch on.

Some frontier miners are even experimenting with hydro setups tied into geothermal systems or passive cooling loops using ground-cooled water. We’ve even got plebs hydro cooling Bitaxe builds! Early days — but pure punk.

The Heat Is the Signal

Each cooling system represents a different approach to heat — and how we view it. Air cooling is simple and scrappy. Immersion is efficient and customizable. Hydro is clean and futuristic. And in every case, there’s one truth: that heat doesn’t have to be wasted.

As miners, we’re starting to look at heat as more than a problem — it’s an opportunity. A revenue stream. A byproduct that can be utilized in various ways for many different heat needs.

Whether you're drying lumber, heating a pool, or just trying to avoid throttling your machines in August, how you cool your miners is how you shape your energy footprint.

Want to share your own cooling setup? Hit reply or DM us — we might feature your rig in an upcoming issue.

🧠 Heatpunk Thought: Heat Recapture vs. Bitcoin Recapture

Not all heat reuse is created equal. This one comes from Tyler Stevens again.

Bitcoin Mining Heat Recapture refers to traditional mining setups selling excess heat—usually to large-scale demand like district heating or industrial users. These can use off-the-shelf, more efficient miners and existing firmware. It's useful, but doesn't force the mining industry to change.

Electric Heating Bitcoin Recapture (Hashrate Heating), on the other hand, means building everyday heating devices (like water heaters, space heaters, dryers) that happen to mine Bitcoin. Heat is not a side effect—it’s the primary function. Hashrate heating is not as vulnerable to miner efficiency because the miners are providing the heat they’d already be paying for. Heat is a sunk cost. This route demands innovation across the board: hardware, firmware, certifications, and new business models.

Both are exciting. But only one breaks the mold. Full read here

👤 Builder Profile - Bob from Wyoming

Bob Saget is a Bitcoiner who took his family’s heat needs into his own hands. His beautiful home in the Wyoming mountains sits at 6300ft elevation, and winters last over six months! As a heatpunk, Bob knew hashrate heating was the answer. He links up with Cade over at SoftwarmLLC, to help guide him along the journey. Cade is a builder providing consulting services and has implemented heat reuse applications for lots of happy customers. He helped source the equipment and get everything set up for Bob. Bitcoiners helping bitcoiners is a beautiful thing.

Bob had a big vision for his home’s heat. His setup includes a Fog Hashing C6 tank and 6 Antminer S19 miners. He now heats his home space, water, garage, pool, greenhouse, and driveway with bitcoin mining heat. Yes even a driveway can benefit from mining heat, imagine never having to shovel a snow-covered driveway again!

Bob’s setup isn’t just a technical win—it’s a living example of what’s possible when innovation meets conviction. By turning miners into multi-purpose heat engines, he’s not only offsetting energy costs but proving that decentralized infrastructure can support real-world needs in extreme climates. In a world where heating is a liability, Bob turned it into an asset—earning sats while staying warm. His build is a bold signal: the era of hashrate heating isn’t coming—it’s already here, humming in the mountains of Wyoming. More pics here!

⚡ Signals from the Grid

1. Trump Family Ventures into Bitcoin Mining

   Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have partnered with Hut 8 to form American Bitcoin, aiming to become a leading cryptocurrency miner. Hut 8 holds an 80% stake, while the Trump-affiliated firm retains 20%. Eric Trump serves as Chief Strategy Officer, with plans to build a significant bitcoin reserve and potentially go public. We dont get political here, but this kind of deal is pure signal to the rest of the fiat world. Read it here.

2. Just In: 

   US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said recently "Bitcoin is becoming a store of value". 

3. Solo-mining Block Party

   A group of mining sickos pool funds to buy hashrate and direct it to a solo mining pool, CK Pool, in hopes of mining a Bitcoin block. Currently worth 3.125 BTC (~$262k at time of writing), the group would split the rewards based on hashrate contributed. It works via a bidding process and the OP says recent Block Parties have reached 80PH! Thats some serious hashrate, giving them a 1 in 296 chance of hitting the next block.

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✌️ Stay warm,
— The Heatpunks Team