Bitcoin Mining in the Electrician’s Guild

Lars Eichhorst. Bildrechte vollständig bei Lars Eichhorst, für diesen Beitrag freigegeben und zugeschnitten.

The master electrician Lars Eichhorst also advises customers on the use of Bitcoin miners. With this, he has introduced the topic to an electrical guild for the first time. Based on practical experience, he knows the potentials and limits of Bitcoin mining in the power grid.

Lars Eichhorst (42) discovered Bitcoin in 2016 and first tried mining in 2019. He rented a miner hosted in Russia but had pretty mixed experiences. However, his interest remained high—so high that today, as an energy consultant and master electrician with his company LESolutions, he increasingly recommends miners to customers.

Does it make sense? This is one of the critical questions about Bitcoin. Can mining help as a strategic power consumer, promote the energy transition? Can it help utilize excess electricity, keep the grid stable despite the surplus—and thus produce the surplus in the first place? Is Bitcoin mining part of the answer to one of the great contemporary challenges?

The answer usually comes out mixed. There are many approaches and ideas, but successes are usually modest. However, what Lars Eichhorst shares in the interview gives hope that a turning point has been reached. Bitcoin is beginning to become a part of the power grid. This even convinced the local electrical guild, which, though generally conservative, understood that mining can be part of the solution.

It can, but it doesn’t have to

„As an energy consultant, someone once asked me for advice who had a small hydro plant but didn’t know what to do with the electricity,“ says the master electrician, who lives near Dortmund. „That became my first project. I analyzed the location, wrote a report, and realized that mining was worthwhile here. The earnings were higher than the feed-in tariff. The customer ended up actually acquiring miners and made a profit with them.“

Schematic representation of an energy and heat system with a miner. All rights reserved by Lars Eichhorst, provided for this article.

In the process, Lars realized „that the topic is incredibly exciting. It connects to all the areas I know: grid calculations, simulation from the transformer to the socket, the renovation, and the renovation roadmap.“ Mining, he believes, can but does not have to play a role. Unlike in countries with low electricity prices, in Germany it depends very much on the specific application.

„Manufacturers are currently rethinking heat production“

„A great application is using mining for heat production. In many cases, this works excellently as a supplement, among other things to the heat pump.” In summer, when temperatures are high anyway, the efficiency of a heat pump is great; in winter, however, as outdoor temperatures drop, the efficiency of an air-water heat pump declines, making a miner almost as efficient—and simultaneously generating Satoshis.

However, most miners can only support. They only reach temperatures of 55 degrees. This was long desired to keep cooling costs low. But the upcoming models produce more heat, partly up to 80 degrees. „Manufacturers are currently rethinking that heat is not a problem but a bonus.“

From the heat machine room. Image rights reserved by Lars Eichhorst, provided for this article.

Lars founded his company LESolution just last year. Most customers who contact him explicitly seek his mining expertise. „I now handle as many projects as there are months in a year, from businesses to single and multi-family homes.“

He considers projects individually, with tax issues playing a role in businesses. When feed-in tariffs for photovoltaic systems expire, or when new systems are built, miners are much more lucrative than dynamic rates; the acquisition costs play a subordinate role in commercial use thanks to depreciation.

Hurdles and obstacles

Overall, Lars believes that a lot is still untapped in Germany, and it will require a lot of educational work to even begin to tap into the potential of mining.

But he also recognizes the limits and obstacles. „Principally, mining could be systematically used to regulate grid voltage or expand renewable energies. But looking at how it currently works, it will take years until the necessary infrastructure is in place.“

Another obstacle is the grid connection points or the connection lines and capacities as well as the main distribution boards in houses. „Connections and main distribution boards in most houses are not made for a device like a miner to run continuously. This requires other cable cross-sections; otherwise, for example, a fire in the main distribution board might occur.“ To make it work, relatively expensive modifications would be necessary. This alone significantly limits the potential for miners, especially in private households.

Therefore, Lars suspects that mining will mainly focus on heating in the commercial sector. Utilizing the heat is an obvious, for many, attractive point, especially where heat is part of the business.

But even for this, a major obstacle stands in the way—the lack of knowledge and widespread skepticism. Therefore, education is currently the most important thing for the master electrician.