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Some devices are built for utter dystopia. The Heatbit Maxi, a space heater that also mines bitcoin, is one such device.
In case you're so rich you didn't notice, residential electricity rates have corkscrewed to stratospheric heights in the US since 2020, rising more than 40 percent in the past six years as of February 2026. Weather prone to extreme temperatures and gone utterly chaotic doesn't help much with heating and cooling bills.
And so here comes Heatbit with an unlikely but maybe irresistible solution. What if your space heater mined bitcoin to offset energy costs? Or, conversely, what if your energy-intensive bitcoin miner offset its horrible energy use by also helping heat your house? And what if the Heatbit also ran the air through a HEPA filter, to fend off whatever horrible, health-ruining things are swirling around in our dystopian air?
Video: Matthew Korfhage
Perhaps no device this year has been the subject of as many email chains and Slack threads from other WIRED staffers as this Heatbit, forwarded along with a mix of bemusement and genuine curiosity. Gearheads are worse than a sewing circle sometimes.
But while the Heatbit is an intriguingly ingenious notion when drawn on a cocktail napkin, the devil is in the details. And I can't make this thing pencil at the current bitcoin price. It's neither a great heater nor the most energy-efficient bitcoin miner on the market. And the high up-front price ($1,499) means any energy savings will likely take years to surface unless you're quite crafty about when you use it, and live in the right place.
Here's the math on the back of my envelope.
A Solution to Unprofitable Bitcoin Mining?
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Heatbit via Matthew Korfhage
The hidden message behind the Heatbit is a harsh reality that crypto miners have been struggling with in recent months. Once a get-rich-quick scheme, crypto mining is now basically unsustainable at current electricity rates for most residential miners on the market. Expensive power, plus higher mining difficulty and a six-month tumble in bitcoin value, have largely crashed the market for mining as a profitable endeavor.
But what if you're not trying to be profitable? The Heatbit doesn't position itself as a competitor to other bitmining devices. Rather, its makers present a contrast between “smart heat” and “dumb heat.” Dumb heat is a normal space heater. Smart heat is the heat that's also making you money.