Your water heater already uses electricity to keep the showers hot and dishes clean. But what if it could also earn you a little money at the same time?
That's the idea behind Bitwater, an unusual new home appliance from technology company Heatbit that combines an electric water heater's heating element with a bitcoin mining computer.
Rather than purchasing an entirely new water heater, homeowners can install the device inside an existing electric tank, replacing a conventional heating element with one powered by computer chips that generate heat while mining cryptocurrency.
"We were actually looking for areas where electricity is turned into heat, where it's not seasonal," Alex Busarov, Heatbit's founder, told Realtor.com® in a phone interview. The company had already developed bitcoin-mining space heaters, he explained, but household water heating offered an opportunity to put the technology to work year-round.
It's an eye-catching proposition at a time when homeowners are looking for ways to offset utility bills. But can mining bitcoin really make heating water more affordable?
How does a bitcoin-mining water heater work?
At first glance, Bitwater resembles an oversized heating element, the metal component inside an electric water heater that warms the water.
But instead of a traditional electrical resistance wire, it contains specialized computer chips that perform the calculations involved in bitcoin mining.
But instead of a traditional electrical resistance wire, it contains specialized computer chips that perform the calculations involved in bitcoin mining.
Those chips produce heat as they work. Bitwater transfers that heat into the surrounding water, cooling the computer hardware while heating the tank.
Unlike space heating, which is largely unnecessary during the warmer months, households need hot water throughout the year. That makes a water heater a potentially more practical home for computing equipment that generates heat.
The device replaces only the lower heating element in a conventional electric water heater. The upper element remains in place to provide additional heating when demand increases.
According to Busarov, Bitwater typically operates at approximately 400 to 600 watts, heating water more gradually than a conventional element that might draw several thousand watts for a shorter period.
Busarov said the device automatically stops mining when the water reaches its target temperature. He estimated that the mining hardware operates approximately 80% of the time, although actual utilization would depend on household demand for hot water.
Can it actually save—or make—you money?
Bitwater can reportedly generate up to 34 terahashes per second, a measure of the computing power used to mine bitcoin, which Busarov estimated could translate to roughly $30 per month in cryptocurrency under current mining conditions.
That would represent approximately $360 annually, although actual earnings depend on bitcoin prices, mining difficulty, operating time, and other factors.
At that rate, a roughly $900 device would require about 2.5 years to recover its purchase price, even before accounting for installation costs, mining fees, maintenance, or changes in cryptocurrency earnings.
There is an important distinction, however, between generating bitcoin revenue and saving energy. Bitwater doesn't eliminate the electricity needed to heat water. Instead, the company argues that the electricity can perform two useful jobs: powering a computer and producing household hot water.
In principle, that gives the homeowner some cryptocurrency in exchange for electricity that would otherwise have gone toward conventional resistance heating.
Busarov says the mining operation shuts down when the tank reaches its desired temperature, so the device isn't intended to consume additional electricity solely to mine bitcoin. It prioritizes heating water, with cryptocurrency mining as a secondary function.
At an illustrative electricity rate of 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, operating a 600-watt device continuously would consume about $78 in electricity each month. Bitwater is not designed to operate continuously, however, and that electricity would not necessarily represent an additional expense if the heat replaces what a conventional electric heating element would otherwise produce.
Heatbit's projected earnings are therefore not the same as guaranteed savings on a utility bill. The calculation depends on how much the device operates and how much cryptocurrency it actually generates.
What about installation and safety?
Heatbit designed Bitwater as a retrofit for conventional electric tank water heaters rather than a complete replacement system.
The device is intended to fit compatible residential tanks equipped with standard screw-in heating elements.
Busarov said installation is designed to be comparable to replacing an ordinary water heater element.
"We really built it for DIY installation," he said.
That doesn't necessarily mean every homeowner should attempt it.
Working on a water heater involves electricity, pressurized water, and potential flooding hazards. Homeowners unfamiliar with those systems should use a qualified professional and check local code requirements.
Heatbit promotes several safety and maintenance features, including leak protection, overheating safeguards, and programmed high-temperature cycles intended to limit the growth of Legionella bacteria.
Busarov said protecting against leaks was a significant part of developing the physical product.
He also described a system that can periodically raise water temperatures to combat bacterial growth without maintaining those higher temperatures continuously.
The company says Bitwater also incorporates a powered anode rod designed to protect the tank against corrosion and anti-limescale technology intended to reduce mineral buildup. Both corrosion and mineral deposits can contribute to water heater maintenance problems, and Busarov saw these features as selling points even for homeowners who aren't interested in cryptocurrency.
However, homeowners should verify that the specific product they receive has the appropriate electrical and plumbing certifications, and that its temperature controls and other protective features operate as advertised.
Independent, long-term reliability data will be especially important as the technology moves beyond its initial testing phase.
How does it compare with an energy-efficient water heater?
For homeowners primarily interested in reducing utility bills, Bitwater faces an established competitor: the heat-pump water heater.
Unlike conventional resistance heaters, heat-pump models use electricity to move heat from the surrounding air into a water tank.
According to Energy Star, an efficient heat-pump water heater can save a four-person household approximately $550 per year compared with a standard electric water heater.
Those savings come from reducing energy consumption rather than producing a separate stream of income.
Bitwater takes a fundamentally different approach. It aims to create financial value from electricity already being used for heating.
That may appeal to homeowners who already have a functional electric water heater and don't want to replace the entire appliance.
But a homeowner considering a major water-heating upgrade should compare installation costs, electricity consumption, maintenance, and expected savings before choosing one technology over another.
Is a bitcoin-mining water heater really worth it?
For all its ingenuity, Bitwater still faces some crucial, fundamental questions—like does adding cryptocurrency mining to an everyday appliance actually save homeowners enough money to justify the investment?
And, does it really work?
Regarding the latter, Heatbit claims it tested the system in households in Miami and Rochester, NY, during January, according to Busarov. Both locations maintained adequate hot water despite their dramatically different winter climates, according to the findings.
"People didn't really notice the difference," he said.
Realtor.com asked Heatbit to arrange interviews with the homeowners who tested the devices to independently assess their experiences, but those interviews had not been arranged by publication deadline.
While the concept has generated enthusiasm among cryptocurrency enthusiasts online, others questioned whether the device's mining revenue could justify its upfront cost, particularly if its computing performance declines as the water in the tank heats up.
There is also the question of whether homeowners want to become cryptocurrency miners, even on a small scale.
Bitcoin's value can fluctuate dramatically, and mining profitability depends on competition from other miners around the world. A device generating $30 in one month might earn considerably less in another.
There are also questions about actual mining utilization. Busarov estimated the device can mine approximately 80% of the time, but that figure has not been independently verified. Because the mining operation shuts down when the water reaches its target temperature, households using less hot water may have fewer opportunities to generate cryptocurrency.
Long-term maintenance presents another uncertainty. A conventional heating element is relatively simple and inexpensive to replace, while Bitwater introduces computer chips, electronic controls, and other components into an appliance that homeowners generally expect to operate for years with little attention.
And while the company insists the early household tests suggest the product can provide adequate hot water, the item is still in pre-order phase right now with the first units slotted to ship in the first quarter, so there is no independent evidence of its performance and durability, and real-world earnings remains limited.
Taken together, those uncertainties make Bitwater an intriguing proposition, but not yet a proven way to reduce household expenses.
