2026-11-21 –, Momentum - Hack Zone Stage
Bitcoin mining in the UK sounds like a terrible idea: expensive electricity, specialist hardware and heat you need to get rid of. But what if that heat was the point?
In this talk, Robin Smith shares the story behind Heat21 Ltd, the company he co-founded with Pavel, and turning his own home into a working prototype. By capturing heat from mining hardware, storing it in a water tank and using it for radiators and hot water, the same electricity can support the Bitcoin network and warm a building.
Robin explores how cheaper electricity periods, thermal storage and mining income change the economics of electric heating, particularly where a heat pump may be difficult to install. Expect practical engineering, lessons from the build and an honest look at the limitations of an emerging technology.
Heat is the product. Bitcoin is the byproduct.
Could your boiler become part of the Bitcoin network one day?
The session will explain the basic path from computing hardware to recovered heat, thermal storage and a building’s heating or hot-water system. It will explore how stored heat can help separate the timing of electricity consumption from the timing of heat demand, alongside practical questions about system integration and operation.
Attendees will leave with a clear introduction to Heat21’s approach and a framework for asking useful questions about computing heat recovery. No specialist heating knowledge is required. Heat21 is also proposing a working-equipment exhibit where attendees can continue the conversation.
- What If Your Boiler Mined Bitcoin? — Robin Smith’s journey to Heat21, the home prototype build, and the practical economics of heating with Bitcoin mining.
- Heat21 is a Glasgow-based company developing electric heating that puts Bitcoin mining heat to work. We capture heat from mining hardware, store it in water and use it for heating and hot water. My own home is the working prototype, helping us test the engineering and economics in practice.
- How is this traditional 1860s Scottish house heated?🔥 🧐
Robin Smith is a Scottish design engineer, inventor and founder with 25 years of experience turning ideas into working products. He co-founded Heat21, which develops compute-backed electric heating systems that recover useful heat from Bitcoin mining.