Bitcoin Space Heater Electrical Requirements: Complete Wiring & Safety Guide

Why Electrical Planning Matters

A Bitcoin space heater is not a desk lamp. It is a serious electrical appliance that draws between 800W and 3,250W of continuous power — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months on end during heating season. That kind of sustained load demands respect. Improper wiring, overloaded circuits, undersized breakers, and cheap extension cords are how house fires start. This is not hypothetical. Electrical fires from overloaded circuits kill people every year in North America.

D-Central Technologies has been building and deploying Bitcoin space heaters since 2016. We have seen every electrical mistake a home miner can make — shared circuits tripping breakers at 3 AM, melted outlet faces from loose connections, extension cords running hot under carpet, and breaker panels that were already at capacity before the miner was plugged in. Every one of these situations was preventable with proper electrical planning.

This guide exists because no other company in the Bitcoin mining space publishes comprehensive electrical safety documentation for home mining heaters. That is a problem, because the electrical installation is the single most safety-critical aspect of running a Bitcoin space heater. The miner itself is engineered to operate safely within its specifications. The danger comes from plugging it into infrastructure that cannot handle the load.

Read this entire guide before you plug in your space heater. If anything in your electrical setup does not match the requirements outlined here, stop and hire a licensed electrician. The cost of a proper circuit installation is trivial compared to the cost of an electrical fire.

Power Requirements by Model

Every D-Central Bitcoin space heater has a specific power envelope that determines what kind of electrical circuit it requires. The table below lists the complete power specifications for each model, including the critical details: wattage range, input current at both 120V and 240V, and the minimum circuit requirements.

Pay close attention to the current draw at 120V column. This is the number that determines whether your existing household circuit can handle the load. North American residential circuits are typically 15A or 20A. The 80% continuous load rule (explained in the next section) means you can only use 12A on a 15A circuit and 16A on a 20A circuit for continuous loads like mining.

* S17 on 120V: The S17 draws up to 16.7A at 120V at full power, which exceeds the 80% continuous load limit of a 20A circuit (16A). It is possible to run the S17 on 120V if you underclock it to approximately 1,200–1,500W using custom firmware (BraiinsOS, LuxOS, or VNish), keeping current draw under 12.5A. At full stock hashrate, 240V is strongly recommended.

** S19 at stock: The S19 draws 2,800–3,250W at stock settings. At 120V, that is 23–27A — far beyond any standard household circuit. The S19 Space Heater requires a 240V circuit at stock power levels. There is no safe way to run a full-power S19 on 120V.

*** S19 with LuxOS PSU Bypass on 120V: The APW12 PSU is rated for 200–240V AC only. However, the LuxOS firmware PSU Bypass feature allows operating the S19 with a compatible third-party 120V ATX power supply at significantly reduced power (approximately 1,000–1,500W). This is an advanced configuration. If you are considering this approach, contact D-Central for guidance before attempting it.

120V vs 240V — Which Do You Need?

Every home in North America has both 120V and 240V power available at the electrical panel. The difference is in the wiring. Standard wall outlets (NEMA 5-15) deliver 120V. Appliances like electric dryers, ranges, and central air conditioners use 240V via dedicated circuits with different outlet types. Understanding which voltage you need is the first critical decision in your space heater installation.

When 120V Is Sufficient

For lower-wattage space heaters, a standard 120V household outlet on a dedicated circuit is perfectly adequate:

• L3 Space Heater (~800W) — Runs comfortably on any 15A circuit. At 6.7A draw, you could even share the circuit with a modest load (lamp, router), though a dedicated circuit is always better practice.
• BitChimney (750–950W) — Same situation as the L3. Low enough draw that a standard 15A outlet handles it easily.
• S9 Space Heater (1,100–1,350W) — Fits within the 80% rule on a 15A dedicated circuit. At 11.3A maximum draw, you are right at the 12A limit. This circuit must be dedicated — nothing else on it.
• S17 Space Heater (underclocked) (1,200–1,500W) — Works on a 20A/120V circuit when firmware-limited to 1,500W or less. Requires custom firmware (BraiinsOS, LuxOS, or VNish) to control power draw.

When 240V Is Required

• S19 Space Heater at stock settings — Absolutely requires 240V. Non-negotiable. The APW12 PSU is not even rated for 120V input.
• S17 Space Heater at full power — Strongly recommended at 240V when running at stock or near-stock hashrate.
• Multiple miners on a single circuit — Two S9 Space Heaters on a single 240V/20A circuit draw approximately 11.3A combined, well within limits. The same two on 120V would need two separate dedicated circuits.
• Any setup where you want maximum efficiency — PSU efficiency is 2–4% higher at 240V compared to 120V, which reduces wasted heat in the PSU and lowers your electricity cost per terahash.

Cost to Install a 240V Circuit

If your home does not already have a 240V outlet where you want to run your space heater, a licensed electrician can install one. Typical costs in Canada and the United States:

A 240V circuit is a one-time investment that increases your home’s electrical capacity. It also adds resale value — future owners can use it for any 240V appliance. For serious home mining setups, a 240V/30A circuit provides enough capacity to run an S19 at full power or two to three lower-wattage miners on a single circuit.

Circuit Requirements

This section covers the hard technical requirements for the electrical circuit feeding your Bitcoin space heater. Every detail here is based on the Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) and National Electrical Code (NEC). If any of these terms are unfamiliar, that is a strong signal to hire a licensed electrician.

Dedicated Circuits — Why They Matter

A dedicated circuit is a circuit that serves only one appliance. It has its own breaker in the panel, its own wire run, and its own outlet. No other lights, receptacles, or devices share it.

Bitcoin space heaters are continuous loads — they draw constant power for more than 3 hours at a time (in practice, they run 24/7). Both the CEC and NEC require that continuous loads be supplied by circuits where the load does not exceed 80% of the breaker’s rated ampacity. On a shared circuit, other devices eat into that 80% limit, making it easy to exceed safe capacity.

The bottom line: every Bitcoin space heater should be on its own dedicated circuit. The only exceptions are the L3 and BitChimney at low power, which draw under 8A and could theoretically share a 15A circuit — but even then, a dedicated circuit is best practice.

The 80% Continuous Load Rule

This is the most important rule in residential electrical safety for mining:

To find the right circuit for your miner: take your miner’s maximum wattage, divide by your voltage, and make sure the result is below the 80% column for your breaker size. For example, an S9 Space Heater at 1,350W on 120V draws 11.25A — that fits under the 12A limit for a 15A breaker. An S19 at 3,250W on 240V draws 13.5A — that fits under the 16A limit for a 20A breaker.

Wire Gauge Requirements

The wire connecting your breaker to your outlet must be rated for the circuit’s ampacity. Using undersized wire causes the wire itself to overheat — this is a fire hazard that you cannot see, because the wire is inside your walls.

These are minimum gauges for standard residential runs up to approximately 50 feet. For longer runs, you may need to upsize the wire to account for voltage drop. A licensed electrician will calculate this for your specific installation.

Breaker Sizing

The breaker in your electrical panel must match the wire gauge and the intended load. Here is a quick reference for Bitcoin space heater installations:

• L3 / BitChimney on 120V: 15A breaker, 14 AWG wire, NEMA 5-15 outlet
• S9 on 120V: 15A breaker, 14 AWG wire, NEMA 5-15 outlet (dedicated circuit required)
• S17 (underclocked) on 120V: 20A breaker, 12 AWG wire, NEMA 5-20 outlet (dedicated circuit required)
• S17 on 240V: 15A double-pole breaker, 14/2 wire, NEMA 6-15 outlet
• S19 on 240V: 20A double-pole breaker, 12/2 wire, NEMA 6-20 outlet (dedicated circuit required)
• Multiple miners on 240V: 30A double-pole breaker, 10/2 wire, NEMA 6-30 or NEMA 14-30 outlet — size according to total combined load at 80%

Outlet Types (NEMA Configurations)

Different circuits use different outlet types. You cannot (and should not) plug a 240V cord into a 120V outlet — the physical plug shapes are deliberately incompatible. Here is what you will encounter:

Power Supply Unit (PSU) Requirements

The PSU is the bridge between your wall outlet and your ASIC miner. Each D-Central space heater model uses a specific Bitmain APW-series power supply (or compatible equivalent). Understanding your PSU’s input specifications is critical for matching it to your electrical circuit.

PSU Derating at 120V

When a PSU with a 100–240V input range operates at 120V, it derates — meaning it cannot deliver its full rated output power. This is because power is voltage times current. At half the voltage, the PSU would need to draw twice the current to deliver the same power, which exceeds its input circuitry and the household circuit’s capacity. Instead, the PSU limits its output to what the input current allows.

This derating is why the S17 at stock power settings cannot reliably run on 120V. The APW9 is rated for 2,800W output at 240V, but only delivers approximately 1,800W at 120V. If the S17 demands more power than the PSU can supply at 120V, the miner will shut down, hash at reduced rates, or trigger PSU overcurrent protection. Underclocking the S17 via firmware brings its power demand within the PSU’s 120V output capability.

The Efficiency Advantage of 240V

PSU efficiency is the percentage of input power that becomes usable DC output. The remainder becomes waste heat inside the PSU itself. At 240V, a typical APW-series PSU operates at 93–95% efficiency. At 120V, that drops to 91–93%. The 2–3% difference may seem small, but for a miner running 24/7:

• An S9 at 1,200W on 120V (92% efficiency) wastes ~96W as PSU heat. At 240V (94% efficiency), it wastes ~72W. That is 24W saved, or roughly $18–25 CAD/year at $0.08–0.11/kWh.
• An S17 at 2,000W on 240V (94% efficiency) wastes ~120W. At 120V (92%), it wastes ~160W. The $30–40/year difference adds up over multi-year operation.

The efficiency gain alone does not justify the cost of a 240V circuit installation. But combined with the reduced current draw (which reduces wire heating, connector stress, and breaker load), 240V is objectively superior for any miner drawing over 1,500W.

Installation Safety Checklist

Before your Bitcoin space heater draws its first watt, walk through every item on this checklist. Print it out if you need to. Skip nothing.

1. Verify circuit capacity. Identify which breaker in your panel feeds the outlet you plan to use. Check the breaker’s amp rating. Calculate that your miner’s draw is under 80% of that rating. If you cannot identify the circuit, use a circuit finder tool or hire an electrician.
2. Confirm the circuit is dedicated (or has sufficient headroom). Turn off the breaker and walk through your home to identify what else is on that circuit. If anything else is on it — lights, other outlets, appliances — either move the miner to a dedicated circuit or ensure the total combined load stays under 80%.
3. Inspect the outlet physically. Look for scorch marks, discoloration, melting, or a cracked faceplate. Plug in a lamp and wiggle the plug — if the connection is loose, the outlet’s internal contacts are worn and must be replaced. A loose connection causes arcing, which causes heat, which causes fire.
4. Verify grounding. Use a $5–15 outlet tester (available at any hardware store) to confirm the outlet is properly grounded, correctly wired, and has no open neutral or hot/neutral reverse conditions. If the tester shows any fault, do not use that outlet until an electrician repairs it.
5. Never use extension cords. Standard household extension cords are rated for 10–13A and are not designed for continuous loads. Even “heavy-duty” extension cords introduce additional resistance, connection points (failure points), and voltage drop. Plug the space heater’s PSU power cord directly into the wall outlet.
6. Never use consumer-grade power strips. Dollar-store power strips with thin wiring are the single most common cause of electrical fires in home mining setups. They are not rated for continuous high-current loads. If you need surge protection, use a properly rated surge protector (see the Surge Protection section below).
7. Use a Kill-A-Watt meter for initial verification. After first power-on, plug a Kill-A-Watt (or similar power meter) between the wall and the PSU to measure actual wattage and amperage. Compare the reading to your circuit’s 80% limit. This confirms that firmware settings, hashrate, and real-world power draw match your expectations.
8. Install a smoke detector in the same room. If there is not already a working smoke detector within 15 feet of the space heater, install one. Test it monthly. Replace batteries annually. This is not optional.
9. Keep a fire extinguisher accessible. A Class ABC dry chemical extinguisher should be within reach of the room where the space heater operates. Know how to use it. An electrical fire (Class C) requires a non-conductive extinguishing agent — never use water on an electrical fire.
10. Clear combustible materials. Maintain at least 3 feet (1 meter) of clearance between the space heater’s hot exhaust and any combustible materials — curtains, paper, cardboard, furniture fabric, bedding, clothing. The exhaust air from a mining space heater can reach 45–60 °C (113–140 °F).
11. Install surge protection. At minimum, use an inline surge protector rated for your miner’s wattage. Ideally, install a whole-house surge protector at the electrical panel. Details in the Surge Protection section.
12. Verify ground fault protection where required. If your space heater is in a basement, garage, or within 1.5 meters of a water source, code requires GFCI protection. See the Grounding section.
13. Check the power cord for damage. Before every use, inspect the power cord for cuts, fraying, exposed copper, kinks, or melted insulation. A damaged power cord must be replaced — never repaired with tape.
14. Verify proper ventilation. A Bitcoin space heater converts 100% of its electrical input to heat. An S19 in an enclosed closet with no airflow will overheat the miner AND create a fire hazard. Ensure the space has adequate ventilation or a planned exhaust path. See the Heat Output & Ventilation section.
15. Label the breaker. In your breaker panel, label the circuit breaker serving your space heater clearly (e.g., “Bitcoin Miner — S9 Office”). In an emergency, anyone in the household should be able to identify and shut off the correct breaker immediately.

Surge Protection

Power surges — sudden spikes in voltage lasting microseconds to milliseconds — are the silent killer of ASIC mining hardware. They are caused by lightning strikes (even nearby strikes, not direct hits), utility grid switching, large appliance cycling (AC compressors, refrigerators, well pumps), and power restoration after outages. A single surge can destroy a PSU, fry a control board, or damage ASIC chips on hashboards.

Mining hardware is particularly vulnerable because it runs 24/7. A traditional computer might be off during a 3 AM thunderstorm. Your miner will not be.

Three Levels of Surge Protection

Level 1: Whole-House Surge Protector (Strongly Recommended)

A whole-house surge protector installs at your main electrical panel and protects every circuit in the home from external surges (lightning, grid events). It is the first line of defense and catches the largest surges before they reach any equipment.

• Cost: $200–$400 CAD installed by an electrician
• Protection level: Typically rated for 40,000–80,000A surge current
• Lifespan: 5–10 years (most have indicator lights showing protection status)
• Protects all electronics in the home, not just the miner
• Does NOT protect against surges originating inside the home (appliance cycling)

Level 2: Point-of-Use Surge Protector (Minimum Required)

A point-of-use surge protector plugs into the wall outlet and the PSU plugs into it. This catches surges that the whole-house protector misses and handles internal surges from other circuits.

• Must be rated for the miner’s continuous wattage — not a cheap power strip
• Look for UL 1449 listed devices with a clamping voltage of 400V or less
• Joule rating: minimum 2,000 joules for mining equipment
• Cost: $30–$80 CAD for a quality unit rated at 15A or 20A
• Replace after any surge event (protection degrades with each surge absorbed)

Level 3: UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) — Optional

A UPS provides surge protection, voltage regulation, and battery backup. For mining, the battery backup is less important (a brief power outage does not damage the miner), but the voltage regulation protects against brownouts and sags that can damage PSUs over time.

• Must be a true online (double-conversion) UPS for mining loads — line-interactive or standby UPS types may not handle the continuous high-wattage draw
• A UPS rated for an S9 (1,350W) costs $300–$600 CAD
• A UPS for an S19 (3,250W) costs $1,000+ CAD — at this point, a whole-house surge protector is more cost-effective
• Best use case: areas with frequent brownouts or unstable grid voltage

Lightning Risk

If you live in a lightning-prone area, whole-house surge protection is not optional — it is mandatory. Lightning does not need to hit your house directly. A strike within a kilometer can induce voltage spikes on your power lines sufficient to destroy any unprotected electronics. During active thunderstorms, the safest option is to power down your miner entirely and unplug it from the wall. No surge protector is rated for a direct lightning strike.

Grounding & Ground Fault Protection

Proper grounding is your last line of defense against electrocution. If a hot wire inside the PSU or miner touches the metal chassis, grounding provides a low-resistance path for fault current to flow back to the panel, tripping the breaker and cutting power before the chassis becomes energized at lethal voltage.

Verifying Your Outlet’s Grounding

Older homes (pre-1960s in Canada, pre-1970s in the US) may have ungrounded two-prong outlets. Even newer homes can have wiring faults that leave a three-prong outlet ungrounded. Never operate an ASIC miner on an ungrounded outlet.

Testing is simple and costs less than a coffee:

1. Purchase a NEMA outlet tester ($5–$15 at any hardware store — brands like Klein Tools or Gardner Bender). It plugs into a standard outlet and uses three indicator lights to show the wiring status.
2. Plug it in. The lights will indicate one of several conditions: Correct, Open Ground, Open Neutral, Hot/Ground Reversed, or Hot/Neutral Reversed.
3. Only “Correct” is acceptable. Any other reading means the outlet has a wiring fault that must be repaired by an electrician before you connect any mining equipment.

GFCI Protection

A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) monitors the current flowing through the hot and neutral wires. If it detects even a small imbalance (as little as 5 mA), it trips in milliseconds — fast enough to prevent electrocution. The CEC and NEC require GFCI protection in specific locations:

• Bathrooms — Never operate a miner in a bathroom, but if water sources are nearby, GFCI is required
• Garages — Required for all outlets in unfinished garages
• Basements — Required for unfinished basements in most jurisdictions
• Outdoors — Required for all outdoor outlets
• Within 1.5 meters (5 feet) of a sink or water source — Required
• Laundry areas — Required in many jurisdictions

If your space heater is in a basement or garage — two of the most common locations for home mining — GFCI protection is likely required by code. GFCI can be provided by a GFCI outlet (the kind with “Test” and “Reset” buttons on the face) or by a GFCI breaker in the panel.

Heat Output & Ventilation

Thermodynamics is absolute: every watt of electricity your Bitcoin space heater consumes is converted into heat. Not most of it. Not approximately. All of it. The conversion is 1 Watt = 3.412 BTU/hr. This is a physical constant, not an approximation. An 1,100W S9 produces exactly as much heat as an 1,100W ceramic space heater — the ASIC chips just happen to do some SHA-256 computation along the way.

When the Heat Is Useful

This is the entire thesis of the Bitcoin space heater: during heating season, 100% of the electricity is doing double duty. You are not wasting energy on mining — you are mining Bitcoin with the electricity that was going to become heat anyway. In cold climates like Canada, this means 6–8 months of the year where the miner’s heat output directly offsets your heating bill.

An S9 Space Heater at 1,200W produces the same heat as a 1,200W electric baseboard section. If your utility rate is $0.07/kWh (Quebec residential), that is $0.084/hr for heating — but you are also earning satoshis. The effective heating cost drops to whatever your electricity rate minus your mining revenue works out to. In many scenarios, the mining revenue exceeds the electricity cost, meaning you are being paid to heat your home.

When the Heat Must Be Exhausted

In summer, or in rooms that are already adequately heated, the heat output becomes unwanted. You have three options:

1. Duct the exhaust outside. Use the space heater’s exhaust port with a flexible duct and window adapter to vent hot air outdoors. This is the simplest solution but you lose the heating benefit.
2. Underclock the miner. Reduce hashrate (and therefore power/heat) using custom firmware. An S9 can run as low as 750W with BraiinsOS or LuxOS.
3. Shut down for summer. If electricity costs make mining unprofitable without the heating offset, turn the miner off during warm months. There is no wear penalty from power cycling ASIC miners seasonally.

Ventilation Requirements

Even during heating season, a Bitcoin space heater in an enclosed space with no air circulation will overheat the miner’s ASIC chips, triggering thermal throttling or shutdown. The miner needs fresh intake air below 35 °C (95 °F) and an exit path for exhaust air.

• Open room: A space heater in a normal room with a door that opens to the rest of the house generally has adequate ventilation. The room warms up, convection circulates air, and the miner self-regulates.
• Closet or small enclosed space: Not recommended without forced ventilation. A 1,200W heater in a closet will reach dangerous temperatures within minutes. If you must use a closet, install intake and exhaust vents or duct the exhaust out of the closet.
• Basement: Generally excellent for mining — cool ambient temperature, concrete thermal mass. Ensure the space is not fully sealed.
• Garage: Works well in winter. In summer, garage temperatures can exceed the miner’s intake temperature limits. Monitor ambient temperature.

Canadian Electrical Code (CEC) Specifics

D-Central Technologies is a Canadian company, and many of our customers install Bitcoin space heaters in Canadian homes. The Canadian Electrical Code (CEC, CSA C22.1) governs electrical installations in Canada. While the CEC and the American NEC (NFPA 70) are broadly similar, there are differences that Canadian home miners should understand.

Key CEC vs NEC Differences

Provincial Permit Requirements

In Canada, electrical regulations are enforced at the provincial level. Here are the key rules for the provinces where most D-Central customers are located:

• Quebec: The Regie du batiment du Quebec (RBQ) regulates electrical work. Homeowners can perform electrical work in their own single-family dwelling but must obtain a permit and pass inspection. Any work involving the electrical panel requires a master electrician. The RBQ enforces the CEC with Quebec-specific amendments.
• Ontario: The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) oversees electrical safety. Homeowners can do their own electrical work but must obtain a permit and request an ESA inspection upon completion. The ESA provides an online portal for permit applications. Failing to obtain a permit can affect your home insurance coverage.
• British Columbia: Technical Safety BC (TSBC) regulates electrical installations. Homeowners may perform electrical work on their own property but must obtain a permit and schedule an inspection.
• Alberta: Electrical work requires a permit from the local safety codes officer. Homeowners may perform work on their own single-family dwelling. Inspections are required.

Hiring a Licensed Electrician in Canada

• Verify their provincial licence (e.g., CMEQ licence in Quebec, ESA registration in Ontario)
• Ask for proof of liability insurance
• Get a written quote that specifies: wire gauge, breaker size, outlet type, conduit type, and permit inclusion
• Confirm the quote includes the electrical permit and inspection fee
• For a simple 240V/30A circuit run: expect $400–$800 CAD total including permit and materials
• For a panel upgrade (100A to 200A): expect $2,000–$4,000 CAD

Common Electrical Mistakes

D-Central’s repair team has seen the consequences of every mistake on this list. Some resulted in damaged equipment. Some resulted in damaged homes. Learn from others’ mistakes — not your own.

1. Overloaded Circuits

The most common mistake. A miner draws 10A, the other devices on the circuit draw 5A combined, and the 15A breaker trips at 3 AM. The homeowner “solves” this by moving the lamp to another outlet, but does not realize the wall heater on the same circuit draws 8A when it kicks on at night. Now the circuit is intermittently running at 18A on a 15A breaker — and the breaker’s response time at 120% load is measured in minutes, not milliseconds. The wire heats up every time.

Fix: Dedicated circuit. No exceptions for miners above 800W.

2. Extension Cords and Power Strips

A 16 AWG extension cord rated for 13A with a mining PSU drawing 11A continuously. The extension cord is warm to the touch after an hour, hot after four hours, and the insulation starts softening after a week. If it is under a rug or behind furniture where the heat cannot dissipate, the temperature escalates faster.

Fix: Plug the PSU directly into the wall outlet. Always. If the outlet is too far from where you want the miner, move the miner — not the electricity.

3. Wrong Wire Gauge

A homeowner installs a 20A breaker to get more capacity but uses existing 14 AWG wiring (rated for 15A). The breaker happily allows 18A through the circuit because it is under its 20A threshold. The 14 AWG wire overheats inside the wall, where no one can see or smell it until the drywall starts scorching.

Fix: Breaker rating must never exceed the wire gauge rating. Period.

4. Ignoring Breaker Trips

A breaker trips and the homeowner resets it. It trips again. They reset it again. After several trips, they stop investigating the cause and just reset it whenever it happens. A breaker that trips repeatedly is telling you something. It is detecting an overcurrent condition, and each trip weakens the breaker mechanism slightly. Eventually, the breaker may fail to trip when it should — which is when fires start.

Fix: If a breaker trips more than once, investigate the cause. Reduce the load, check for short circuits, and if the breaker trips at loads below its rating, replace the breaker — it may be faulty.

5. Daisy-Chaining Power Strips

Plugging a power strip into another power strip (or into an extension cord) to reach a distant outlet. Each connection point adds resistance. Each thin wire section adds heat. The combined load exceeds the rating of every device in the chain. This is a code violation in both the CEC and NEC.

Fix: One device, one outlet, one circuit. No chains.

6. Running Extension Cords Through Windows or Doors

Running a power cord through a window or under a door to reach an outdoor or adjacent-room outlet. The cord gets pinched, the insulation wears through, and exposed copper contacts the window frame or door jamb. This is an electrocution hazard and a fire hazard simultaneously.

Fix: Have a proper outlet installed where you need it.

7. No Surge Protection

Running a $400–$3,000 mining rig with zero surge protection. One lightning-induced surge on the power line, and the PSU is dead. Possibly the control board too. Sometimes the hashboards. The cost of a $30 surge protector or $300 whole-house unit is a fraction of the replacement cost.

Fix: Minimum inline surge protection for every miner. Whole-house if you have multiple units.

8. Bootleg Grounds (Jumping Neutral to Ground)

In homes with old ungrounded wiring, some people connect (jumper) the neutral wire to the ground terminal in an outlet. This makes an outlet tester show “correct” wiring, but it is extraordinarily dangerous. Under a fault condition, the neutral wire (which carries return current) is now also the “ground” path, which means the device chassis can become energized at voltage.

Fix: If your home has ungrounded wiring, hire an electrician to install proper grounding or add GFCI protection as permitted by code. Never jump neutral to ground.

When to Hire an Electrician

Electrical work is one of the few areas of home improvement where the DIY approach can kill you. Here is a clear list of when professional help is non-negotiable:

• Any 240V circuit installation — Running new wire, installing a double-pole breaker, and mounting a 240V outlet is work that must be done correctly. One wiring error on a 240V circuit can be lethal.
• New circuit runs of any voltage — Running wire through walls, drilling through studs or joists, and connecting to the panel requires knowledge of building codes, wire routing rules, and panel connection procedures.
• Electrical panel work — The panel contains lethal voltage even when the main breaker is off (the service entrance conductors above the main breaker are always energized). Only licensed electricians should work inside a panel.
• Panel upgrades — If your panel is at capacity (no empty breaker slots) or undersized (100A service with a 200A load), you need a panel upgrade. This involves coordination with your utility company.
• Unclear existing wiring — If you cannot confidently identify which breaker feeds which outlet, or if your home’s wiring is a mystery of previous owners’ modifications, pay for a professional assessment.
• Any situation where you are uncertain — If you are reading this section because you are unsure about something, that uncertainty is the answer. Hire an electrician.
• Aluminum wiring — Homes built in the 1960s–1970s may have aluminum branch circuit wiring, which requires special connectors (e.g., AlumiConn) and techniques. Connecting copper-rated devices to aluminum wiring without proper adapters creates a fire hazard due to differential thermal expansion.

Measuring & Monitoring Your Electrical Setup

Trust but verify. Even if you believe your circuit is adequate, measure it. Here are the tools every home miner should own:

Kill-A-Watt Meter (Essential — $25–$40 CAD)

The Kill-A-Watt (P3 International P4400 or similar) plugs between the wall outlet and your PSU’s power cord. It displays real-time voltage, current (amps), wattage, frequency, and cumulative kWh. This is the single most useful tool for verifying your setup.

1. Plug Kill-A-Watt into wall outlet
2. Plug PSU power cord into Kill-A-Watt
3. Power on the miner and wait 5 minutes for hashrate to stabilize
4. Read the display:
   - Voltage: Should read 118-122V (120V circuit) or 236-244V (240V circuit)
   - Amps:    Must be UNDER 80% of circuit breaker rating
   - Watts:   Should match expected power for your model/firmware settings
5. Record these numbers and keep them for reference
6. Check again after any firmware or frequency changes

Clamp Ammeter ($30–$80 CAD)

A clamp ammeter measures current flowing through a wire without touching the conductor. Open the clamp, place it around one conductor (not the entire cable), and read the current. This is useful for measuring current at the breaker panel or at any point along the circuit without disconnecting anything.

NEMA Outlet Tester ($5–$15 CAD)

As described in the Grounding section, this three-light plug-in device instantly tells you if your outlet is correctly wired, properly grounded, and safe to use. Every home miner should test every outlet before connecting equipment.

Infrared Thermometer ($20–$40 CAD)

Point it at the outlet face, the power cord, the PSU, and the plug after an hour of operation. Anything above 50 °C (122 °F) at the outlet or plug indicates a poor connection that is generating heat from resistance. The PSU itself will be warm (up to 60–70 °C on the case is normal) but the outlet and plug should be close to room temperature. Hot outlets are a fire warning sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why D-Central for Bitcoin Space Heaters

D-Central Technologies has been building Bitcoin space heaters since before most people knew they were possible. We are not a reseller that discovered mining last year. We are the Bitcoin Mining Hackers — the company that took institutional-grade ASIC mining hardware and engineered it into a home appliance that heats your living room while stacking sats.

• Space Heater Pioneers: We designed and manufactured the original Bitcoin space heater enclosures, optimized the airflow, selected the silent fan configurations, and tuned the firmware profiles for home use. Every unit we sell reflects years of real-world deployment experience.
• ASIC Repair Expertise: With over 2,500 ASIC miners repaired since 2016, we understand the hardware at the component level — BM1387 chips, voltage regulator circuits, hashboard thermal design, PSU failure modes. When we tell you a circuit needs to be dedicated, it is because we have repaired the equipment that was damaged when it was not.
• Full Support Ecosystem: Hardware + repair + consulting + hosting + training. No other space heater vendor offers this complete lifecycle. If your PSU fails, we repair it. If you want to upgrade from an S9 to an S17, we help you plan the electrical requirements. If you want to scale to a mining closet with multiple units, we design the power distribution.
• Canadian, for Canadians: Headquartered in Laval, Quebec. We know Canadian electrical codes, Canadian energy rates, and Canadian winters. Our space heaters are designed for the climate we live in.

Your Bitcoin space heater is where thermodynamics meets monetary sovereignty. Every watt that flows through it secures the Bitcoin network, earns satoshis, and heats your home. But that only works if the electricity gets there safely. Do the electrical preparation right — once — and you have years of worry-free dual-purpose mining ahead of you.

If you have questions about the electrical requirements for your specific setup, D-Central’s support team is here to help. We have configured hundreds of home mining installations and can advise on circuit sizing, PSU selection, and firmware tuning to match your available power.

Stay warm. Stack sats. Do it safely.

— The D-Central Technologies Team
Bitcoin Mining Hackers since 2016 | Laval, QC, Canada
Phone: 1-855-753-9997