The efficiency of a bitcoin mining computer is one of the most important metrics to consider when deploying and running a mining operation. More efficient miners will have a longer lifespan than their less efficient counterparts. This is because efficient miners require less energy to generate each hash. The newest and most powerful miners can exceed 100 terahashes per second, so even slight increases in efficiency really add up.

According to Braiins Insights, the temperature of a bitcoin mining machine substantially impacts its efficiency. “… we can say that the efficiency gets much worse as the temperature gets hotter (i.e. the J/TH increases).” J/Th is the measurement that bitcoin miners use to determine how much energy is required to generate each terahash. Again, lower J/Th is preferred because that means less energy is required for each hash. Braiins found that “power consumption starts at 2.5kW in the 20oC and reaches 3.55kW in the 75oC range.”

So, higher temperature miners require more electricity, which renders miners less efficient. In terms of efficiency, a miner operating at 20oC will have an efficiency of 24 J/TH whereas a miner operating at 75oC wil have an efficiency of 34 J/TH. That said, immersion and other forms of cooling can help improve the overall efficiency of miners, especially within the Antminer X19 family of miners. “Lower temperatures are directly correlated to lower power consumption and better efficiency to a greater extent than with previous generations of Antminers.”