Cryptocurrency mining devices like the latest Bitmain Antminer S19 Pro cost upwards of $3,000. As such investing in one needs a high degree of assurance that it’ll have paid itself off by the time its youthful days are over. But how long do miners typically last? Below, we explore the average life expectancy of an ASIC miner. We focus on mining the leading proof of work-based crypto, Bitcoin. As a bonus, we shall also state key things that can help extend or shorten your miner’s lifespan.
Let’s start with the bonus, shall we?
How long do miners typically last?: Factors that boost a crypto miner’s lifespan
Good operating conditions
An ASIC operated under optimal conditions in terms of temperature, cleanliness, and electrical power quality tends to keep humming for longer.
Occasional maintenance
Don’t let your device showcase severe symptoms for you to perform maintenance checks. Small procedures like replacing a faulty fan or heatsink go a long way in ensuring that the miner keeps that youthful roar. Here’s an article that’ll help troubleshoot your miner.
Following the manufacturer’s advice
ASIC makers know the best conditions likely to bring the best out of the machine for longer. This includes directions on whether or not to overclock your miner.
Factors that shorten a miner’s life expectancy
Poor environmental conditions
These include anything from airflow, humidity, temperature swings, and dust. With most Bitcoin miners being air-cooled, poor environmental conditions impact the miners’ cooling capability and consequently operation. Other factors like high humidity cause liquid to form inside the machine. This risks the presence of a short circuit that can cause irreparable damages.
Hardware, software, and networking issues
The three components work together to not only ensure that the miner is working as intended but also to increase its best years. Therefore, when these components have issues, the miner’s lifespan would be shortened especially when they stay unresolved for a long time.
How long do miners typically last?: Overclocking
Sounds good but not if you want your miner to run for longer. Although it increases the performance, it puts the ASIC on overdrive straining its capacity which means it breaks faster compared to one that isn’t overclocked.
Unstable power supply
Bitcoin miners are electrical-energy-hungry devices. As such, connecting them to unstable power supplies can negatively impact their lifespan because it can cause overheating of the miners’ power supply unit which can consequently lead to severe damage. Apart from shortening the miner’s life expectancy, it also lowers its performance.
Rising mining difficulty
Unfortunately, this is outside the control of miners. A rise in the mining difficulty on the Bitcoin blockchain means that ASICs need to work extra hard to solve the complex mathematical equations. Older devices may fail to keep up with this demand paving the way for newer more powerful miners, a phenomenon that renders existing ones almost obsolete within a short period.
So…
How long do miners typically last?
The average lifespan for an ASIC Bitcoin miner is three to five years. Note that the miner only manages to live for this long if it’s:
- Well maintained
- Optimally cooled
- Uses a clean and stable power supply
- Firmware is frequently updated
Other factors like the quality of the mining hardware play a major role to prolong the miners’ lifespan. Observe that some miners can last up to a decade depending on the above factors and how rapidly a blockchain’s mining difficulty increases.
A machine’s hash rate rating during purchase also affects its lifespan.
For example, if one person purchases a new miner with a speed of 20 tera hashes per second and another purchases one with a speed of 100 tera hashes per second, the first person’s device’s lifespan may be less than the second person’s due to uncontrollable dynamics in the crypto mining industry like mining difficulty.
Conclusion
To answer the question “how long do miners typically last,” it’s clear from our discussion that the average life expectancy can be up to five years. However, a miner’s lifespan can be 10 years or even a few months depending on factors like the ASIC’s build quality, operating environment, overclocking, and other factors that can either increase or shorten a miner’s lifespan.
