What it costs to run an ASIC miner for 24 months: electricity, service and hosting

Over 24 months, electricity makes up more than 95% of an ASIC miner's running costs. At home, an Antminer S21 XP uses roughly 287,000 Kč worth of it; on our hosting at 1.14 Kč/kWh, about 73,000 Kč. For home mining we assume 4.5 Kč/kWh (indicative, typically the D57d tariff; on the standard D02d tariff around 6.4 Kč/kWh, see How much electricity for mining costs). Service and maintenance cost a few thousand koruna, as long as the machine does not break down outside the warranty. At today's yield, the S21 XP mines about 142,000 Kč in 24 months – so at home it does not even cover the electricity, while on hosting it does.

Summary

• Total cost of ownership (TCO) = purchase of the machine and equipment + electricity + service + hosting. The figures below are valid as of 4 November 2026 and change with the exchange rate and network difficulty.
• Antminer S21 XP 270 TH/s over 24 months: about 392,000 Kč at home, about 141,000 Kč on hosting, including the machine.
• Antminer S21+ Hyd 395 TH/s over 24 months: about 565,000 Kč at home, about 177,000 Kč on hosting, including the machine.
• At 4.5 Kč/kWh, mining at home does not pay off for either machine. The break-even point today is 2.00–2.22 Kč/kWh.
• In a scenario with yield falling by 25% a year and the halving in April 2028, neither machine would cover its electricity after the halving, not even on hosting. This holds unless the BTC price rises significantly.

What makes up the running costs of an ASIC miner?

The costs over 24 months consist of five items, and one of them decides everything – electricity. A miner runs non-stop, so you pay for every watt of power draw for 17,520 hours.

• Purchase: the price of the machine and the equipment it needs at home – a soundproof box, water cooling, a new electrical circuit.
• Electricity: power draw (W) × 24 × 730 days ÷ 1,000 × price per kWh. We explain separately how consumption and efficiency in J/TH are calculated.
• Hosting: with us you pay according to consumption. The price per kWh from 1,14 Kč already includes machine management.
• Service and maintenance: cleaning, thermal paste replacement, fans, repairs outside the warranty. What to do and how often is described in the guide ASIC miner maintenance.
• Hidden costs: downtime, summer cooling, spare parts and taxes – we cover them below.

We are a retailer: we sell both machines from the examples as well as the hosting ourselves. Machine prices are taken from our range as of 4 November 2026. For home use we calculate with the price including VAT, for hosting with the discounted machine price – hosting is paid separately.

How much do the Antminer S21 XP and S21+ Hyd cost over 24 months at home and on hosting?

Over 24 months, the Antminer S21 XP costs about 2.8× more at home than on hosting, and the Antminer S21+ Hyd about 3.2× more. We calculate the yield from today's rate: 1 TH/s earns 0,72 Kč a day on Bitcoin (recalculated 4. 11. 8:59).

* The scenario is an assumption, not a forecast – explained below. The yield is gross, excluding pool fees and downtime. For both machines we calculate hosting at the price of the cheapest available location, Nigeria #2. The price may differ for hydro machines; you will see the exact price when choosing hosting. An electrician, a three-phase connection and connecting the cooling to your heating are not included in the table – a tradesperson will quote you the price.

On hosting, at today's figures, the Antminer S21 XP mines roughly the price of the machine in 24 months after paying for electricity: 69,305 Kč against 68,074 Kč. After deducting downtime and pool fees that is not enough, and in the scenario not at all. The Antminer S21+ Hyd is cheaper to buy, but has worse efficiency (15 J/TH) and consumes more. Neither figure is a promise of earnings.

How do costs and yield develop quarter by quarter?

Costs rise by the same amount every quarter, while the yield in the scenario falls. For the S21 XP it drops from 17,110 Kč in the first quarter to 5,202 Kč in the eighth. The cumulative cost starts with the price of the machine; Q1 covers the months 11/2026–1/2027.

Antminer S21 XP 270 TH/s

Service at home: once a year, cleaning with fresh thermal paste at our service centre (1,490 Kč according to the price list). Plus courier collection of the whole miner to the service centre (300 Kč). You can manage the second cleaning of the year yourself following the guide.

Antminer S21+ Hyd 395 TH/s

Service at home for the Antminer S21+ Hyd: a hydro machine has no fans and does not collect dust like an air-cooled one. Budget for checking the circuit and coolant as an indicative cost, depending on diagnostics – it is not included in the total.

Why do we use a scenario with yield falling by 25% a year?

Over the past three years, Bitcoin difficulty grew by an average of 32% a year. At a constant BTC price, this means the yield per 1 TH/s falls by roughly 24% a year. For the scenario we rounded this to 25%.

Over the last year difficulty fell slightly; in the two years before that it grew by more than half. Nobody knows how it will develop, so the scenario is only an assumption for the calculation, not a forecast. In it we keep the BTC price at today's value of 1 688 906 Kč.

The 24 months also include the halving at block 1,050,000. As of 4 November 2026, 75,549 blocks remain, so an estimated April 2028. The block reward will drop from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC. In the scenario we therefore calculate with half the yield from Q7 onwards.

The result: in the scenario, after the halving neither the Antminer S21 XP nor the S21+ Hyd would cover even the electricity on hosting. Unless the BTC price rose significantly by then, it would make sense to switch the machine off at that point.

Which costs do people forget about?

Most often the equipment for home operation: for the Antminer S21 XP a soundproof box costs 17,880 Kč, for the S21+ Hyd water cooling costs 21,499 Kč. Other items do not show up in the machine price at all.

Circuit breaker and wiring

At 230 V the Antminer S21 XP draws about 15.8 A. That is more than the 80% of a 16 A circuit breaker that can handle a continuous load. It needs a dedicated circuit designed by an electrician. The Antminer S21+ Hyd runs on three-phase power (380–415 V), with about 8.6 A per phase. The procedure is described in the guide How to connect an ASIC miner.

Noise insulation

The Antminer S21 XP runs at 75 dB, roughly like a vacuum cleaner. The PC Praha double soundproof box reduces noise by up to 47 dB. With an Antminer S19 (3,200 W), according to the box description, the room level is around 38 dB. The box does, however, need an air inlet and outlet; adapters for heat exhaust cost 979–1,579 Kč depending on the diameter. You will find more options in the article How to quieten an ASIC miner at home.

Cooling in summer

The Antminer S21 XP produces 3.6 kW of heat non-stop, the Antminer S21+ Hyd 5.9 kW. In winter the heat can replace heating – when that pays off is covered in the article Heating with an ASIC miner. In summer you have to get the heat outside, otherwise the machine reduces its hashrate. The 12 kW water cooling is sized for roughly twice the heat the Antminer S21+ Hyd produces.

Spare parts and repairs outside the warranty

New machines from us come with a 24-month warranty. New machines bought from us have a 7-year warranty on our hosting, with no exceptions. At home, the warranty does not cover, for example, power surges, humidity and water, or operation in a very dusty environment. Prices from our service centre as of 4 November 2026:

What fails most often and how to recognise a faulty hashboard is described in the article ASIC miner failure. When a repair no longer pays off, you will find in the article ASIC miner lifespan.

Downtime

Every hour without mining is lost yield. The cheapest available location of our hosting, Nigeria #2, has an uptime of 97.12%. For the Antminer S21 XP this amounts to about 4,100 Kč of yield over 24 months, for the S21+ Hyd about 6,000 Kč. Norway – Arctic has an uptime of 99.85%, but a more expensive kWh (about 1.39 Kč). At home, expect power and internet outages.

Taxes

Mined coins have tax implications. What applies in the Czech Republic is covered in a separate article Crypto mining in the Czech Republic: taxes, VAT, trade licence and laws.

When does it pay to mine at home and when on hosting?

Mining at home only pays off at an effective electricity price well below the break-even point, which today is 2.00–2.22 Kč/kWh. With a reserve for a falling yield, that means roughly below 1.5 Kč/kWh. A home kWh only becomes cheaper than our hosting below 1.14 Kč. The break-even point is the kWh price at which the yield just covers the electricity:

• At home at 4.5 Kč/kWh both machines already make a loss today: the S21 XP about 199 Kč a day, the S21+ Hyd about 356 Kč a day.
• At home below 1.5 Kč/kWh – typically surplus solar power, see Mining with surplus solar power. Or when the heat from the miner replaces electric heating that you would pay for anyway.
• Hosting at 1.14 Kč/kWh saves 3.36 Kč on every kWh compared with home at 4.5 Kč/kWh. For the S21 XP that is 294 Kč a day, about 215,000 Kč over 24 months. For the S21+ Hyd about 349,000 Kč.

Why mining at home in the Czech Republic usually does not pay off and what matters for small quiet machines is covered in the article Does crypto mining at home pay off.

What terms apply on our hosting?

The electricity price on our hosting starts at 1,14 Kč/kWh and includes machine management. VAT is not added to it, because the hosting is operated by a US company. It varies by location and, at some locations, also by cooling type – you will see the exact price for hydro and air-cooled machines when choosing hosting.

• Prepaid electricity: a discount of 4% for 1 year, 12% for 3 years and 30% for 7 years. With a prepayment, electricity is not deducted from the yield. For the Antminer S21 XP, a one-year prepayment saves about 2,900 Kč over 24 months.
• The 7-year warranty applies to new machines bought from us for as long as they are on our hosting.
• A location without service fees (USA) costs about 1.73 Kč/kWh. For the S21 XP that is 151 Kč a day instead of 99 Kč.
• Machines bought elsewhere are accepted at a higher price, available on request. We first check them in Prague, and they travel to the data centre in a batch of at least 25 ASICs. The 7-year warranty does not apply to them.

Any one-off fees for installation and transport to the data centre are not included in the tables. Ask us about them before you order.

How to calculate your own costs?

1. Find out the machine's power draw in watts and multiply it by 17.52. You get kWh over 24 months.
2. Multiply that by the price of your electricity including distribution. Or by the price of the chosen hosting location.
3. Add the price of the machine and equipment: box, cooling, electrician.
4. Add service: at least one cleaning a year and a reserve for a repair outside the warranty.
5. Take the yield from the ASIC miner profitability table and allow for it to fall.

This is not investment advice; mining yield changes with the exchange rate and network difficulty.

What next

• ASIC miner hosting – locations, uptime and electricity prices that we recalculate every hour.
• ASIC miner service in Prague – repairs of hashboards and power supplies, cleaning, free diagnostics with a repair at our centre.
• ASIC miner profitability – profit and payback of all machines in our range, at home and on hosting.

Sources

• mempool.space: Bitcoin difficulty and hashrate history (data 11/2023–10/2026)
• mempool.space: current block height (974,451 as of 4 Nov 2026)
• Bitref: Bitcoin Halving 2028 – block 1,050,000 and a reward of 1.5625 BTC