Cryptomom - that is a great question and one with two good answers. In the past, mining BTC at home with GPU's has been profitable but those days are over. You can still mine ETH at home for a bit longer (until ETH 2 begins) as well as get on some pools that will switch to the most profitable alt-coin to mine that day. That can be fun and gives you an idea about moving air flow and how hot even one mining rig will get.
Today, ASIC mines are the optimum way to mine BTC and require a bit more infrastructure then GPU's. With ASIC's, you need 10-2 electric cable ran on a 30 amp circuit, an L6-30P receptacle, power distribution unit, well-conceived air flow and balanced exhaust. Because most residential locations use single phase power, the cost of electricity is much higher than you want it.
To get the most bang for your buck, you will want to operate your machine on a 3-phase system which will reduce your overall kWh (kilowatt / hour) rate by as much as 75% on a month to month basis.
With 3-phase power being impractical for most home mining rigs you have another option, and that is to own your machine and have BTCU administer it at one of their US data centers. What you pay BTCU, you will make up in power, air flow & exhaust expense, and you'll have a professional team of crypto-engineers monitoring and maintaining your ASIC on a daily basis.
Cryptomom - that is a great question and one with two good answers. In the past, mining BTC at home with GPU's has been profitable but those days are over. You can still mine ETH at home for a bit longer (until ETH 2 begins) as well as get on some pools that will switch to the most profitable alt-coin to mine that day. That can be fun and gives you an idea about moving air flow and how hot even one mining rig will get.
Today, ASIC mines are the optimum way to mine BTC and require a bit more infrastructure then GPU's. With ASIC's, you need 10-2 electric cable ran on a 30 amp circuit, an L6-30P receptacle, power distribution unit, well-conceived air flow and balanced exhaust. Because most residential locations use single phase power, the cost of electricity is much higher than you want it.
To get the most bang for your buck, you will want to operate your machine on a 3-phase system which will reduce your overall kWh (kilowatt / hour) rate by as much as 75% on a month to month basis.
With 3-phase power being impractical for most home mining rigs you have another option, and that is to own your machine and have BTCU administer it at one of their US data centers. What you pay BTCU, you will make up in power, air flow & exhaust expense, and you'll have a professional team of crypto-engineers monitoring and maintaining your ASIC on a daily basis.
Keep mining!