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Beyond Air: A New Era in Mining
As new mining cooling systems start to dominate, the era of air cooling is starting to fade. Once the standard, air cooling is now largely limited to home setups and small farms. Industrial operations are moving in a different direction. Immersion and hydro systems are built for scale. They offer stronger thermal control, lower failure rates, and tighter efficiency. But they do it in fundamentally different ways.
This article takes a detailed look at immersion and hydro cooling. We’ll examine how each system works, where they’re being used, and what kind of mining operations they support. We’ll begin with how each system works and where it’s used. From there, we’ll look at the kinds of decisions each mining cooling system supports and what they imply for the development of a mining operation.
Core Technical Differences
Both Immersion and hydro mining cooling systems are an improvement over air systems, but they take very different approaches.
In an immersion setup, the entire miner is submerged in a dielectric fluid that draws heat straight from the components. That fluid is then cooled through external radiators or pumped through a heat exchanger. Since the liquid touches every surface, the system pulls heat away quickly and evenly. Most setups use single-phase fluids like synthetic oils or engineered hydrocarbons, though some high-end systems use two-phase coolants that boil and condense in a closed cycle.
Hydro cooling takes a different approach. Instead of surrounding the miner, the fluid runs through internal channels built into the device itself. Heat is carried away through contact with cold plates and tubing, then expelled through an external radiator. The coolant doesn’t touch any electronics, which simplifies maintenance inside the unit but demands more from the plumbing around it. The liquids used here are typically water-based, but they need to be carefully managed to prevent corrosion and pump damage.
Each system has its quirks. Immersion setups can leave residue in the fluid over time and need occasional filtering or replacement. Hydro systems are more compact and stay cleaner inside the miners but rely on consistent pressure and flow to stay stable. Both require more planning and oversight than air, but the tradeoff is much tighter thermal control.
The way each system handles heat sets the stage for everything else: how efficient the miner is, how long it lasts, and what kind of farm it belongs in. That’s where we’re headed next.
Performance Benchmarks
Immersion and hydro mining cooling systems both offer major performance advantages over air, but they do so in different ways. Their strengths show up in how much energy they use, and how they affect the lifespan of the hardware they’re built around.
Hydro cooling has a clear edge in energy efficiency. According to cooling engineering firm JetCool, hydro systems can reduce cooling-related energy use by up to 50% compared to immersion. This comes down to how heat is moved. Water has higher thermal capacity and flows more easily than oil-based fluids, and hydro setups transfer heat through cold plates and internal channels. For large-scale farms, cutting cooling-related energy use by that margin can have a major effect on profitability.
Immersion cooling tends to offer more thermal headroom. Submerging the entire machine allows heat to be pulled off all surfaces evenly, without relying on a fixed flow path. That keeps temperatures more consistent across the board, which makes it easier to run miners at higher performance settings. Many operators use custom firmware to take advantage of this and push beyond factory hashrates, something that’s harder to do in hydro-cooled units.
Both systems also contribute to longer hardware life. A report by Blockware estimates that ASICs running under immersion or hydro can last 30 to 50 percent longer than those in air-cooled environments. The stability of liquid cooling helps avoid thermal spikes, vibration, and dust buildup, all of which wear down machines over time.
Mining cooling choices shape the layout of a mining farm and affect how much energy goes into something other than hashing. They also play a role in how long machines stay stable under continuous load.
Infrastructure and Setup
Immersion and hydro systems demand very different infrastructure. Immersion setups use tanks filled with dielectric fluid, where miners are fully submerged. These tanks need heat exchange systems and space for cabling and maintenance access. Immersion tanks are bulky, but they can be added in stages. That makes them practical for upgrading older air-cooled farms or building out a modular setup. Air-cooled machines can be converted to immersion, which lowers the entry barrier for small and mid-sized operations.
The hydro mining cooling system doesn’t allow for that kind of flexibility. The hardware must be designed for it from the start, with internal liquid channels and fittings built into each miner. Setting up a hydro system means planning around plumbing, pumps, flow control, and pressure stability. It’s less forgiving, but once in place, it’s cleaner, and better suited to high-density rack layouts.
From a cost perspective, immersion allows for a slower, more incremental buildout. Hydro requires a larger upfront investment and tighter planning, but scales better in large facilities where the layout can be engineered around the system. Retrofitting isn’t an option, but the tradeoff is a more streamlined setup with fewer moving parts exposed.
Deployment History
Immersion cooling showed up in Bitcoin mining well before hydro. Early experiments began in the mid-2010s, when miners started using mineral oil tanks to manage heat and reduce noise. Most of these setups were homemade, since commercial equipment wasn’t available yet. Over time, companies like Allied Control and GRC began developing systems built for industrial use. Bitmain joined later, offering Antboxes designed for immersion.
Hydro mining cooling arrived more recently. Bitmain introduced its first hydro-cooled Antminer in 2022, alongside full-facility designs that included everything from plumbing to coolant distribution. Unlike immersion, which miners adopted gradually and adapted to different setups, hydro cooling came as a complete system built for new farms.
Both methods gained momentum after the last halving, when miners began looking for ways to reduce costs and get more out of each machine. Immersion is still more common, especially in converted sites and modular containers. Hydro is expanding in farms built from the ground up, where layout and infrastructure can be planned around the hardware.
Unlocking Extra Value
Both immersion and hydro systems lower operating costs, but some setups also open the door to other forms of value. In some cases, that means recovering waste heat. In others it can simplify how the system fits into the broader layout of the farm.
Immersion systems make it easier to capture and reuse heat. Because the fluid fully surrounds each miner, it absorbs heat evenly and holds it well. That thermal energy can be routed into heating systems for nearby buildings or used in industrial processes that need low-grade heat. Some farms have connected immersion tanks to greenhouses or office heating, creating local energy loops that offset utility costs. The plumbing is relatively simple, and because the tanks are external, it’s easier to adapt them to different use cases.
Hydro setups offer fewer options for heat reuse. The coolant never touches the hardware directly, and the heat it carries is often spread across many small loops and radiators. It’s possible to recover this heat, but doing so requires more planning and tends to make sense only in large-scale, purpose-built environments. On the other hand, hydro farms often run cleaner and more compact, which can reduce labor and maintenance costs over time.
Some of the biggest efficiency gains come from how a system integrates with the rest of the operation. Immersion is more flexible and adaptable, making it a strong fit for farms looking to repurpose heat, or fit mining into existing infrastructure. Hydro favors scale, and works best when every part of the site is designed to match.
Conclusion
Immersion and hydro mining cooling both go far beyond what air systems can offer, but they take different paths. Immersion is more flexible and easier to retrofit. It’s a strong option for miners expanding gradually or adapting older sites. Hydro, on the other hand, delivers higher efficiency and cleaner layouts, but requires purpose-built infrastructure.
The cooling system you choose sets the tone for how your farm runs. It determines how much oversight the setup needs, and how easy it is to scale. It also shapes performance over time, and plays a big role in how long your machines stay reliable. A well-matched setup gives miners more control and fewer surprises.