It is estimated that the electricity required to mine a single Bitcoin is about 1,500 watts - or enough to power nearly four homes in the US for one day. This means that, in order to be profitable, Bitcoin miners must have access to cheap and reliable electricity. Otherwise, they will simply not be able to cover their costs and will go out of business. In addition to the electricity required to power the miners, there is also the cost of cooling them. Bitcoin mining computers can get very hot, so they require a lot of cooling just to keep them from overheating. This further adds to the electricity consumption of Bitcoin mining.