A couple from Essex in the United Kingdom are heating their home with a small data center in their garden, according to a BBC News report. The system, described as a “HeatHub” installed in a shed, has reduced owners Terrence and Lesley Bridges' energy bills to around £40 a month by diverting the heat from server workloads into a domestic hot water system.
The setup is part of a program from Thermify, which itself is part of the SHIELD project by UK Power Networks. The SHIELD Project aims to develop new ways for low-income households to transition to net-zero. According to Thermify’s CEO and co-founder, Travis Theune, the couple’s HeatHub installation will become part of a “remote and distributed” data center — just one of many units processing customer data.
Each HeatHub unit consists of several modules containing up to 56 Raspberry Pi computers. Although these datacenters are not designed for heavy AI workloads, Theune says the systems could be used to run apps or analyze large volumes of data. While the project is still in its pilot phase, clients will eventually pay Thermifty to process their data using HeatHubs.
Thermify’s HeatHub is just one example of server heat being used to help offset utility bills. Deep Green, another UK firm, has installed micro data centres at leisure centres and swimming pools in Devon and Manchester. Each pod contains high-performance compute units submerged in mineral oil coolant, which is circulated through existing heat exchangers. In one deployment, Deep Green claims its waste heat covers more than 60 percent of the pool’s annual demand, saving thousands in gas bills and cutting emissions by six tonnes a year.
Neither model is suitable for DIY installation. Most UK homes are limited to a 100-amp single-phase supply, and any sustained high-power load must be carefully managed to avoid overload or fire risk. A typical combination boiler system won’t benefit from cylinder heating, and insurance or grid compliance could become an issue if systems are installed unofficially.
Still, the trend is very much on energy regulator Ofgem’s radar. It's preparing to regulate heat networks under a phased plan beginning in 2026, running through 2027. While garden-shed datacentres may not fall under its scope yet, the idea of selling reused server heat back into homes is beginning to gain formal oversight.
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