UKBouldering.com

Homegrown (Read 4830 times)

crimp

  • Guest
Homegrown
February 21, 2013, 02:37:16 pm
Splitting off from Brooker thread:

people are clearly interested in food production. No better way than produce your own. Can be done in house, flat, pots, or even guerilla gardening on waste land, public parks, railway cuttings, etc. Be good to share our experiences, and offer advice?

I can offer good urban poultry keeping advice, if you're in bristol area, happy to meet, show you my set up, or assess your garden for poultry and help you set up.

and reasonable fruit and veg knowledge in garden, pots, allotment or guerilla.

I would like help and advice with building a wind turbine generator.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2013, 03:53:22 pm by Bubba, Reason: title was in caps »

tomtom

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 20282
  • Karma: +641/-11
#1 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 02:46:49 pm
I would like help and advice with building a wind turbine generator.

I looked at this quite a lot c.10 years ago, when living on a very windy hillside in Mid Wales.. The upshot is that in urban areas I probably wouldnt bother unless you have a very tall house or are on the top of a multi storey building that has no trees near it. The turbulence from nearby structures makes most urban installations little more than token efforts... they spend more time hunting around looking for steady wind than actually generating. If you can mount a 8m pole on top of your house with the Turbine on top you've a good chance of it being OK.. but thats generally not easy in an urban area...

Solar PV.. if you've a south(ish) facing roof...

butterworthtom

Offline
  • ***
  • stalker
  • Posts: 269
  • Karma: +17/-2
    • Incoherent Rambling's of a Lakes Boulderer
#2 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 02:53:54 pm
Like has been said, not much point in a home wind turbine. The expense would far outweigh the benefit. The area (pi*r^2) that the blades could spin in is directly proportional to power generation. So blades that are twice as large generate 4 times more power. With the size of installation you could have at home being very limited there is really very little point, which is why you don't see more wind turbine on houses.

crimp

  • Guest
#3 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 02:58:20 pm
 it is a token gesture at present. Bit of an experiment. Trying to get hold of an oz fischer paykel washing machine motor (any advice on getting one welcome). Can't generate the rpm for an alternator.

I am very urban, so noise is an issue. Neighbours are on board so far.

Can't afford solar electric, but have considered roof mounted radiators for hot water. Anyone tried this?

SA Chris

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 29221
  • Karma: +630/-11
    • http://groups.msn.com/ChrisClix
#4 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 03:01:44 pm
Solar PV.. if you've a south(ish) facing roof...

Just about to move into a new house with a south facing bit of roof that would be ideal for a panel or two; invisible from front of house and only one of neighbours would see it. Pretty flat angle though; is there a minimum slope of roof recommended? bear in mind I'm quite far north.

crimp

  • Guest
#5 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 03:04:00 pm
No expense at all. Built from junk. Batteries, armoured cabling, lamp post, voltage regulator, etc all scrounged.

Grubes

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 1440
  • Karma: +50/-0
  • Fat and Weak
#6 Re: HOMEGROWN
February 21, 2013, 03:05:43 pm
From what I have read up on wind turbines smaller turbines end up being false economy.
The cost for maintenance is greater the value of the electricity produced.
The issue lies in the gearboxes that wear out relatively quickly from general wear and tear (i.e. not something that warranty will cover).

Solar panels are a much more effective way of powering your house without the maintenance/eye sore draw backs

SamT

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 2074
  • Karma: +95/-0
#7 Re: Homegrown
February 21, 2013, 04:18:10 pm

Can only echo what has been said earlier with regards to wind turbines, simply not worth the time,money,effort, especially as you say your 'very urban'. 

This report/field study was quite damming -

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/Publications2/Generating-energy/Location-location-location-domestic-small-scale-wind-field-trial-report

(however - if you're hell bent on it - Hugh Piggott is a living legend when it comes to making your own turbines..
http://scoraigwind.co.uk/
He holds occasional workshops which are brilliant)

But my best advice, unless you live on a hill in wales or an outer hebride is not to waste your precious time on it.

As for hot water panels on the roof.  Yep, they'll work to a certain extent, but again, you have to work out the cost/effort/benefit.

In reality - the amount of energy/money you spend on hot water for washing etc is a tiny fraction of that you spend on heating your home (for a normal household with central heating etc).  So your homegrown, not so efficient black radiators will give a 'little' bit of warm water in the summer.  Plus - you need to think about how you control them.  If your going to pump water round them 24*7 - the energy costs of the pumping will outstrip any gains in warm water. In addition - if you pump when the temp on the roof is less than the cylinder, you'll be sucking heat out of your cylinder and trying to heat the sky, so so you need to only pump when the temperature on the roof is sufficiently greater than your hot water cylinder - which involves a decent solar control system, which is probably more complicated than the effort it'll take you.

You also have frost protection to think about in winter to avoid bursts and conversely, overheating - occasionally in summer, your water can boil = steam build up = bang = bad.  Generally avoided by having a suitable large cylinder to soak away the heat, however, if your pump fails in the summer - you may run into issues.

Sorry to be a nay sayer. But homegrown renewables are generally (these days) not worth the effort, best to save and buy purpose built.

Infact - your best use of idle time/cash would be insulating/draft proofing where ever you can.



tomtom

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • Posts: 20282
  • Karma: +641/-11
#8 Re: Homegrown
February 21, 2013, 04:27:58 pm
Dont know what your home is like, but a wood burner can be a way...

crimp

  • Guest
#9 Re: Homegrown
February 21, 2013, 04:28:47 pm
Cheers

I'll check out Hugh Piggott.

Only looking at micro generation, run house lighting ring, and tropical fish tank basically.

Water heating for washing, and clothes washing only. I don't heat the house. It hasn't been cold enough for years (my daughter stopped wanting the heating on 6 years ago, not bothered since. Radiators probably stagnant now)

crimp

  • Guest
#10 Re: Homegrown
February 21, 2013, 04:45:35 pm
Last summer i hung a 5 squid millets solar shower in a south facing skylight. Provided all my warm water for my ablutions, with plenty spare. Better than paying for shareholders profits. It'll be going up again in April.

Jaspersharpe

Offline
  • *****
  • forum hero
  • 1B punter
  • Posts: 12344
  • Karma: +600/-20
  • Allez Oleeeve!
#11 Re: Homegrown
March 20, 2013, 02:10:10 pm
I don't heat the house. It hasn't been cold enough for years

That'll be the cider keeping you warm.

crimp

  • Guest
#12 Re: Homegrown
March 20, 2013, 02:29:56 pm
I don't heat the house. It hasn't been cold enough for years

That'll be the cider keeping you warm.

Nah. It's the cider making me not care. Nature's cure all.

 

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal