# anyone have a windmill there happy with?



## 2.beans (Jan 2, 2009)

i want one just to maybe run my wood boiler circulator  {1.75 amp circ} nothing to fancy. there is alot out there and was wondering which one may be worth the money.


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## Hogwildz (Jan 2, 2009)

Funny you post this, I spent a good part of today researching wind turbines.
Supposedly a guy claims you can built your own for $200.00 or less.

All these sites refer to a main site, I am thinking they are merely advertising for commission.

http://www.makeyoursolarpanel.com/wind.php?id=002339e


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## kenny chaos (Jan 5, 2009)

Here's a fun site if you're a do-it-yourselfer and they even have kits if you're not.
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpowerfront.shtml


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## awoodman (Jan 6, 2009)

Here is how to build one..............
C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorMy DocumentsMy Pictureswind generatorHow I built an electricity producing wind turbine.htm

And a ton of sites...................
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Wind/wind.htm#DIYWind


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## Adios Pantalones (Jan 6, 2009)

awoodman- that's a link to your computer- can't access it.


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## awoodman (Jan 7, 2009)

Here it is and other stuff this guy made....
http://www.mdpub.com/index.html


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## Cowboy Billy (Jan 13, 2009)

This isn't working so well in the living room.

I don't have it up yet so I do not know if I am happy with it yet or not.

This is my latest project. ARI 600 windgenerator. Hopefully I will have it setup outside in a week or two. I am kinda eager to see how well it actually works :!: I don't think it will repay my investment but I just classify it as a toy. And any power savings would be a +. Hopefully painting it 2150 IH red will make it work better :D


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## Cowboy Billy (Jan 13, 2009)

Their are two main types of wind generators. Off grid and Grid tied

Off grid uses a windmill to charge a battery bank 12v 24v or 48v.
Then use a power inverter off the batterys to make 110v ac for use in the
house.

Grid tied make 110v output and ties strait into the house. These are
larger systems cost a lot more and need higher wind speeds to work. And
if the wind speed is two low do not work at all. General starting cost is
about $5,000.

My brother has been looking for over two years for a good wind
generator. Most of the ones he has seen are either way too expensive or
junk. Finally he found this ARI system. Air X is the main wind generator
out right now. The problem with it and the other wind mills out right now is
that to protect it from too high wind speeds it has a computer and linkage
on the tail fin that turns it out of the wind unfourtenly wear and turbulent
winds tend to break it. Also the blades are flexible so that in high winds
they flex so as not to catch so much air. But then it make a lot of noise and vibration.

The ARI uses a electromagnetic brake system solid tail fin and stiff blades.


I got the 600 watt 24v (750 watt max) ARI windmill for $748 with shipping.
With the ARI system you can also hook up up 200 watts of solar panels.

http://arisolarwind.com/estore/

Another impotent choice is the battery bank voltage. The choices are 12v
24v and 48v. The smaller the battery bank voltage the higher amprage it
draws to convert the battery voltage to 110v. To convert 3000 watts to
110v a 12v battery bank needs to put out 250 amps. At 24v 125 amps and
with a 48v battery 62.5 amps. Even though it is all the same amount of
power you need a lot bigger and more expensive wiring to hook everything up.
48v would seem to be the best but a 48v inverter is four
times the cost of a 12v or 24v inverter. I went with a 24v windmill battery
bank and inverter.

Batterys Don't even try to use a car battery it will not hold up for
this use. Deep cycle batterys only hold up 3 to 5 years and is not cost
effective. The best battery is a golf cart battery it has a large power out
put and will last around ten years. I got four six volt batterys for $66 at
sams club and will hook them up in series for 24v.

Power inverter. You need a power inverter big enough to supply
what ever you are going to power with it. (and enough battery power to
supply the inverter) I got a inverter big enough to power the whole house
except the 220v appliances (cloths dryer and well pump for me) I found a
good 5000 watt inverter that was only about $50 more than the 3500 watt
inverters which are the main large inverters right now. I got a Aims 24v
5000 watt inverter for $469 with shipping

This is the inverter and batterys for the battery bank. The battery off to the side is one out of a 91 ford explorer just to give a idea of the size.

Image

http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inv ... -front-rgb

It really does not matter that my windmill cannot make all the power I can
use at one time. As long as I can recharge the batterys in 24 hrs what I
use during the day I am ok. I set up my out put side to supply what I need
to run my house. As I get the money I will add on one or two more wind
generators and some solar panels.

This is something I am thinking of getting. It is a remote battery monitor.
So I can check how much power is in the batterys how fast I am charging
and how much power I am using.

http://www.infinigi.com/bogart-engineer ... -1695.html

Water heating. When your batterys are full the windmill is still
making power. It has to get rid of this power or burn up. Usually this done
bu dumping the power into a resistor. But it can be connected to a low
voltage water heater element. They say 30% of home energy use is the
hot water heater. By using this heating element in your hot water heater
you can save money there too.

http://www.gaiam.com/product/code/25155 ... d=25155.do



The picture is my power inverter and batterys for the battery bank.

For some reason there are not image tags here for me to post the picture where I wanted to put it.


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## velvetfoot (Jan 13, 2009)

Thanks for the info on an interesting topic.
For my location with the trees, I would probably need a high tower.


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## Cowboy Billy (Jan 14, 2009)

Howdy Velvetfoot

The rule of thumb is 20' above anything withing 300' of the windmill. I am pretty much a redneck engineer. I would love to have a day talking to someone who really knows aerodynamic theory on open air masses. (thank God for spell check cus I could never spell those words!)  I have heard so many different conflicting things on tower hight I don't know what to believe.  If I had the money I would get some of those wind speed thingies and put it on a tower in different spots and heights around the yard and find out for my self. But it looks like I am just going to put it up as high as I can get it and hope for the best.

Billy


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## solarstar (Jan 14, 2009)

I'll re-apply this from another posting but this  is a few quick notes re ;Wind
Put a wind turbine in turbulent air and it will be subject to ever-changing wind speeds and directions, causing it to 'seek' the wind continuously, speed up, slow down. This is very hard on any turbine, and will take years off its life, besides greatly lowering energy production. So, placing a wind turbine in 'clean' air, above turbulence on a high enough tower, will help it to live longer and live up to its production potential. 

Many small wind turbines, maybe even most, are placed too low. Putting any turbine (no matter of its size) on a 10 meter (30 feet) tower is not a good idea, yet that is how the largest small wind turbine manufacturer in the world, South West Wind Power, prefers to sell its windmills. Unless you live on the tundra, or right at the edge of the sea on a cliff, there will always be turbulent air at 10 meters height. Towers are expensive, but as always it is an issue of "pay now or pay later".

The rule of thumb, and this is really to be regarded as the absolute minimum height for turbine placement, is 30 feet plus one blade length above any obstacle in a 300 feet radius, with a minimum of 60 feet height. This rule will likely get you in reasonably clean air, but puts the turbine right at the edge, and a little extra height would not be a luxury. Large objects, such as a house, tend to project an area of turbulent air behind them that is twice the object's height, and extend around 15 to 20 times the height of the object behind it (the effect also projects in front of the object, but has a smaller impact there). All these things should be taken into account when siting a turbine if you want it to live long and produce energy.


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## renewablejohn (Jan 15, 2009)

This sort of turbine has been used in the uk for over 60 years and will withstand high winds but also has the advantage of producing useful electric at low wind speeds.

http://www.turbex.co.za/Documents/Turn_Pump.htm

The other advantage is that the generator is at ground level and if you put a tractor pto shaft prior to the generator you can interchange between generator, water pump etc.


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