Building a wind generator

[cattle-dog]

i am about to build my own wind generator which will charge a bank of batteries to run our home, a inverter will convert 12v to 120v.
it is actually very easy to do and not bad on price eather, my objective is to be able to live a civilized life if there is a catastrophy and have power to run my fridge, freezer, alarm on home and farm buildings,lights, water heater, a 12 volt sump pump and a 12 volt water pump for water pressure,
we will cook on a woodstove and heat with it also

[tri again]

I've seen quite a few.
I personally like the ones that do NOT have to turn and
face into the wind in order to spin.

Some look like twisted box kites mounted vertically but surely there are
more choices than we can imagine.

I even saw one that flew like a kite with a propeller on it...
maybe for boats or life rafts.

My well is 100 feet but the water is only 20 ft down so I'm
looking at a hand pump. Some will such 25 feet and other are like jet pumps and
pump water down inTO a deep well and force the water up.

I guess air bubbles will do that too. like an archemedes sling pump.

We have a creek and river on the prop, not good for drinking
but ok for washing/flushing.

I just really want to get water out of the well.

I have a 220 generator that will run the well pump
and an 89$ h. freight 800 watt toy looking generator that runs the refrigerators just fine.
But then we need apples and a still to make fuel, right?

Been looking at 12 volt rv stuff lately. They have Everything in 12 v.
water pumps etc.

Not sure how much drinking quality water we need daily but thinking
1/4" line running for 20 min would be enough.

Great topic.

I bought a 'kill-a-watt' for 20 bucks and my fridge pulls 160 watts
or 200 watts with the door open (lightbulb)

It would be really fun if this all wasn't so blessed serious.

I also have water tanks surrounding my wood stove
so I'd guess 200 gallons of 130 degree water just waiting
for Linda to fill the bath.

I also have a few tanks in the sun outside for summer,
drained and pressurized and refilled with water like a well pressure tank works,
so when the power goes out,
I have however many gallons of pressurized water ready to
blast into the house system. Compressed air is the secret to gettin
your water back out of a tank.
I thought pressurizing a tank with water would male it want to come
blasting back out but...noooooo.

Unless you have it elevated and vented. like a water tower
or on a hill.

Old well head tanks are generally free
and I just painted over the rust with a mix of latex paint
so it would be dark and they still look great after years of exposure.

They are all daisy chained with washing machine hoses (double female connectors)

It's as fun as it is deadly serious, I'm afraid.

We just have to stay on it.

(random thoughts)
A couple woodstoves outside for summer cooking too.
Ground water is like 52 degrees so if it's 20 degrees outside, you already have a 30 degree
'advantage'.
Dried foods seem to keep better than canning or root cellar
and some folks say to drop a piece of dry ice in the containers
(carbon dioxide) to drive out the oxygen.
Or nitrogen tank from welding supply.

Food grade buckets from sandwich shops that had pickles in them are Great!

Ok, now my head hurts.
Wish I had some more help.

Have fun everyone.

[Xpress]

I was reading this link a few days ago:

http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/

When I get some funds i'm going to try it out. A good motor should be able to charge a bank of batteries fairly easily, in a couple of days, per say, and as long as there is wind blowing, they can stay charged. Be neat to power the house without having to suck up power off of the grid- or at least power the computer and TV/cable box off of wind turbine power, that'd save a bundle

[tri again]

I was reading this link a few days ago:

http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/

When I get some funds i'm going to try it out. A good motor should be able to charge a bank of batteries fairly easily, in a couple of days, per say, and as long as there is wind blowing, they can stay charged. Be neat to power the house without having to suck up power off of the grid- or at least power the computer and TV/cable box off of wind turbine power, that'd save a bundle

aww shucks, that link says it down for maintainence.
Pretty sure I have 3 days of reserve for tv and computer.
A water wheel would be the ultimate imo

[cattle-dog]

doc there are dried soups that have dried meat in them ad water and boil shelf life 10 years, price 3 dollars to serve four people.
for me the wind generator with batterys are the best as we have large open fields,
my farmer nieghbor still has draft horses for plowing, planting haying, and combineing so i am covered there in trade for keepig his pereshables cold.
Barter and trade will be the only way as our dollar will be useless.
outside stove is covered allready they were known as summer kitchens,

[Xpress]

aww shucks, that link says it down for maintainence.
Pretty sure I have 3 days of reserve for tv and computer.
A water wheel would be the ultimate imo

Works fine for me right now??

[Mr_RPM]

link worked for me

[dickieg89]

Don,-You will need guns to fight the zombies too! Don't forget that aspect.

I recomomend backwoods home the magazine, I use that for all my canning and chicken coup stuff.

[Bretmd94]

I have some friends that bought this unit. He has 2 and it runs his farm completely. 11k a piece, but after total rebates they were only $3500 a piece. They will pay them selves off in 5 years I think with their power bill.

Several neighbors have copied him now.

I like the vertical fans. They work well and they are a more simple design than a typical wind fan.

http://www.greenetechnologies.net/Gr...hnologies.html

[fabiodriven]

You guys crack my up with your end of the world crap.

However, I would like to have a wind turbine. That's something I've wanted to do for a long time now. When yours is done Don, you can come build mine.

[JayBone]

The hand water pump i have already looked into & i can do. The problem i have here in Jersey is they don't allow fun stuff or the permits are difficult/costly. They want you to spend money & prevent you from being self sefficient. The few things i have posted and looked into the town is a pain to deal with. My buddy works on those gigantic wind turbines could help me. So bonus!! Just getting the town to allow it.

[tri again]

doc there are dried soups that have dried meat in them ad water and boil shelf life 10 years, price 3 dollars to serve four people.
for me the wind generator with batterys are the best as we have large open fields,
my farmer nieghbor still has draft horses for plowing, planting haying, and combineing so i am covered there in trade for keepig his pereshables cold.
Barter and trade will be the only way as our dollar will be useless.
outside stove is covered allready they were known as summer kitchens,

barring keyword paranoia,
I think a fistful of .22's would buy bread and eggs. The new currency?

Subsistence farming is tough.
I have friends that are amazing with corn and grain crops
and others are good with critters.

Hops grow like gangbusters on my particular dirt and I just got my greenhouse
up and running and have house water drains running under it to warm the ground.
Thinking 90% of water going down the drain is from showers, washer etc so it's wasted warmth.

as far as whatever's gonna happen,
I remember watching a leaf float down the gutter in the street after the 89
quake in loma prieta wondering....
"Where the *&$% are 7 million people going to get their next drink of water?"
Glad I have a well instead of an open lake / reservoir public water source.

Power does go out for various reason and food spoils.
Do we remember the big blackout that took out the northeast and Canada?
How do you even buy unspoiled food when the power's out?
Cash $$ by candle light?

I usually cook food before I freeze it but also have an outdoor kitchen
with a regular gas stove/oven/propane and bbq and woodstoves.

Then again, we have a destination resort so all this stuff is
a)fun
b)tax deductible
c)gives me something to do and every excuse in the book to screw around endlessly.

Just have fun with it all, make it look easy and teach by example, because, those who don't prepare,
or make fun of what we're doing, will want to borrow a cup o' sugar.

I don't agree philosophically, but after that quake??
Did people rush for water and food?
He** no, they wanted cigarettes and a shot of whiskey.

[Xpress]

The vertical turbines could also be built fairly cheaply if you knew where to source your parts from. You could build a high output one for about a thousand bucks.

Don't forget that with larger ones, you need a centrifugal braking system to keep it from destroying itself if it spins too fast

[Bryan Raffa]

Don,-You will need guns to fight the zombies too! Don't forget that aspect.

I recomomend backwoods home the magazine, I use that for all my canning and chicken coup stuff.

I just couldnt help it...

[RapidRick]

You guys crack my up with your end of the world crap.

Don't necessarily agree with the end-o-the-world but it makes sense to be as much off the grid as you can afford. Especially if the coal industry is put out of business by regulation.

The Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) have always been interesting to me, and there are some interesting designs. The design does have some advantages and disadvantages, over the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HWAT). Each have their place though. It's interesting that there is a HAWT dominance in the wind farm scene in CA. The only large scale VAWT's I've seen have been in Australia and built for small municipalities.

As for the 12V electrical appliances, I have a friend who has a beach house in Mex. completely solar powered with PV has just several automotive type batteries and and he just built the house with RV appliances. Works beautifully. Even distills his own water from the beach and stores it in 500gal tanks on the roof. Pretty slick.