There was some information on wind generators in a Northern Tool catalogue a while back... forgot the rest. Might check with them.
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The trick is getting the generation, stoprage and inverters sized for both peak and your largest sustained loads. Pay attention to power at more average wind speeds not the peak. Ypu migth still consider being able to tie in a portable generator like a little 2000watt honda if needed.
Also look at your loads and see what you can trim. Buying some led light bulbs may be cheaper than upsizing generation. You might power larger loads like a microwave off a portble generator like a 2000 watt honda.
here's what I got, a 1000 ft² cabin that is off grid. Im running the lights on 410 watts of Solar panels, with two 6volt Golf cart batteries in series=12volt output thru a 1500 watt inverter.
The refrigerator is a old Servel(best refer on the planet), propane fired and so is the stove
I have a 4000watt Listor diesel Generator to heat water in an electric HWT. I also have a 8500watt gas generator for winter use and to back up the diesel.
What I want is a Wind generator so when I don't have sun (and at night) Im still charging batteries and to run a solar refrigerator<furture> . The wind generator will either be locked down or disassembled in the winter.
This place only gets used on weekends from March thru November. and occasionally on a weekend or two during winter months.
In the winter everything is disconnected except the solar panels and batteries. the charge controller will shut off the panels when the batteries reach 14.5v
Now does anyone ever have any information on which wind generators are the best, in the 600-to-800watt range. I want a cut-in speed around 5mph. I don't care what wind speed it starts turning, I want cut-in speed
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Id switch the water heater to a tankless propane unit. Wind just like solar will lean on the batteries. Typically wind drops off at night sincd its also solar driven.
While doing so searching, I found this. http://www.solacity.com/SmallWindTruth.htm
Cut I. Speed seem to be 5 to 8 mph, but output is fractional at that point.
They are basocally saying that the money if better spent with more batteries and solar. Wind is too inconsistent as a primary source. You get sunlog eveyday even if cloudy. In mid summer you can goes days without wind over 5mph.
Id do some more research first. Consider what heigth and under what conditions it produces rated output.
Sort of like a ac system, in texas on a 105f day, a 3 ton unit is not producing 3 tons.
I understand what your saying, This is a weekend/hunting camp so the batteries have Monday thru Thursday to charge up (I try to take Fridays off in the summer~~~it doesn't always work that way, but I try)
My cabin is on a Lake(400ft of frontage) During the summer the roof gets anywhere from 6 to 12 hours of light (I didn't say sun) per day. Its the spring and fall I want the wind generator. We get a decent breeze at night, when the days are shorter.
Right now I have 120watts (on the roof) charging the two 6V golf cart batteries, I have three more 145watt panels in the garage that will go up the spring for a total of 555watt.
I have a Morningstar 45amp charge controller in the garage that will replace the 10amp unit Im using now. (The Morningstar controllers can be "stacked" in parallel, so i can add as much solar or wind as I want)
I also need to get a couple of six volt, 1000+CCA diesel truck batteries to replace the golf cart batteries. The new diesel truck batteries are designed to run a 12v truck a/c all night. Trucks can no longer idle for more than 5 min. So they designed an a/c and batteries that will run most of the night. I can also run the batteries in series/parallel to increase amps output.
I guess my goal is to eventually get enough solar/wind generation to run a Mini-split heat pump. all I need is a 1½ ton system. I just need to figure total load with a mini-split
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Is your Morningstar controller an MPPT (max power tracking) type? Most MPPT controllers can only be used for photovoltaic, not wind.
I think you maybe right, I just got it and have not read up on it. A friend recommended it, so thats what I got.
Not many people know about or understand wind generation, at least micro-wind. there seems to be a boat load of mis-information out there, thats why I was hoping someone here had some experience with them
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Not many people know about or understand wind generation, at least micro-wind.
True. In my case, I live in an area (sunny Phoenix, AZ) where wind generation would be completely useless, but solar is very attractive. Hope you find some good info.
True. In my case, I live in an area (sunny Phoenix, AZ) where wind generation would be completely useless, but solar is very attractive. Hope you find some good info.
thanx
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Hi,
I was on the road for years building wind farms. GE was the one I liked the most. I do believe they make a residential one. There are other ones out there too.
Honestly, I gave up on wind generation a few years ago. I went and upped my solar to 606 watts, installed a "Tankless 202" wall mounted water heater, which is propane powered and fires off two *D* cell batteries ( this thing works great, look 'em up on line) and changed ALL my lighting over to LED.
when I bought the place in 2009, the cabin was running off the Lister generator. and had almost 590 watts of lighting. By replacing all the lights with LED, my total wattage now is 204 watts. I can leave every light in the cabin on all night and not run the batteries down.
Micro-wind generation is, for-all-intents-and-purposes, DOA. I have not read a single, decent article about it in 5 or 6 years.
Good luck with your search, hope you find something decent, if you do, post it here so we can all see what you found
Have fun, seeya
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Honestly, I gave up on wind generation a few years ago. I went and upped my solar to 606 watts, installed a "Tankless 202" wall mounted water heater, which is propane powered and fires off two *D* cell batteries ( this thing works great, look 'em up on line) and changed ALL my lighting over to LED.
when I bought the place in 2009, the cabin was running off the Lister generator. and had almost 590 watts of lighting. By replacing all the lights with LED, my total wattage now is 204 watts. I can leave every light in the cabin on all night and not run the batteries down.
Micro-wind generation is, for-all-intents-and-purposes, DOA. I have not read a single, decent article about it in 5 or 6 years.
Good luck with your search, hope you find something decent, if you do, post it here so we can all see what you found
Have fun, seeya
Thanks for the heads up! Tankless sounds interesting too.
Thanks for the heads up! Tankless sounds interesting too.
I think the Tankless 202 was originally designed for farmers that want to pressure wash their equipment with hot water. its designed to installed outside the building/cabin/home.
I put a large sheet of sheet metal behind mine to keep the mice out.
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I think the Tankless 202 was originally designed for farmers that want to pressure wash their equipment with hot water. its designed to installed outside the building/cabin/home.
I put a large sheet of sheet metal behind mine to keep the mice out.
What's your experience with EZ 202? Would you recommend looking for other brands?
I love the thing, ours is about 6/7 years old. when i first installed it, we would turn it off and leave for the week, when we got back on Friday night, I turned it on and burned up another mouse nest. Turns out, once a mouse finds a place they like, you can catch them, relocate them, but they will always find a way back to the spot they like.
So on the fifth weekend, I just pulled it off the wall, put it on the picnic table and when I pulled the cover off to clear the mouse nest, a mouse came flying out and ran right over my wifes key board to her laptop, in the ensuing confusion, screaming and battle to capture this little field mouse ( by hand--them little shits are fast) my wife is screaming at the top of her lungs, the dog is barking, Im trying to grab the little guy, my wife yells SHOOT IT, I finally captured it in a baseball hat and flipped the little guy about 25 feet on to the lawn. He just sat there startled, the dogs still barking, the wife is screaming to kill it, so, me being the great white hunter I am, pulled my trusty 629 Classic in 44 mag and shot the little thing.
Now don't panic, I just missed the little devil by about 2", not bad shot for a 'gunslinger style" shot. but I was juuust short and the ensuing dirt geyser threw the mouse about 4' in the air. He hit the ground completely stunned looking at me with those beady black eyes like "you jerk" and he ran off, never to be seen again.
Thats when I got the idea to put up a large sheet of sheet-metal so the little guy ( and his relatives) couldn't walk up the wall and get back in.
The sheet-metal did the trick. since doing that 6 or 7 years a go, no mice.
but the thing does work very well. This weekend Im installing a new 12v variable speed water pump, a new pre-strainer and whole house water filter. The new water pump can push 5.5 gal/min at 70 to 80 psi. (we'll see about that)
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