i want to start a thread about generating your own power, as freely and cheaply as poss any ideas or experiences most welcome.
self sufficiency
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What do you mean by *power* ?
D'you mean electricity, or gas, or fuel oil or just hot water type?
cheers,
Toddy
D'you mean electricity, or gas, or fuel oil or just hot water type?
cheers,
Toddy
This Forum might be helpfull there are sections on the individual methods of generation
http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/forum/
http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/forum/
For charging my phone I have a dynamo which fits on my bike. This has a cigarette socket which mounts on my bike and can charge any 12v appliance I believe, although it is only a 6v dynamo, so it obviously takes longer than a mains supply.
I have found it's far more effective on longer journies than short ones, but charging can be a bit erratic at times.
When it's hot I use a small A5 sized solar cell which plugs straight into my phone but also charges batteries and most other appliances. You can regulate the power with a little dial.
I got my dynamo from www.ecogadgets.com. I hope it's ok to advertise these guys. They're nothing to do with me financially, they just have a lot of handy gadgets for this sort of thing.
I have found it's far more effective on longer journies than short ones, but charging can be a bit erratic at times.
When it's hot I use a small A5 sized solar cell which plugs straight into my phone but also charges batteries and most other appliances. You can regulate the power with a little dial.
I got my dynamo from www.ecogadgets.com. I hope it's ok to advertise these guys. They're nothing to do with me financially, they just have a lot of handy gadgets for this sort of thing.
im talking hot water, and enough lekky to keep my beers cold, and a few lights burning, also making my own methane supply for cooking.
just sighned up for inebg good call gang
just sighned up for inebg good call gang
A good woodburner with a water tank should be as carbon neutral as you'd ever need, couple it with a solar panel and you should be set. I'd use any lecky for winter lighting but I'm not sure the methane for cooking would be worth it - cook on the woodburner! If you want your beers kept cold, put them outdoors! From what little I understand about getting greener, the first steps are always to make better use of what you already have - hence insulation and draughtproofing are highest on the list.
Last winter we had a few power cuts and my biggest problem was keeping fridge/freezer running, which we managed with a small gennerator - not very green but some neighbors had a miserable time as all their heating was electric - so we soon had a housefull as well.
I've made my own ram pump for harvesting rainwater from a small stream which works kinda OK, but then I have storage for nearly 6 tons of water
ATB
Ogri the trog
We'll have to compare solutions if I end up over there OTT I have a small solar rig and a variety of other solutions. Its enough to run the fridge and freezer for a good while with an inverter plus it charges all my batteries for lanterns etc. As you say though - a good wood range is the way to go for offgrid. I'm favouring the Esse brand now over my previous Rayburn - with a gravity fed hot water system, gravity fed water (or even bore pump fed from a solar set up) its possible to be very comfortable
Red
I have a small solar rig and a variety of other solutions. Its enough to run the fridge and freezer for a good while with an inverter plus it charges all my batteries for lanterns etc. As you say though - a good wood range is the way to go for offgrid. I'm favouring the Esse brand now over my previous Rayburn - with a gravity fed hot water system, gravity fed water (or even bore pump fed from a solar set up) its possible to be very comfortable Red
It's anecdotal evidence I know but I lived in a house that had solar water preheating (via an indirect cylinder then onto the boiler) and the water that came off the (south facing) roof was too hot to hold onto the pipes in summer.
I have just been working at a house with geothermal boreholes going down 80 metres or so but other than that I don't know the details.
For me a good woodburner would be good as I get loads of wood to burn but thats cos I am a carpenter, not much use if you work in an office then.
I have just been working at a house with geothermal boreholes going down 80 metres or so but other than that I don't know the details.
For me a good woodburner would be good as I get loads of wood to burn but thats cos I am a carpenter, not much use if you work in an office then.
I've made my own ram pump for harvesting rainwater from a small stream which works kinda OK, but then I have storage for nearly 6 tons of water
ATB
Ogri the trog
I'm impressed:notworthy , I think the ram pump is a fascinating piece of machinery talk about low maintenance! Did you make it from scratch, where did you start?
I have come across a few ram air pumps in the past all have been around a hundred(or more) years old and usually still pumping away, one wasn't , it had died because there was slight pitting on the ball and I was told it wouldn't get fixed as there was no one to fix it!
The Hydraulic Ram water pump is a pretty amazing piece of machinery and innovation. Check out the web site for The Mother Earth News magazine. They have plans for making your own hydraulic ram pump from PVC pipe. Gravity and volume of water traveling down to the pump pushes a smaller amount up and out your exit pipe. But keep in mind, that half or more of the water going through the pump goes out the bottom as "waste". The pump does best moving a small volume of water up and over short distances. But they are amazing.
A lot of people have been using car alternators (the new version of the old car generator) charging a group of batteries to supply their electricity. But if you do go that route, try to shift all lights and appliances to 12V instead of using an inverter to convert 12V to modern household 120V. That inverter uses up some of the electricity you have already generated to do that conversion. Some just deal with it as an "acceptable loss". Plus, with a modern car alternator, you can "tweak" the output to produce other than 12V.
Most hook their alternator up to your classic "windmill" with a series of belts/pulleys to increase the speed. But some pretty innovative people are using the classic "squirrel cage" turbine (like roof ventilators) instead of propeller blades. You get more torque for a smaller size, and wind from any direction works without having to swivel your "generator" around to face it.
Getting hot water from wood heat is pretty simple. There are even companies that make a version of a traditional water heater the has a mini-woodstove built under it.
There are still companies making gas-fired refridgerators. Most are for recreational vehicles, but full-sized ones are available. Lots of "cabins" out in the woods have them. Some people are even revamping those old "icy ball" and kerosene refridgerators from the early 1900's.
There are several magazines that have covered many of these things over the years. The Mother Earth News, Harrowsmith, Farmstead, Small Farmers Journal, Farming Uncle. And then there are all the small specialty magazines and organizations.
Side note: several car companies are now making "hybrid electric" cars. They're the new fad! The Mother Earth News has been selling plans to make/convert your own hybrid electric car since the 1980's! Their coversion of an Opel GT got 100 miles per gallon, could do 70 miles per hour, and could go 400 miles before you had to take a 15 to 20 minute "break" for the small gas generator to catch up on the battery recharge. It also could go 40 miles just on the batteries, and you could recharge it overnight by plugging it into your regular household outlet (car battery trickle charger). All with off-the-shelf technology available in the 1980's!
Most of the problem with generating your own electricity is mentally getting past the idea that you have to be connected to the power grid to get it.
Just some humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - that so-so grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
A lot of people have been using car alternators (the new version of the old car generator) charging a group of batteries to supply their electricity. But if you do go that route, try to shift all lights and appliances to 12V instead of using an inverter to convert 12V to modern household 120V. That inverter uses up some of the electricity you have already generated to do that conversion. Some just deal with it as an "acceptable loss". Plus, with a modern car alternator, you can "tweak" the output to produce other than 12V.
Most hook their alternator up to your classic "windmill" with a series of belts/pulleys to increase the speed. But some pretty innovative people are using the classic "squirrel cage" turbine (like roof ventilators) instead of propeller blades. You get more torque for a smaller size, and wind from any direction works without having to swivel your "generator" around to face it.
Getting hot water from wood heat is pretty simple. There are even companies that make a version of a traditional water heater the has a mini-woodstove built under it.
There are still companies making gas-fired refridgerators. Most are for recreational vehicles, but full-sized ones are available. Lots of "cabins" out in the woods have them. Some people are even revamping those old "icy ball" and kerosene refridgerators from the early 1900's.
There are several magazines that have covered many of these things over the years. The Mother Earth News, Harrowsmith, Farmstead, Small Farmers Journal, Farming Uncle. And then there are all the small specialty magazines and organizations.
Side note: several car companies are now making "hybrid electric" cars. They're the new fad! The Mother Earth News has been selling plans to make/convert your own hybrid electric car since the 1980's! Their coversion of an Opel GT got 100 miles per gallon, could do 70 miles per hour, and could go 400 miles before you had to take a 15 to 20 minute "break" for the small gas generator to catch up on the battery recharge. It also could go 40 miles just on the batteries, and you could recharge it overnight by plugging it into your regular household outlet (car battery trickle charger). All with off-the-shelf technology available in the 1980's!
Most of the problem with generating your own electricity is mentally getting past the idea that you have to be connected to the power grid to get it.
Just some humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.
Mikey - that so-so grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
We'll have to compare solutions if I end up over there OTT
Red
Wood burning stoves are being fazed out in tassie because of the pollution
they cause?
But then alot of the houses here have them.
I thought the idea was that you effectively grow the fuel that you burn - closing the carbon loop and hence being "carbon neutral". Whatever wood you burn, the carbon is taken up by the next crop which is in turn burnt etc etc!
I'll see if I can get some photos of the ram up sometime today.
ATB
Ogri the trog
Righto, here we go,
Firstly, no complaints about the state of my rough patch.
The inspiration came from a visit to C.A.T. in Mid Wales and a booklet called "The hydraulic ram, design and maintenance" I think. It spoke of making springs out of fence wire and had calculations that showed it to be phenominally efficient for a self powered unit.
The ram itself, I built from pipe and such that was being removed from a place I once worked at, but its not insurmountable to gather enough bits from a few skips and a plumbers merchant. It looks complicated but I've added bleed valves and drain-off points, as there is so much silt in the stream that I need to clear it every now and then.
As you can see, the stream doesn't flow all year round - in fact it has only flowed for a few weeks while the rains poured in the early summer - so I collect as much as I can during those times. It doesn't "self-initiate" so I have to go and prime it and get it going but it takes no power so I don't mind that much.
At full chat, it'll pull about a ton of water in 24 hours ( ie it'll fill a 1500 litre water butt in one and a half days, I have three of them plus smaller ones!) so while its not stunning performance, again its free. I use it to water the animals (pony, chickens, dog, cats and garden in that order).
Our domestic water comes from a well, so I don't pay water rates - but I do have to pay for the electricity to pump it into the house and the UV chamber to purify it and a cartridges to filter it - so it's not free by any means.
If anyone want more information as to how it works, ask away but this post is getting long enough without.
Ogri the trog
Firstly, no complaints about the state of my rough patch.
The inspiration came from a visit to C.A.T. in Mid Wales and a booklet called "The hydraulic ram, design and maintenance" I think. It spoke of making springs out of fence wire and had calculations that showed it to be phenominally efficient for a self powered unit.
The ram itself, I built from pipe and such that was being removed from a place I once worked at, but its not insurmountable to gather enough bits from a few skips and a plumbers merchant. It looks complicated but I've added bleed valves and drain-off points, as there is so much silt in the stream that I need to clear it every now and then.
As you can see, the stream doesn't flow all year round - in fact it has only flowed for a few weeks while the rains poured in the early summer - so I collect as much as I can during those times. It doesn't "self-initiate" so I have to go and prime it and get it going but it takes no power so I don't mind that much.
At full chat, it'll pull about a ton of water in 24 hours ( ie it'll fill a 1500 litre water butt in one and a half days, I have three of them plus smaller ones!) so while its not stunning performance, again its free. I use it to water the animals (pony, chickens, dog, cats and garden in that order).
Our domestic water comes from a well, so I don't pay water rates - but I do have to pay for the electricity to pump it into the house and the UV chamber to purify it and a cartridges to filter it - so it's not free by any means.
If anyone want more information as to how it works, ask away but this post is getting long enough without.
Ogri the trog
:yelrotflm I'll have to mention that to my Dad when he's off down the field with a bunch of
spanners to restart his ram pump again!
In principle they are wonderful technology but does anyone else have to regularly restart
theirs or know of anyone who's an 'expert' and could help?
OTT- that's a great looking bit of kit
Cheers TF,
If I've been fiddling with my spring settings, I often find I have to restart/retune it for a while till it runs sweetly. I know there are a few things mentioned in the troubleshooting guide in the booklet I mentioned, such as the air regulator on a commercial until - if its not regulating the air by spurting a little water, it can empty the air chamber and knock the unit out of sequence. Also if you try starting them with a water flow that is different from its normal running flow, it doesn;t like it - sometimes you have to play and fiddle for a few hours before it settles into it own rhythm.
I once tried getting a friends unit to start, took it to bits to get some rust and silt out, rebuilt it, cleared some gullies etc, started it with a piece of wire to hold the rubber disk open. It cycled twice before bursting the incoming 2" pipe which had rusted right through to the galvanised outer shell - he didn't have a gate valve and ended up loosing the entire tankfull! Oops.
Other than calling in a service agent, I wouldn't know where to start looking.
ATB
Ogri the trog
Ah, that'll be the wonderfully named 'snifter valve' then.
Thanks for the advice OTT
If anyone is thinking of going down the route of installing a ram pump there is a good tutorial
on how to make one from standard push fit plumbing fittings in Permaculture magazine
(last issue). Permaculture mag is a top read for all things associated with being off grid
and self sufficient. http://www.permaculture-magazine.co.uk/ I have no association with them other than having been a
subscriber for many years
