Do it yourself power

reply to post by Gouki

Is there a way I can power small appliances with the motor? I really am just interested in powering Lights(5 fluorescent) or a single fridge. [edit] I also have a spare car battery that I would like to link with the 12volt, any help on connecting those two together would be nice as well.

All you have to do to power a 110V appliance from a 12-volt battery is purchase an inverter. Connect the inputs to the battery and you have 110VAC outlets on the inverter itself. No motor is required. I got the inverter I used in my truck for years at WalMart; 700W continuous duty, was enough for a laptop and TV, plus I could manage to run a small battery charger if I needed to (like for flashlight batteries), and it cost about $80.

You won't be able to continually use any such power system indefinitely without recharging, however. Your initial apparatus with the motor simply had enough charge to run that long; it did indeed use some charge, although not enough to drop the voltage yet. Batteries do not slowly lose voltage as they discharge; they barely lose any until the charge is almost depleted, then drop off quickly as it id fully depleted.

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reply to post by severdsoul

When looking at wind power, why cant one use a 230w heavy duity car alternator from a junk yard instead of a purchased unit from some where?

You can, definitely. But you have to have enough power and speed to use it (as you mentioned).

230W is approximately 3 hp that you will need to get out of the fan blades. You'll also have to have the alternator turning at a minimum of 1000 RPM to get good output power from it. Unless you have a gale-force wind, that's some big blades, and that's a lot of gearing (although pulleys would be cheaper and easier) in any case.

TheRedneck

To save money on making your own solar panels you can use the factory-rejected cell, usually the only thing wrong w/ them is a small chip that dosn't effect the output power at all. Search ebay, theres always some on there for pretty cheap. you wire 32 of them up to form 1 panel.

i've personally found going with as many backups as i can.
wind turbines and some panels i lucked into off a friend.
and i was already fortunate that my place had a waterwheel when I moved in, pretty much with a friend who's an experianced electrician, rigged it all up. got lights, fridge and freezer, even my tv, 360 and laptop going.

I also found some sort of old steam engine in my basement, it's actually in pretty decent condition. was joking around with friends over beer one night about if all else fails, I got thousands of trees around, go steampowered!

[edit on 9-4-2009 by Gren]

Any approach to alternative energy for survival should use as many different sources as you can possibly come up with. Wind, pv solar, micro hydro and biomass fuel are the big 4.

The most important is simple conservation. Someone mentioned using 220v for heating hot water which is extremely wasteful use of limited generating capacity. Solar hot water heating can be done even as far north as Canada and will supply 90-100% of your hot water in places in the desert or South of 35*N at least 9 months out of the year. A simple batch heater could be built from recycled material for well under $200.

Car batteries will due in a pinch but deep-cycle marine batteries are much more practical for long term use. Unless you have a large biomass fueled internal combustion engine to recharge your batteries, I'd avoid using inverters as they waste alot of power going from DC to 110-120 VAC. If and when you use 120 VAC inverters, find the most efficient appliances possible, For instance, use a laptop as opposed to a desktop computer. Replace your CRT TV with an LCD TV. Keep all of them on powerstrips that can be turned off. Use compact flourescent bulbs and LED lights. Line dry your clothes.

Look for alternative methods of refrigeration such as super insulated ice boxes that use ice made with a small 12v freezer. Build a root cellar. Cook with a wood stove. Remodel or design your house to take advantage of passive solar energy during winter months and prevailing winds to cool your house in the summer.