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iroc409 · 07-29-2003, 12:22 PM

isn't there usually city regs and stuff about using windmills and stuff? if you lived out of the city limits it shouldn't be a problem, but having a full-fledged turbine outside might have some issues. there's someone out of town though by my grandparents place that does that.

here's an interesting idea though. i wonder how this would work, but if you could get it to work right, you'd be set.

still have all your stuff connected to general utility, have some sort of system built up so it'd switch to public supply when the home supply didn't run.

but you could combine the turbine with solar panels, and probably have some sort of battery system to store energy (i'm afraid that a dc-ac inverter that big would be _expensive_.. but who knows). then, you could combine your solar system this way. on a lot of older houses they set up a heat collector on the roof to provide warmth and hot water. you could build a heat exchanger for water in the solar panel setup. like a box with a heat exchanger under the solar panels. the heat would build up substantially in the box... both powering the solar panels through the clear lid and creating heat at the same time.

something to ponder... could be some merit there

toss a gas generator in the loop and you'd be fairly bullet proof... just not sure how the dc power storage, the inverter and the switch-to-public mechanisms would work...

edit: actually, the heat exchanger would probably work really well if you built it special... i mean, water heats up pretty easy, and if you've ever been on a roof in summer, those shingles get _hot_. so somehow you'd have to set up a primary hot water tank that would work in conjunction with a standard water heater that would insure the water was maintained at a proper temperature, but in the summer i bet you'd hardly have to run your hot water heater at all... hrmmm..... then you'd just circulate the water from an insulated water-heater type tank to the heat exchanger and back, and somehow regulate it to the regular water heater.... with that you'd save a ton of electricity and gas $$... anybody have any ideas how to combine this stuff, and is it possible to set up that big of an inverter for the dc supply??

07-29-2003, 12:22 PM	#17
iroc409 Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: midwest side, yo Posts: 596	isn't there usually city regs and stuff about using windmills and stuff? if you lived out of the city limits it shouldn't be a problem, but having a full-fledged turbine outside might have some issues. there's someone out of town though by my grandparents place that does that. here's an interesting idea though. i wonder how this would work, but if you could get it to work right, you'd be set. still have all your stuff connected to general utility, have some sort of system built up so it'd switch to public supply when the home supply didn't run. but you could combine the turbine with solar panels, and probably have some sort of battery system to store energy (i'm afraid that a dc-ac inverter that big would be _expensive_.. but who knows). then, you could combine your solar system this way. on a lot of older houses they set up a heat collector on the roof to provide warmth and hot water. you could build a heat exchanger for water in the solar panel setup. like a box with a heat exchanger under the solar panels. the heat would build up substantially in the box... both powering the solar panels through the clear lid and creating heat at the same time. something to ponder... could be some merit there toss a gas generator in the loop and you'd be fairly bullet proof... just not sure how the dc power storage, the inverter and the switch-to-public mechanisms would work... edit: actually, the heat exchanger would probably work really well if you built it special... i mean, water heats up pretty easy, and if you've ever been on a roof in summer, those shingles get _hot_. so somehow you'd have to set up a primary hot water tank that would work in conjunction with a standard water heater that would insure the water was maintained at a proper temperature, but in the summer i bet you'd hardly have to run your hot water heater at all... hrmmm..... then you'd just circulate the water from an insulated water-heater type tank to the heat exchanger and back, and somehow regulate it to the regular water heater.... with that you'd save a ton of electricity and gas $$... anybody have any ideas how to combine this stuff, and is it possible to set up that big of an inverter for the dc supply?? __________________ :shrug: