Power problems

[STEvil]

Not all of us are electrical geniuses (or have studied electronics) but i'm wondering if there are any guides out there for how to build a fairly reiable windmill (could go solar too) that you could stick on the roof of your house or somewhere they wont need to be seen or something that you could basically plug into the house to supplement power draw..

With enough you could in theory turn the meter backwards.. but thats wishfull thinking lol ;)

Cheap construction is the name of the game, heres the first link and i'm sure we will be discussing this more... at least I hope we will :D

http://www.blueflyer.com.au/Machinery/sx.htm


Hmm.. wonder if old c-band satelite dishes would be viable to convert to a windmill? Can pick them up around here pretty cheap I think (see one in the trees every now and then...).

EDIT

More links below... doing a bit of research.

http://au.geocities.com/ozwindmills/SouthernCross.htm
http://nov55.com/wdm.html

[shmaa]

electric bill getting out of hand? ;)

With enough you could in theory turn the meter backwards.. but thats wishfull thinking lol

That actually wouldn't be a good thing :stick:
For 1, I worked reading meters for several months a couple years ago... So I feel for the meter readers... if your meter was actually going backwards the reading would fail when it was entered in because it would be way off from the "expected" reading. The meter reader would then force-enter it which would be bad. If the meter was going backwards and the new reading was lower than the previous month's reading, the computer that calculates all the billing would assume your meter had completely rolled over and came back around arriving at the lower value. You wouldn't wanna see your bill after this happened. :bananal: :sofa:

[Disposibleteen]

i think solar would be abit more practical than putting a windmill on your roof

[shadowing]

i think solar would be abit more practical than putting a windmill on your roof

He's right. I think solar is better for better integration. :D

[angrysquirrel]

the materials for solar power cost quite a bit more than for wind though

[Rinsewand]

might be planning issues with sticking a HUGE windmill on the roof also. just an idea, im sure birdys wouldnt be too happy either!

bit of mesh and putting it somewhere out the way might work though!

RwD

[STEvil]

Power bills are about in line with the usual, i'm just planning ahead, getting the ball rolling.. you know ;)

Thats a dumb computer (and company) if it cant do math shmaa ;)

I'm not suggesting huge windmills, just sized based on the area. Solar would be great too, I wouldnt be surprised if we were to see solar roofs on houses eventually once the technology and production end of it get better.