12vDC Projects

Introduction

This document has several parts:-

(1) Goals, Objectives of the project

(2) Specific applications of 12vDC in a home

(3) Diary of events.

The documentation is based on my thoughts from the time I moved to Bonavista to the present.

One of the two great mysteries of Bonavista is that everyone brags about “how much wind we got”, yet no-one harvests the energy. The second great mysteries is that everyone brags about “how much rain we got”, but if you ask people the average annual rainfall the response is “I have no idea”, and when you say “1,056 millimetres” people look confused.

I live alone, fully electric. I have gotten rid of the wood stove, the oil stove, the oil furnace and the oil tank. I live quietly, reading books and listening to music. When an unscheduled – or for that matter a scheduled – energy-outage arrives I clap my little hands with glee and crawl into bed with a few good books and a few jars of preserved fruit and vegetables and home-made bread and jams.

That said I thought that it would be pleasant during an outage to have enough electrical energy to energy a bedside light for one hour each night, and to boil two mug-size jugs of water each morning (coffee) and afternoon (tea).

From that thought sprang this project.

I have no objection to harvesting wind energy for mechanical projects. For example, to raise harvested rain-water to a tank and spigot in the kitchen (with an overflow pipe leading outside)

The System of Generation, Storage, and Use

The 12vDC system will be electrically isolated from the mains energy. I realize that there are mains energy backup systems that will recharge a 12vDC reservoir, but in this project I am looking for a stand-alone system such as might be installed in a remote and isolated weekend cottage.

Terminology

Backup Systems

Systems that provide 120vAC energy (“mains energy”) during an outage:-

Outages

What is the problem with going “All Hydro”? How often has hydro been lost over the past ten years? For how long each period? Hence: What is the true impact on a live-alone hermit with pre-cooked foodstuffs always in the home?

A hydro spokesman was coy about data. “We are very proud of our improvement over the past ten years”. Great; please send me the data that justifies that statement. “Sorry” then it was either “We can’t do that” or “We don’t have that sort of data”.

There was a two-day outage November 2018 and a six-day outage Jan 05, 2014 . The 2020 Blizzard brought outages to some parts of Bonavista, but I was not affected by anything longer than five minutes (and I was all-electric by that time). When all is said and done, there has not been a serious outage here excepting for people using medical equipment, or those who cannot eat cold food or dry clothes without a clothes dryer while they watch TV.

My situation (live-alone) is not greatly affected by a energy outage, provided that I can read in bed and snack. For that reason my thoughts turn to “boiling water” and “providing bedside light for reading”.

My proposed system has two sub-systems:-

(1) A wind-energy source of electricity, assumed to be a vertical-shaft wind vane, or a horizontal shaft wind turbine, storing electricity in a reservoir of connected [car?] batteries

(2) Wiring, switching, metering for various appliances and applications.

The idea is based on experience driving across North America for 25 years with a 12vDC electric jug plugged into a cigarette lighter. This influences my thinking. For this reason we consider a 12vDC system, using cheap car batteries (used at $20 each). Other voltages or reservoirs can be considered provided that the equipment can be easily obtained. Used fork-lift batteries are scarce in Bonavista.

(1) The system must be modular. The user should be able to add more wind vanes as needed; add more batteries and cabling between batteries as needed; add more appliances and applications as wanted. Once the initial installation is made and accepted there should be no need to recall the contractor excepting for a novel appliance or application.

(2) The system must be presentable as a demonstration model. Public inspection is a necessity. The idea is to display the system to interested domestic households and to offer them a cup of coffee boiled at 12vDC, or to recharge their cell-phone while they wait. Documentation must include a printed (albeit simple) flyer with historic and current data.

(3) The system must be expandable to a niche market for a contractor who sees an opportunity to installing domestic 12vDC systems across the Bonavista Peninsula. To that end a well-defined set of materials and a well-defined set of labour tasks (with costs) must be available. The customer wants assurance of fixed-price, and the contractor wants to be shielded from cost over-runs.

(4) The system operates in two modes; the second mode is “opportune” in the sense that it is not seen as a necessary application. Distillation of drinking water might be seen as essential in some households, but a luxury in other households. Bridge cabling, or electric blanket likewise might be seen as essential by some, opportune by others.

(5) The system must be endowed with data collection mechanisms and control mechanisms. For example, the driveway cables should be turned on manually and may have a timer attached. Recording energy use on each application circuit is desirable. Displaying “remaining watt-hours” is desirable.

(6) The system must be modular. Someone who wants merely to generate light to show that the wind is blowing can install a vane and light; no need for a reservoir. Someone who wants to go the whole hog can accumulate wind vanes, batteries, as desired or required.

Energy Supply Considerations

(1) Assuming that 12vDC is the way to go, what are the objections to 12vDC, and what are the advantages to other systems such as 24vDC, or even 120vAC?

(2) Car batteries are cheap; $10 each according to a top-of-the-head quote. This price is not confirmed, nor is availability. Worst case I need to scoop up new batteries when and if they come on sale. The number/rate/availability of used car batteries is not known

(3) A 30-foot mast is an eyesore, and neighbours should not be treated to such a monster eyesore in their yards. A 64-square foot concrete pad is not welcome in most 1/8-acre house lots in Bonavista. This means a 12-inch or 15-inch vertical spindle wind vane probably mounted on the shed or house roof.

(4) A control panel that allows me to read a “remaining energy” gauge without trekking out to the batteries, and would allow to switch on/off various manual applications such as driveway cables or distillation unit.

(5) A reservoir gauge that indicates an approximate energy level. If it reads 100% I have no qualms about melting driveway snow or distilling water. At 40% I use the energy only for boiling water and reading lights.

(6) Electrolyte: How do I know which batteries need topping up with distilled water? I do not want to crawl into the attic loft every month.

(7) Calculation formulas How to determine energy requirements to energy 120vAC appliances such as PC speakers, Laptops, microwave? Calculations for batteries, appliances.

(8) Programmable use: Nice to be able to switch on water distillation whenever the energy reservoir goes above 95%.

(9) Fork-lift or other heavy-duty batteries. Would they be “better” than car batteries? What availability? There should be no objection to having someone ferry them up from Clarenville.

(10) Ability to charge my batteries from the grid when the energy reservoir drops below 10% in winter time, or when a storm warning is pending.

(11) Energy bars for personal distribution of energy within the house.

(12) Ability to maintain an emergency circuit – battery, cabling for the 4-jug 1 light system.

(13)  Timers: I use 120v timers for appliances such as floor heaters. I might find that distillation of a litre of water takes two hours; so set the timer for two hours and walk away; come back to find a litre of distilled water, and switch the jugs.

(14) What are the formulas for translating the specifications of an application to units of stored energy? That is, when I think of installing driveway cables, how many more batteries do I need? How many more wind-vanes?

(15) I [will] have chimney caps made of wood atop my chimneys. The wooden slab would make a great (removable) base for a vertical-spindle wind vane.

(16) I am not sure about plugs and sockets:-

(1) They must be significantly different from regular 120vAC style.

(2) Audio or computer plugs/sockets might work well and be cheap when purchased 100 at a time

Wind Turbines.doc

Low-profile is needed here. A thirty-foot tower mounted in a sixty-four square foot concrete pad might produce a great deal of energy, but it is an eyesore and occupies valuable gardening space.

Data and Controls

There is a need to log data and to observe the state of the system. A daily log of minimum and maximum wind speed on the property might be nice-to-have, as would minimum and maximum of available stored energy. An hourly sampling of wind speed and energy would be better.

A meter on each application might allow us to reconcile energy storage against energy drained.

A central panel indicating energy available in the reservoir, and an indicator lamp showing which appliance is drawing energy at any time.

The wind turbine sometimes arrives with a Controller that monitors energy being pumped into the battery bank.

Versions or Stages

Likely there will be installed a vertical turbine, a car battery, and an electric light and jug. Before too long we will discover a better path, a different style of turbine, a different style of battery, a different scheme of wiring appliances. We move ahead, but what of the installation to date; an installation which we might see as leading us down the wrong path? The installation is dismantled, packed away, and a new path is begun with a better turbine, battery, appliance.

The archived kit is not wasted. It can be used as an interim measure to convince someone else of the feasibility of the idea, or even as an end-solution for a cabin-in-the-woods dweller. We may have to set up a "used kits" web page and offer these kits to ambitious users.

By Saturday, December 12, 2020 I am at the stage where I want to quantify a single application back to the battery array and hence to the turbine. This will help me build a template that tells me "For THIS much energy required by an application, I will need THIS much energy in the battery array and I will need THIS much energy from the turbine". This will be a time-variable figure so that if, say, I want to boil 4 mugs of water each day, I can say "I need this many batteries" and "I need this much wind".

Tools and Equipment

There will be a need for tools and equipment. Some of these you may already possess; some you may defer until you can not proceed without compromising your safety and progress.

Basic Principles of 12vDC Circuits

I began re-learning my high-school physics by reading some of BillaVista's pages .

Batteries

I feel that car batteries are the most readily available energy reservoirs. For some people, a used car battery (say from a wrecked car) may supply enough of a reservoir to maintain a bedside light and four hot mugs per day, as long as there is enough wind to charge it daily.

Diary of Events

From February 2019 I kept a scratchpad of ideas in Energy.doc and WindEnergy.doc

On Wednesday, September 09, 2020 I gleaned material from that and other documents to create this document..

Thursday, September 10, 2020

The report ( https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/researcher-calls-for-changes-for-wind-energy-1.3926183 ) quotes Nick Mercer as saying "It is prohibited for any private actor, any renewable energy company to come into Newfoundland to build a renewable energy source or to sell or transmit it on the grid. It's essentially against the law to build wind turbines in the province." Nick appears to be discussing large-scale generation of electricity in a commercial sense, competing with Muskrat Falls.

The report ( https://www.reddit.com/r/newfoundland/comments/5msb2l/why_newfoundland_doesnt_have_wind_turbines/ ) includes “The excess energy produced is intermittent and if it cannot be absorbed locally …” which is just another way of saying “we haven’t worked out a way to store electrical energy”, but this ought not inhibit a lone domestic user (me) for making use of what I can get for an installation cost (turbine, batteries, wiring)

My notes from last June say “Thursday, September 19, 2019 Dion says that vertical shaft wind vanes are banned (import, sale) in Newfoundland.” (email or phone call to Clarenville)

Home Depot says it has wind turbines for sale .

Monday, September 14, 2020

First external review of Section 1

Sunday, October 04, 2020

Hello Nigel (I think). (Great name. "Gresley" springs to mind).

In Perth Western Australia, back in 1959/60 I ran a large (16' by 10') Triang/Kitmaster/Airfix OO-scale collection in Perth WA. Energy came from one or more 12vDC/15vAC transformers and three Triang controllers (with over-used red breaker buttons).

Sixty years of computer programming later I find myself in Bonavista Newfoundland, embarking on a 12vDC project. Everyone here brags about "how much wind we got", but no one makes use of it.

I plan to build up a 12vDC demonstration household with vertical spindle generators atop the shed/house, a bank of car batteries, and projects starting with "4 hot beverages and one hour of bedtime reading" each day through to distillation units, driveway cables (snow melting), electric blankets, water pump and so on. On my list is "Model Railway". I figure to assemble as many 12vDC applications as I can over a period of years, and I thought that when the family comes to inspect, Dad will be immersed in the technical details and ROI, while Mum has to keep the kids occupied. Sexist, I know, but I am sure that a frivolous application to me might be critical to someone else.

As well, I am looking at data collection, and the greater variety of applications I can pile on, the more data I can collect, data such as number of batteries required, energy accumulated and dissipated by the hour and so on.

I am not yet in a position to install a model railway, but I will need some ideas when I assemble my team (me and an Electrical Engineering student if I can find one).

SO!

I have been out of the loop for sixty years.

What might you recommend for my purposes? My house is small, and I feel that OO-scale is too large. Am I looking at "N-scale"? I seem to recall a "TT-scale", but I could be mistaken. I need a small circle or oval such as we see in store windows at Christmas time. Do I need a new train set (typical loco and two coaches/wagons and an oval of track), or should I be assembling my own set from "the shortest loco in stock" and "the shortest wagons in stock" (to make the train impressively long) and specific components of track (PECO?) to fit the space available to me? Right now I am thinking of a portable table-top layout which can be stored on end when there are no demonstrations, but brought out and placed table-top when demonstrations are planned.

I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter. My timeline for installation is probably a year away, but if I can nail down specifications then I could lodge them with you and purchase items as they become available. That is, today I do not have to buy a 4-6-2 "Princess Elizabeth"; I can wait a while in case a "Jinty" becomes available (I do remember my pet locos!).

Thank You.

Monday, October 05, 2020

I began a list of Questions for my mentor .

I began a list of Publications for My Mentor-Search

Tuesday, November 03, 2020

I would like to have a shot at this. I have citrus fruit, roofing nails, and copper wire. I need a low-energy bulb.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Wrote 12vDC

Monday, December 28, 2020

12vDC applications – online forum?

I seek referrals to an online forum that supports newbies (me!) in the development of domestic household 12vDC storage and use.

My high-school physics is now sixty years old.

My goal is to build a domestic system to demonstrate what can be done with small (eighteen-inch) vertical-shaft wind-turbines, a bank of car batteries, and (to date) 29 applications of 12vDC energy supply.

This is not an off-the-grid project, but part of it (bedside reading light, electric water jug) is related to short-term energy outages.

I take my first, small step this week by splurging(grin) on a $40 multi-meter on the grounds that Management Measures.

Thanks for any pointers.

Monday, December 28, 2020

The time has come, as Bob Northcote would say, to cut code. This could be the first of my cul-de-sacs. I have decided to mount the smallest/simplest possible system within my small bridge.

The bridge looking north from the shed. Canon Bayley Road runs past the end of my driveway..

The bridge as it appears to people walking up the driveway towards where the light will be mounted.

The bridge close up with the doorway into my house. I can post a sign inside a porch window; a narrative.

This approach has two merits. (1) the electric light and turbine will be visible from the street and, I hope, inviting. (2) The absolute low-cost aspect removes the excuse of "ROI" from those who would like to get started. At a pinch I can recoup some of my costs by selling my obsolete equipment as a proven System to the next person in line.

I would like to enter any discussion arena with something achieved. That is, I want to discuss my first step, taken and working, and advance from there. I do not want to go empty-handed.

I order a multi-meter and Christopher Greaves BMOM_Multimeter.pdf. In theory Tom will pick it up today. He does and I have played with it.

I start a bookkeeping sheet

I am looking for a 12vDC forum.

The absolute basic system is:-

(1) A Vertical Spindle Wind-Turbine

… mounted on my bridge railing so that I can watch it spin.

Mounted on the bridge because if I can't mount it there I can't consider mounting it on a roof. As well I would lie visitors to be aware of it and for word to get around.

The first turbine should cost less than $100. A $10 kit would demonstrate electric light, but may not be strong enough to energy a battery.

Mini Wind Generator - DIY Kit Small Motor Vertical Wind Turbine Generator DC 7.49+5.07 shipping. Rated Energy: 0.55 W. Output Voltage: 0.01V~5.5 V. Output Current: 0.01mA~100mA

Beennex Micro Vertical Wind Turbine $9.11 + $9.49 shipping Rated Energy: 0.55 W Output Voltage: 5.5 V

Micro Turbine Generator $9.48 + $8.28 Shipping

DC 0.1V-5.5V 100-6000RPM Micro Vertical Wind Turbine $9.59 + $8.28 Shipping Rated Energy: 0.55 W Output Voltage: 5.5

Later I will obtain a Charge Controller, but for now I suspect that if I am charging a battery, the charge rate will be so low that I can multi-meter test the battery on a daily basis.

The PikaSola produces 200W 12v but is priced at $270. Still, that's a starting point.

Gearless turbines have fewer parts.

(2) A Car Battery Mounted on My Bridge

… so that it is close to the turbine

MOTOMASTER 12-Volt 32 Ah Group Size U1 SLA Battery $129.99 $20.00 Core Charge ? non-spillable battery is a rechargeable sealed lead acid (SLA) Battery 12 volt, 32 amp hour

12v 32 ah on the surface suggests .384 Kwh, but I will not get that out of it. Car batteries are designed for high-surge current flow for short periods (starting the engine)

The battery can be set inside that old TV enclosure that Peggy handed on to me. It is not weather-proof, but offers a shield to coarse elements. The battery will have to be enclosed in a rain-proof box.

(3) A 12vDC Light Fixture (Socket and Led)

… mounted on my bridge railing so that everyone can see it

I would like the fixture to be suitable for placement as a bedside light, but the actual fitting doesn't matter too much. In a energy-outage I will hang it from my wall, what do I care? On the bridge I can mount a simple socket and encase it in an upturned glass jar which is stapled to the rail; that should provide sufficient cover from the gales.

Home Hardware has a battery-operated flashlight that runs off DC. I should buy one ($3; why not?) and think of that as a possible porch light. I bought one and will consider dismantling it for its component LED lights.

(4) Cabling to Connect the Lot

12vDC loses energy over town supply distances but I should not worry over the forty-feet between the turbine and battery or battery and room (in the house).

Thicker cables offer less resistance? A spool of cable supplied locally should more than cover my needs for the next year.

Home Hardware sells a spool of two-flex for $150. I do not want to lay out $150 in one dollop. I shall make use of my bundles of 2-core flex while I am on the bridge.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Overnight my mind clears. I will make the first installation a science kit generator that charged re-chargeable cells that energy LED light. This makes sense when I restate my goal " By September 2021 demonstrate the success of a wind-energy 12vDC energy generation and storage system with applications to domestic life in a single-person household in the town of Bonavista." But instead of a 12vDC demonstration it will be a 1.5 vDC demonstration AND will be achievable at a cost of less than $100.

My goal might be better stated, as an educator "To educate and encourage residents of Bonavista in the use of wind-energy to drive household electrical applications"

Monday, May 17, 2021

Start again, this time with timetable and a measurable goal

Hello; Again; when I introduced myself last December I was hoping for a complete system at $20. reality has sunk in, and now, of course, I wish I had bitten the bullet a year ago when prices had not made a hole in the roof.

I have set aside UP TO $1,000 for my first effort at a 12vDC-based system for my home.

(1) I am not going off-grid; I will always maintain my mains-Energy supply (110vAC)

(2) I will not be self-sufficient in electrical energy. See point (1) above

(3) I WILL establish a platform, a starting-point, from which I can learn and develop skills.

The platform will start as:-

(a) a Vertical Spindle turbine capable of generating electrical energy at 12vDC

(b) a used 12vDC car battery supplied by my good neighbour who works in a car shop

(c) a 12vDC car jug capable of boiling a mug of water.

I will place an order for the turbine no later than this coming Saturday 22nd May, but perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Vertical spindle because I think a propeller/wind-vane is throwing away energy by turning the body into the wind, and by friction on the swivel plate. I don’t know how much energy is lost, but I think of it as “lost energy”.

Two models appear to be in stock at Amazon. “ NINILADY ” and “ TQ 5000W ”. Five months ago there seemed to be a dozen in stock.

They are priced at $729 and $490 respectively. I am inclined to go the $490 route (see “strategy” below)

Single 12vDC car battery in good condition (see “strategy” below) because my neighbour can obtain these for me at a low cost.

12vDC car jug to boil one mug of water for tea/coffee/oatmeal sachet, because I used one of these on my trips around North America.

Strategy: I will start with a single turbine, a single car battery, and a single application (boiling water for beverages). I drink four beverages per day – two coffees in the morning and two teas in the afternoon. The hot water jug will run from the battery. After two months running, I shall add a second application from my list of twenty-nine applications , perhaps “(3) Reading Lamp” or else “(4) Phone Charger”. When I need more storage I will purchase another car battery; when I need more energy I will purchase another turbine. I plan to keep adding turbine energy and battery storage as I add applications. By next winter I will have a 12v DC driveway cable snaking down my driveway melting the snow that falls in two- to three-foot deep slabs.

Right Now: I would appreciate any rational reasons why I should NOT go with a $490 vertical spindle turbine, a car battery, and a jug to boil water.

I have to get my hands dirty, in a manner of speaking, and sitting around theorizing is not going to help me resolve any issues.

Down the road I might purchase a bigger/better turbine; there is always a chance I can sell any earlier turbine to someone else who, like me, would like to dabble in 12vDC systems.

My overall goal here in Bonavista is educational: to create a demonstration home (mine!) with a glittering array of applications that will educate and I hope enthuse the locals.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Harald Kapp replied:-

CG>> Vertical spindle because I think a propeller/wind-vane is throwing away energy by turning the body into the wind, and by friction on the swivel plate. I don’t know how much energy is lost, but I think of it as “lost energy”.

HK>> By design vertical wind turbines seem to be less efficient than standard wind turbines ( see e.g. here ).

Harald, of the seven advantages suggested I had earlier seized on “Omnidirectional Natural of the Rotor” (hence my incorrect reasoning about energy loss), “Closer Spacing”. I will end up mounting the turbines atop my 20-foot by 16-foot shed, so a 20-foot ridge line.

“Lower Starting Wind Speed” had not occurred to me, but every man and his dog in Bonavista brags about “how much wind we got”, so I wasn’t too worried about startup speeds.

“Lower Environmental Harm” was no concern to me. I am not looking to Get Off The Grid, but to demonstrate what can be done with a bank of 12vDC car batteries energized by wind.

Installation, Maintenance and Visuals did not worry me. I shall rope in David-from-across-the-street for help with installation, wiring, car batteries etc.

As for the disadvantages:-

“Vertical axis wind turbines often have less rotation efficiency”. I did not know this; I had thought only of the energy loss in the vane swiveling the platform. I knew that the wind would be blowing against the back-side of the vertical spindles, some loss there, but now I see that the “propeller” blades are reaping 100% of the wind energy once they are facing into the wind. A small tax in energy to make them face into the wind is worth it to reap 100% of that wind.

“Lower Available Wind Speed” for me wind speed will be whatever it will be atop the roof. (The house has two brick chimneys which appeal to my sense of using wood-fuel structures to mount wind-fuel devices!)

In short, horizontal propeller turbines now look more attractive to me.

I shall spend an hour or so this evening looking at horizontals. I see at first sight what I think of as “400w for $278”, a crude measure to be sure, but in overall terms less than $490.

CG>> Right Now: I would appreciate any rational reasons why I should NOT go with a $490 vertical spindle turbine, a car battery, and a jug to boil water.

HK>> Because 490 $ is a hefty price tag? Why not build your own wind turbine at a fraction of the cost? The turbines you linked to are 600W and 5000 W, respectively. These are oversized for the application. A car battery has on the order of 50Wh (give or take depending on the model and the age). Assuming you can get energy from the turbine only 20 % of the time (will depend on the typical wind characteristics in your area), a 600 W turbine will deliver an average of 150 W (with peaks and troughs). This will fully charge the battery in less than 1/2 hour (you'll have to take into account charge losses). What would you do with the energy from the turbine once the battery is fully charged?

Price is an issue for two reasons (1) My small pension and (2) My goal in this project (see below).

The past winter I did build a turbine using three two-litre plastic (pop) bottles bolted to a small personal fan, with a light bulb attached. I chickened out; when the wind was blowing strongly, I was tucked up in warm bed with a book! After two months, one of the pop bottles snapped off; no big deal, but I soon realized that while DIY appeals to me (especially Second Use For Everything!), my goal was to demonstrate results.

There will be more than one car battery, and probably more than one turbine, and 29 applications at the moment. My neighbour David works with car electrical systems so I will be relying on him if we ever decide to DIY; he has access to alternators and all sorts of wonderful things!

HK>> If I were to start this project, I'd begin with an inexpensive turbine, probably DIYed from a used car alternator. Once the project has shown its feasibility and more energy is needed, I could always upgrade to a more energeticy turbine (and battery).

I already believe in this project’s feasibility. A study for a mini-wind farm fell through for outlay or political reasons; a 30’ tall turbine has been sent back to Clarenville for work, and has not returned. I have faith in a [set of] small turbines being capable of building up a reservoir of energy that can be used during an unscheduled energy outage and/or to melt snow in driveways.

I want to build a low-cost system that will appeal to local residents and encourage them to consider such as system as an alternative to gasoline generators.

Below: I am already challenging the concept of rain-water here. The town supply is undrinkable (a permanent boil-water has been in effect since at least October 2018) and people drive out to an untested spring on the Elliston Road and lug carboys of water home in their cars. I rigged up an eight-foot trough, collect water in 5-gallon pails, and save my self hassle. I tell folks that we all drink rain-water, it’s just that mine doesn’t have to be treated.

I want to take a similar approach to electrical energy, starting my brewing my coffee and tea beverages from car batteries, then expanding operations.

I doubt that this will be cost-effective in terms of ROI when compared to mains electricity, but I will spend some money and time on it with the hope that the educational value is great.

Thank you again for your comments. There is much for me to read, which I will do over the next couple of days. Chances are strong that I will switch to horizontal before Saturday, but I have been spinning my wheels far too long, and I believe it is time for me to buy a stock turbine, a car battery, and an electric jug, and to start learning by doing.

Cheers

Chris

Saturday, May 22, 2021

I live alone on a small town lot in Bonavista, Newfoundland. I live simply.

Bonavista folks brag about three things: “How much wind we got”, “How much rain we got”, and “How little soil we got”. This project addresses the first of these claims. See Rain-water harvesting and Soil remediation for material on the other topics.

Bonavista suffers from Atlantic storms which can bring unscheduled energy outages. If I miss out on WiFi internet for a couple of days or can’t do laundry, I am not worried. But I would like to crawl into bed with a warm drink and a stack of books. My bottled food is edible without re-heating. I can survive. I reasoned that a 12vDC system that would boil a car-jug of water four times a day would lift my spirits, and that there is no need for a noisy gasoline-energized generator that would be used perhaps once a year.

So, it is a matter of harnessing the wind to charge batteries to provide electrical energy to boil water four times a day.

Then I thought that I would need energy for a bedside reading light, too. Days later:-

Water Jug; Reading Lamp; Phone Charger; A Laptop Charger; Water Pump for Rain-Water Reservoir; Water Pump for Hydroponics Garden; Water Distillation; Personal Fan; Electric Blanket; Aquarium Air Pump; Driveway Cables; Bridge Cables; Clothes Dryer (Heater); Desiccating Oven; Green-House/Seedling Heater; Flash-heater; VCR/TV; Router; Pre-Heated Water; Auxiliary Heating; Model Railway; Christmas Lights; Electrolysis; Charging; Radio; Solar Panels; Stationary Bike; Science Laboratory; Awareness Lamp.

Today Saturday, May 22, 2021 I have ordered a wind turbine and am on a path to boil water from wind energy!

I thought that any excess energy harvested when there was no energy outage could be put to good use, for example, a small desiccating oven to dry vegetables and herbs. Hence the list of applications.

Just as my home is now a demonstration for harvesting rain water for drinking and cooking, and is also a demonstration for building up soil stocks for vegetable gardening, so will my home grow into a demonstration of what can be done with wind energy.

PLEASE NOTE that my intention is not to “live off the grid”. I do not shun mains energy. I do not shun the town water supply, even though it is under a permanent boil-water advisory; town/scheme water is great for watering the garden, washing dishes, showering and so on. I stress that there is no need to drive a car down the Elliston Road to lug back carboys of untested water from a roadside spring. Drinking water is right outside my back door!

COST: I am on a small pension, so cost is critical. That said, I am not basing the project on a dollar value of ROI, but on the educational value, of getting people to think about a renewable resources that has to date had just brag value.

DIY: I had a feeble attempt rigging a three-pop-bottle vane turbine to an motor from a personal fan, but I did this over winter when I was not inclined to spend time out of doors tweaking it, let alone getting it to work. Although I embrace Second Use For Everything and enjoy DIY, in this project I want to show what can be done with a low-cost off-the-shelf system

I am starting with a low-cost $cdn324 including tax and shipping) turbine, one car battery, and one 12vDC electric jug. I set a goal of two months operation during which I shall make two mugs of coffee each morning and two mugs of tea each afternoon from the 12vDC system. I shall state that the first phase of the project is a success if I have four hot drinks every day for two months.

Of course my initial requirements of the system were for use during energy outages, and no energy outage lasts two months. I believe that the longest outage in Bonavista was ten days. My two-month period is meant to demonstrate that over a two month period my reservoir of electrical energy (car battery) can be maintained so as to provide four hot beverages on demand each day.

THE FUTURE: Once the hot beverage phase is proven, I shall add a bedside reading lamp with a similar goal – two months running of the light for an hour each night. I still have mains electrical energy for everything else, but adding the bedside light consumption for one hour each night will establish that the system provides four hot beverages for four moths and an hour of night-time reading for two months. After that I might get ambitious and add a phone charger, or laptop charger.

Certain it is that at some stage a newly added application will drain the system; one day I will wake up and find that I have not enough energy in reserve (car battery) to boil my morning coffee. At that time I shall add a second car battery to the system and resume my plod towards my educational goal. And yes, there will come a time when the applications warrant such a bank of car batteries that I will need to add a second turbine (or replace the original with a more energetic turbine), and so, step by step, the system will ratchet itself up, demonstrating what can be achieved with 12vDC electrical energy harnessed from the wind.

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Bewinner 12V/24V Car Immersion Heater

Price: $11.09 + No Import Fees Deposit & $8.21 Shipping to Canada (charged $cdn19.31)

Car water heater Made of stainless steel and Bakelite material, heat-resistant, dust-proof, corrosion resistant, safe and durable to use

Car Immersion Heater Plug directly and safely into 12V/24V lighter socket

Its energy is 120W-140W, it has lower energy consumption, really a practical and affordable water heater

It is lightweight and has small size, easy and convenient to carry or store in your car, it won't take up much space

Can be used for boiling water, coffee or tea in your car. Perfect for using in outdoor activities, like self-driving travel, camping, picnic etc

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Tuesday, June 01, 2021

The Turbine arrived today, hugely exciting followed immediately by two disappointments:

(1) There was not a simple chunk of twenty-inch tower for mounting. I understand that one needs as high a tower as possible, even though I would rather not have it as an eyesore. I think that most users would like to have it up-and-running out of the box, so a 20” tower pipe would suffice to set it up, perhaps in a wooden plate at ground level, watch it turn and, perhaps, light an electric bulb.

(2) The kit came with an anemometer, nice! Except the anemometer came without the battery. For what I paid for the turbine, you would think they could include a battery. After all, when presented with a new toy, we want to go outside and play with it immediately.

I know that these two disappointments are but hurdles, and I can leap them easily. Still and all …

Now I must go find me a resident 12vDC expert to walk with me through this process. I am waiting for my immersion heater.

Tuesday, June 01, 2021

(1) RockRacing, Crewes, Back Yard Sale for mentors

(2) Pole mounted, but short pole whose base fixed to wooden platform, so, on bridge rail or standing on lawn or …

(3) 12vDC bedside light

(4) Annotate manual with dry run on kitchen floor.

(5) How to measure reservoir after overnight charge; immediate discharge and start 24 hours with dead battery. That is, measure real daily energy.

(6) Local to kitchen (hence bridge rail, battery in porch, heater trailed wire to kitchen, bedroom

(7) Geoff knotted pillow slip over blades.

(8) Inspect casing to fit a 20-inch length of (pipe?) wooden pillar?

(9) Understanding my millimeter

(10) Clamp to bridge rail would work, bring in energy overnight

(11) Mark with identification number (Ontario Driver’s License)

(12) Record sheet of daily predicted wind and actual min/max

Wednesday, June 02, 2021

The average maximum gust given for Bonavista from https://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=2006-01-23%7C2021-05-31&dlyRange=2006-07-09%7C2021-05-31&mlyRange=2006-08-01%7C2007-07-01&StationID=45047&Prov=NL&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=2020&EndYear=2021&selRowPerPage=100&Line=0&searchMethod=contains&Month=5&Day=1&txtStationName=bonavista&timeframe=2&Year=2021 is 62 Km/hr. Assuming that the average minimum gust is 0 Km/hr, then a first approximation to wind speed throughout the day is about 30 Km/hr.

I note that for the PikaSola the survival wind speed is 40m/s, but for the period Jan-May 2021 this maximum gust speed was not reached. The Maximum maximum was 32m/s

Friday, June 04, 2021

David has a length of pipe that looks to be four feet or more, and more importantly: two inches diameter. We shall see …

Sunday, June 06, 2021

The anemometer is a cute device for measuring wind speed, but that can not be the measure of my turbine/battery setup. The true measure will be how many amp-hours per day are generated. This quantity will vary day by day, but the end result is what counts: “Can I boil four mugs of beverage each day and read for one hour each night?”. Followed of course by more threshold quantities/rates as I add applications.

I have placed an order for a car battery from Wal-Mart.

Friday, June 11, 2021

The immersion heater has arrived; I am set to go! A new, two-feet square base is prepared which can be clamped to my bridge rail, or stood flat on the ground. If winds are strong, I can lay longer planks (ten feet) across the base and weight them down with rocks, then watch the tower get ripped from its base. Better yet – guy ropes and pegs. I suspect that the time has come to thread a three-core flex through the old oil-feed hole in the south side kitchen wall. Then I can have the turbine out of sight in the back yard and have the battery and first appliances in the kitchen.

I must dig out the meter and become adept at using it. First step: record/log amperage on an hourly basis throughout the waking hours.

T

he little immersion heater, designed to plug into a car cigarette lighter. Well, for one thing I have not owned a car since 2003. I shall disassemble the plug in case I can use it elsewhere, and then wire the heater to a bus (see below).

Last night’s sketch.

(1) The upper part of the sketch shows a square base of plywood and a 24” length of 2” diameter plastic drain pipe. Four guy wires are proposed, one from each corner of the base. Each guy wire is in two parts because I have only short lengths of wire scavenged from the house-rewiring project two years ago.

Each of the eight segments will be threaded through the pipe from the inside, with a cheap knot holding the end inside the pipe. Each pair of wires is joined in the middle by a simple knot(s) and tightened.

This should be suitable for ground-level (backyard) mounting because winds two feet above the ground are said to be not as strong as those thirty feet above ground level. My back yard is relatively sheltered.

(2) The middle part of the sketch shows the turbine on the ground in the back yard, and a length of three-core cable snaking across the lawn, through the zucchini patch, and through the ½” diameter hole that used to carry the oil pipe from the tank to the kitchen.

I think a fifty-foot length of cable should do the trick, but Durdle say $2 per foot, so that is $100. Swyers may be cheaper, but cheaper still will be for me to use up the six-foot scraps from old appliances. Or better yet, use three-pin extension plugs for a while and make use of my 100-foot extension cable that is hanging in the shed doing nothing.

(3) The bottom part of the sketch shows the 3-core cable entering the kitchen and connected to the converter (AC to 12vDC).

Two wires lead from the converter to a car battery.

Two wires lead from the battery to the immersion heater.

Once that is done, I shall make myself a boiling-hot mug of tea.

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

How to Calculate Voltage Drop in a Copper Wire

To calculate voltage drop in a copper wire, use the following formula:

Volts= Length x Current x 0.017

Area

Volts= Voltage drop.

Length= Total Length of wire in metres (including any earth return wire).

Current= Current (amps) through wire.

Area= Cross sectional area of copper in square millimetres.

Notes

• This formula only applies to copper at 25°C, voltage drop increases with wire temperature, at approx 0.4% per °C.

• 0.017- This figure only applies to copper.

• Area is in square millimetres of copper, there can be confusion on how cable size is rated, with some manufacturers stating wire diameter rather than area, some even including the insulation. An explanation of this can be seen here .

Example

A trailer has 50M of 4 square mm wire so, how much voltage drop at 20A?

50 x 20 x 0.017= 17. Divide this by 4 (cross section area of wire): 17/4= 4.25V.

In this example, the drop is 4.25V. This would mean that if there was 12V at the front of the trailer, there would only be 7.75V at the back - the lights would be very dim.

This is when the wire temp is 25ºC, if the wire temp was 35ºC there would be a 4.42V drop, meaning only 7.37V at the back of the trailer.

Don't forget that the current through the wire will heat it up, so even if it is only a 25ºC day, the wire will be hotter, which will increase the voltage drop.

This will keep increasing until the cooling effect of the surrounding air on the wire balances the heating effect of the current.

This demonstrates why it is important not to skimp on wire size when wiring a trailer.

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