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Old 01-17-2011, 12:39 PM   #1
lasater
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Wind Power

OK! I got a generator (5.5 Kw). I got solar panels (138 watts). Now I am researching a wind turbine for the Montana. Does anyone out have one? If so, what brand? What capacity? Etc? What unique situations came up with the wind system?

Thanks for your responses.
 
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Old 01-18-2011, 01:21 AM   #2
nowinter
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I have noticed that sailboats use wind turbins for auxiliary electrical power. I would check with some of the larger marinas or the West Marine catalogue.
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Old 01-18-2011, 07:47 AM   #3
Art-n-Marge
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Question for those who report working windmills for their RV. Were these permanent setups?

The biggest concern for wind power is the size of the equipment for use with an RV. Will it be portable enough for a mobile RV, otherwise it's good for a fulltimer that doesn't move around? And if it's small for portability will it be strong enough to be effective? Best of all, how can it be used in conjunction with the other power systems, since for example, gennys or solar aren't available at night.

The marine sources sound like a good place to look.

Thinking ahead, I can hardly wait for Lasater's geothermal alternative power plans! Now that's 100% flexibility!
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Old 01-18-2011, 02:53 PM   #4
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Geothermal? Now there is an idea. But, at the Fountain of Youth RV Park in Thermopolis, Wyoming.
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Old 01-19-2011, 01:41 AM   #5
SlickWillie
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We were at the Rockport harbor yesterday...I noticed a couple sailboats with the wind turbines. One was spinning pretty fast, and made just a little humming noise. That might bother some folks, but it sounded like sleeping music to me.

For these to be worthwhile, you're gonna have to have constant wind. We had that when we were on the bay in Aransas Pass. I prefer the electric bill, or generator gas expense to constant wind.
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Old 01-19-2011, 02:12 AM   #6
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Anyplace you go, there is usually plenty of "wind".
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Old 01-19-2011, 03:44 AM   #7
kylec2
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The biggest complaint I have read concerning wind power is the associated noise of the generator unit. The following site http://www.solar-electric.com/wind.html has a few different models which mainly vary on output and how much wind is needed before it begins "working". You will need to assess your power needs, account for variance in generation and usage to assess your overall power generation and storage (batteries) needs.
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Old 01-19-2011, 07:52 AM   #8
deadeye
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I picked up a book to read on line. This is real interesting and discusses all kinds of power sources... "The Complete Book of Boondock RVing" by Bill and Jan Moeller They appairently have done a lot of camping in the wild. By the way, I have no affiliation to the authors of the book... JB
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Old 01-19-2011, 02:20 PM   #9
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Amazon has wind turbines from 400 Watts and up.
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Old 01-19-2011, 03:15 PM   #10
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I really, REALLY like the vertical axis wind turbine...but then I saw the "lifesize" one, and it was kind of a bummer. At least for an RV...it's 180 lbs. and it looks to be approx. 6 foot tall...and that doesn't include the pole.

It claims to take care of 20% normal home power needs...if I buy 5, can I tell the electric company to take a hike ?
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Old 01-20-2011, 11:03 AM   #11
lasater
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well, after talking to several of the folks at the Quartzsite Circle, I decided that my main problem was not generation of power but the storage of power. So, next week, I will get my 2 6V flooded cell batteries yanked out and replaced with 2 224.5 AH 6 V AGM batteries. I will be picking up a 7-year warranty with the batteries. That will give me 450 Amp/Hours of storage. Since I am not as power hungry as some(no freezer or flag pole lights to run)this should be plenty of power.
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