can i ask about other energy sources?

I agree with Kootch as the "pole" for my 40footer was almost 500 bucks. not just stainless but had the word "marine " also

Back in the late 70's early 80's, my dad started planning for his retirement.

He first installed 2 wood burners for heat, (since then converted to coal) then installed solar for domestic hot water, and finally we installed a Jacobs wind turbine. He figured that this way his living expenses would be taken care of. We first had a wind turbine charging batteries that was designed by a local guy. It was a downwind machine (blades behind the tower like arrow fletchings). This type did not go very well. A very turbulent wind. And using batteries for heating or cooling type appliances really draw the batteries quite rapidly.

The Jacobs wind turbine was built off the original designed by Marcellus Jacobs that accompanied Admiral Byrd on his first trip to the south pole. Jacobs also had quite a good thing going as he originally was generating 32v and had a whole line of 32v appliances and farming machinery. He had helped with the electrification of many, many farms throughout the midwest.

When they restarted the company in the late 70's, they used the original designs and plans for the windmill itself. But now they hooked it up to a synchronous inverter to be able to tie the unit directly into the utility grid. The beauty of their inverter was the the generator field was created by the utility power thereby disconnecting it from the grid when the grid went down. A safety feature for all utility workers.

Our original windmill set up on top of a 100 ft above ground corten steel tower with the 3 legs 18ft apart buried 8 ft down and then cemented in place and backfilled. When we converted to the Jacobs machine, we had to have an adapter plate made to convert our tower to their tower stub that enclosed their generator and braking mechanism. Their 100 ft tower's legs were only 10 ft apart at the base.

The blades were 23 ft in diameter and made of sitka spruce. And when they hit the tower, they splintered all over the place.

The unit that we bought was the # 18 machine built. Then they redesigned them after the first 40 were built. We replaced numerous blade sets and a few inverter boxes. When the machine was working, it worked great, but we seemed to be a test tube for any changes they wanted to make on the unit.

The biggest problem I think was that Control Data Corp was the funding mechanism for them to restart production. CDC wanted to see returns on their investment and didn't quite understand that this was for consumers to help them with their utility bills. So the company then started developing wind farms. They sold a lot of machines and sort of put the individual homeowner's needs on the back burner.

Luckily (?) our machine was struck by lightning. The insurance company refused to allow me as a qualified installer and repair dealer to perform the necessary repairs. Instead we were forced to remove the unit and send it to R.I. to another dealer. While there, someone offered to buy it and we sold it. The corten steel tower was then sold to someone else.

Initially we were allowed to turn our meter backwards, but the utility company put an end to it. They installed a ratcheting meter to only allow electric 1 way through the meter. We then had to install a second meter to record excess sent back. We're still waiting for the payment of that excess generated electric.

Our unit was a 10KW designed machine. In our area of S.E. Pa we were told to expect about 1000 KW of electric generation per month. This would have satisfied their electric useage at the time.

Jacobs has started production back up again from what I have found. http://www.windturbine.net/home.htm
Their website has some good wind speed charts and a lot of good info on it.


I still have my climbing belt and some diagnostic equipment, however I don't know if the knees will still make it up to the top of a 100 ft tower. But I did like to be up there dangling. It took some getting used to but after a while I was hanging with the best of them.



Rick

Very cool albit the 58K for the 100 ft tower cuts into the wallet a wee to deep for me!

There was a 350ft tower 100ft from my shop for celphone and such and I frequently watched the guys work on it. each of the 3 legs sat on a 10ft dia 90ft deep(to the bedrock) foundation. I saw lightning hit it many times and it was just awsome.
I frequently do mast work @ 60ft or so and I agree it is great hanging up there although not quite stable in rough water

You can make your own personal windmill: here's the plans for free (or you can send me $200 if you want). Take the electric motor out of a treadmill, hook it up to a ceiling fan. Mount it on your roof or a flagpole. Now you have a basic wind generator for basically free if you scrounge up all the parts from the dump. The biggest problem with a windmill is the power goes out when the wind stops blowing so you'll need to grid tie or add a battery or something.

Homepower magazine has been in the alternative energy business/testing/development for decades,the owner/editor Perez has a couple degrees and thousands of hours of hands on experience with design and trial and error testing of simple systems that can be used in third world countries to supply basics such as water,electric and heat,rammed earth,underground, and straw bale housing etc.,he covers the full spectrum and all of his highly technical articles and mathmatics and laymans translations are on cd and can be purchased for far less than 200 bucks. http://www.homepower.com I bought his cd's once years ago,worth the money,the technical articles have diagrams,schematics,math,pictures,excellent,and will open your mind to a world of expertise most of us aren't aware of.Have fun. RichB

tugcapt wrote:Thanks for all the help.I asked the same questions on two wind related sites and didn't get back a fraction of the help I got back from this site.Love this site lol.I may never need another site for all my technical needs.Now all i need is a site that can help manage my finances lol
I think I have something coming up that a lot on here will enjoy.For the past week i have been lightering a coal ship in the Dlaware river and i know how much we all like pics. so i have been taking many.What catogory would they fit best?Gotta run time to sail
Keith

First place you ought to look is at the wind maps for your area. They're published online and are accurate enough to determine whether wind is a viable option for you at a reasonable height. Like Freddy, many folks get into wind and soon determine that they don't have the wind to drive the turbine enough to get the ROI under 20 years. Getting the thing up high enough to ensure good wind can often cost well more than you'd believe.

Many states offer as much as 50% rebate, but they require you to use a licensed contractor, which puts the kibash on the rebate actually helping you. I had a lengthy discussion with the people in NYS that offer the alternative energy rebates and explained that I was more than capable of doing the install from A to Z which would save me and NYS about $20,000. They could not have cared less. I didn't pursue wind after that.