I live in a windy valley in Virginia. There is too much cloud cover for solar, but enough wind. The problem is to avoid cutting my chickens up with a blender-blade type wind turbine. Since it will be a chicken tractor, the turbine has to be mounted on the top of the coop so it can move along too. I don’t need a ton of juice, just enough to keep the water from freezing in the winter, open and close the automatic door, and turn on the LCD timed lights on the dark, short days. Any ideas?
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janetnva2000 Reputation: 10 See janetnva2000's booth |
you might check to see if they make them, like the turbines that are on regular houses to pull hot air from attics. Just the shape is what I am saying, instead of having the long blades.
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Alilbirdy2 Reputation: 84 See Alilbirdy2's booth |
They DO make them but they are super pricey. I remember an old Mother Earth News magazine from March and May 1985 that had directions on building your own. One was called the red baron and the other was a little smaller it was blue max. You might try a websearch for either the old Mother Earth News magazines, or for an article on how to build your own wind generator.
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OnTopOfJunkMountain Reputation: 86 See OnTopOfJunkMountain's booth |
Never too much overcast for solar – the sun hits the surface of the earth even on cloudy days.
Contact MREA (Midwest renewable energy society) – their website will have links to local practitioners in your area. There are good wind folks in SE Pennsylvania and all over, many do horizontal (not the windmill shaped) turbines that are quiet and efficient.
If you can’t find someone, contact me. I worked on the first LEED Platinum certified remodeled house in the country, and was fortunate to be able to work with lots of small but very experienced alternative energy practitioners.
great idea – especially here along the Atlantic seaboard where energy costs are so high and risks so great, I can’t figure out why they are so far behind the cold Midwest in weatherizing and alternative energy – it is easier and faster payback at the scale and prices here.
Thanks for considering a sustainable method – my grandsons thank you, too!
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Practica Reputation: 62 See Practica's booth |
Hmm, I have no idea how you’re going to do that. But surely there are some ways to solve your problem. When I decided to switch to solar lighting, this [URL removed] blog helped me a lot. Lots of topics that give in-depth answers to the most popular questions from this area.
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FrankH838 Reputation: 14 |
That’s right. Even in cloudy and overcast weather, solar panels will also accumulate the necessary energy, so I advise you not to discount this and read more information on the subject on the site [URL removed] Maybe you can use this. Good luck to you with your tractor anyways!
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ScottP1274 Reputation: 21 |
Viewed: 3286 times
Asked: over 14 years ago
Latest response: almost 4 years ago
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