Water powered lights that run for free?

[mikeb]

Continuing in the vein of 'Wind turbines' I got a small stream running through the back garden.

Would it be possible to fabricate some sort of water turbine/wheel type affair to generate enough power to run a couple of decent 12v garden lights instead of those poxy solar ones??.

Anybody got any plans or good websites to tell you how to go about constructing such a device?.

The more I get to save on my electricity bill the more I get to spend of petrol for the TVR and beer

MikeB

[2 Smokin Barrels]

I reckon they tried that here:

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scripts/nthandbook.dll?ACTION=PROPERTY&PROPERTYID=178

[simpo two]

A generator is just an electric motor backwards. I other words, turn the shaft by some other means and you get electricity out of the wires.

So, you just need a motor and a paddlewheel!

[2 Smokin Barrels]

rotom cirtcele

[simpo two]

2 Smokin Barrels said:

rotom cirtcele

Instant Latin

[catso]

Check out www.waterwheelfactory.com/

These guys know their water wheels but you will need some serious power in the stream and a big wheel to run anything significant see;

www.waterwheelfactory.com/HP%20Table.htm

A 20 ft wheel + 3,000 gallons per minute = 12.8 hp is it worth the bother?

[Tuna]

catso said:

A 20 ft wheel + 3,000 gallons per minute = 12.8 hp is it worth the bother?

Well, if you're just lighting up some LED lights, you only need a tiny fraction of that to work - it'd be a fun project. You need a paddle wheel or propellor, and to gear that up as fast as you can - motors generate electricity when spun quickly. You could theoretically use a bike dynamo which has all the gearing built in.

[Pigeon]

PROPER bicycle hub dynamos (ie. Sturmey Archer as opposed to Jap crap) don't have any inefficient gears wasting power. They just have lots of poles so you get a rapidly varying magnetic field even with slow rotation. Should be ideal for the job.

[Zad]

I suspect a better way would be to install proper photovoltaic panels on top of your shed/garage/kennel/wendyhouse, use them to charge a 12v or 24v lead acid battery and optionally an inverter to run fluorescent lights etc. Ebay has loads of em, of varying quality.

Mike

[Pigeon]

Yeah, but a waterwheel is so much more fun

[D_Mike]

Whilst we're at it, can anybody help with advice on how to make an electricity generating treadmill for the squirrels in my garden?

[Munter]

Oi Thats my idea....

Munter On Wind Turbine Thread said:

I did have a crazy idea a while back involving an old washing machine and some bits and bobs. Basically attach a few blades to a hub and bolt that onto the motor out of the washing machine. Watch it generate electricity! Plumb it into the house electrics and let it run all the standby devices.... Cost = a few bits of wire etc. Ok there was enviromental cost to produce the washing machine but if it's broken and going to be thrown out.... Would it work? (I seem to remember a report from the former Yugoslavia where they had put the washing machine in the river and were using the water to turn the drum and therefore generate enough electricity to power a lightbulb in a basement.)