ttystikk
Well-Known Member
This makes sense with an electric car. Otherwise battery capacity and the car's charging system will likely be inadequate, which includes most ICE powered cars.
whats up with cree (corporate)?
- Thread starter CobKits
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ichabod crane
Well-Known Member
Not if it is running. I have a couple inverters to run my freezers if the power goes out. The trick is matching the correct start up wattage to the inverter. And it does not take long to charge up a car battery.
It would be only for the bare essentials. Like freezers or a household light.
It would be only for the bare essentials. Like freezers or a household light.
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
I'm going to stay hooked up to the electric. Then again everything that can be run off gas, is. I may very well be able to not need the electric company.
I don't have running water on the property. It would be nice.
That works for short periods with small appliances.
The electric here, as in other rural areas, can go out for a few weeks at a time.
I would not vote for that liar she will take your guns and your rights and keep on smiling
ichabod crane
Well-Known Member
Here is one of my flower rooms at week 6. The purple is Ace of Spades. The one with the paper is Nightmre Diesel. The other 3 in the room are Death Star, Blueberry Kush, and Bruce Banner #3.
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ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Understood, so while it's wise to remain hooked up and use them as your normal load balancing system, I get the need for some backup capacity. I'm thinking that simple battery backups might be the most cost effective solution.
Chest freezers are much more efficient and I understand that running them full is best.
For suitability for wind power, consult wind power maps. That will tell you whether it's a good investment. Strangely enough, I live close to fuckin Wyoming and yet somehow I'm not in a zone that's considered windy enough!
If you consider wind, look for the highest ridge line on your property. That's likely the best place to put it.
Maybe consider your own natural gas powered generator for power outages?
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
Its windy enough here. I live on a mountain.
I get there are other options and some may be cheaper.
I guess maybe it just boils down to, I want to and I'm bull headed like that. I'm all about being self sufficient and would like to be free from depending on someone for my needs.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I'm not questioning your motives in the slightest; having come from a long line of western ranchers, self sufficiency was bred into me early.
I agree with your thinking that a combination of methods is likely to be your best strategy for an affordable, flexible and robust solution. This is turning out to be the case with my chiller, in fact.
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
I think that's the best way to with a combo of methods.
I know you weren't questioning my motives. We are just kicking ideas around.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I WISH more of my neighbors were self sufficient. Lol
There's a new approach to an old idea, called cogeneration. Folks were used to putting in one kind of energy and getting the desired result out, without considering the potential byproducts. Rising costs and concerns for efficiency have encouraged a new look at this old situation.
Cogeneration changes all that; when generating electricity, for instance, there's nearly always going to be heat created as a byproduct. Well, instead of building a huge power plant in the middle of nowhere belching out millions of BTus of heat and just wasting it into the sky, why not have a small one at home? It could generate power to be used by the dwelling and the excess could be sold back to the grid, perhaps even paying for the unit itself. Meanwhile the heat generated could be put to good use heating the house, domestic hot water, garage, doghouse, hot tub, pole barn, chicken coop and whatever else you can think of that might benefit.
These already exist, and are being deployed in certain districts where power companies are required to buy small amounts of customer generated power from such so-called 'distributed generation networks'. The regulations governing this are new and obviously not in force everywhere, but it may be worth looking into.
The units themselves are a combination car engine, heat pump and electric generator, running on natural gas from standard utility service. Running to generate electricity, the car engine makes heat and spins the the heat pump compressor, allowing for AC in summer, while the cogenerated heat is available for the above mentioned uses all the time.
I realize this is perhaps not the specific solution you may be looking for just now, but I find it comforting to know that such equipment is coming on the market. From here, it can only get better, faster and cheaper, lol
whitebb2727
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I will look into it.
CobKits
Well-Known Member
cogen packages are popular but as a concept it has been around for a long time
as a young grower we had a big generator in a semi-enclosed space. in order to control the heat we replaced the radiator with a 1000 gal tank and ran copper coils thru it to heat the house. this was in the late 90s and it wasnt a new concept then, just a practical solution to a problem.
this was before i knew about the complex chemistry of glycol solutions and their anti-corrosive additives. I would have done it differently with the coolant part of it as a closed system but at the time it certainly worked and the engines own waterpump provided all the driving force in and out of that open tank (built in place out of 3' high 2x6 plywood clad walls and pond liner). seemed like high tech shit at the time
as a young grower we had a big generator in a semi-enclosed space. in order to control the heat we replaced the radiator with a 1000 gal tank and ran copper coils thru it to heat the house. this was in the late 90s and it wasnt a new concept then, just a practical solution to a problem.
this was before i knew about the complex chemistry of glycol solutions and their anti-corrosive additives. I would have done it differently with the coolant part of it as a closed system but at the time it certainly worked and the engines own waterpump provided all the driving force in and out of that open tank (built in place out of 3' high 2x6 plywood clad walls and pond liner). seemed like high tech shit at the time
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Agreed, the concept isn't new- but the equipment is getting a lot better and is beginning to cross some cost/benefit and efficiency thresholds that make them more practical than ever.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Rather than mandated, how about subsidised, just like solar panels?
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
Not really. Utilities across the country have thrown up all sorts of roadblocks to home cogeneration schemes.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
They like being able to build big power plants and control access to and the price of power. Something about power that's attractive, I guess, like maybe its usefulness in making money.