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thos
Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 1139
Location: Jauche, Duchy of Brabant (Bourgogne-ci) and Charolles, Duchy of Burgundy (Bourgogne-ça)
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 Posted: Sat Jul 02, 05 9:04 pm Post subject: Re: Windsave |
 
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| Brian Bannister wrote: |
| Hey all of you sceptics out there, I have seen many of the Windsave installations 1st hand and they do work, they are relliable & they do what they say they do. Approvals, CE marking etc have been the only thing that has slowed them down in actually getting units supplied and I for one admire them for making sure the units are 100% safe before supplying them to the masses. That is now complete, so get ready......they are here to stay ! |
Yep, just like that Sinclair electric car.
I actually have experience of wind-generated electricity. I had a wind generator for my yacht. All I ran off electricity was the autohelm, depth sounder and navigation and cabin lights. The wind generator charged a 12V car battery.
I also charged the battery from the outboard, which I only ran entering and leaving harbour and when the wind was too light to sail.
My experience was that nearly all the electricity came from running the outboard, and if I was not using the outboard, the battery discharged.
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Incidentally, I am not sure about having to site a home wind generator above the roof. The side of my house is a wind funnel; as I am sure are many other people's. Even on a calm day there is quite a breeze there. I am sure that a generator sited high enough to be out of the way but below the eaves would get windspeed above the local unobstructed windspeed. Whether this would generate an economic amount of electricity is another matter. |
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 05 12:12 am Post subject: Re: Windsave |
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| Brian Bannister wrote: |
| I have seen many of the Windsave installations 1st hand and they do work, they are relliable & they do what they say they do. |
Hi Brian - do sign on and join in the forum generally!
There's a lot of folk here who'd love this to work, but I think many, like myself, might think that the 'hype' is outrunning the product.
So please pardon my asking:
Precisely how many Windsave installations have you seen?
Are any in urban areas?
Where can we see them for ourselves?
What is the *average* power output over a 12 month 24/365 period? And for urban sites? What is the standard deviation on that across all the sites trialled?
How, exactly are they mounted? How high compared to the roof ridge? How is the eaves detail handled, or are they chimney mounted?
What did the building insurers say? (And who are they?)
Were the neighbours attitudes measured? And how did they change in light of the reality of the installation?
Brian, there are so many such questions that enthusiasts for this technology would love to see answered. But instead there is marketing waffle about *maximum* power outputs, the turbine's "silence", total lack of vibration and energy saving expressed as some mystically derived percentage of some unspecified household consumption, in an unspecified wind climate.
It would be a great shame if your assurances, which while reassuring, on examination seem to be entirely *un*specific, should prove to be simply more of the "hype"... |
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energybook
Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 10
Location: UK
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Stonehead
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 05 9:34 am Post subject: |
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Even if they do work, I agree that planning permission is going to be a major issue. I checked with my council (Aberdeenshire) and was referred to their draft supplementary guidance for wind generation of electricity - and found that the council will not permit any wind turbines within 400m of a dwelling.
As an aside, I also looked into using a mechanical wind pump on my borehole (currently using an electric pump), but the council will not permit this at all.
And I was told it would be very unlikely that I would get permission for PVs for the roofs of my outbuildings either (I have a steading and want to generate enough power to meet my agricultural needs - general lighting, poultry lighting, incubators, electric fences, water pumping, power tools, etc).
It seems energy efficiency and conservation are preferred to domestic generation. Mind you, I did throw the planning officer when I asked about building a small-scale bio-gas collection and generating facility using pig manure! |
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energybook
Joined: 06 May 2005
Posts: 10
Location: UK
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45440
Location: Essex
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ChrisScot
Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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ChrisScot
Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 2
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45440
Location: Essex
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45440
Location: Essex
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sean
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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sean
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
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dougal
Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
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Do I get an award? 
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