Best wind generator

[tove]

I'm looking into getting a wind turbine. I already have solar which has been brilliant but I'm thinking every little helps. I also think we're get a lot more high winds and storms in the coming years and why not get something good from it? I've just read quite a good article online about it but they don't mention specific makes or models.

I've noticed that they vary hugely in price from just a couple of hundred to well over a £1000.

Any advice/experience much appreciated.

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, tove said:

I'm looking into getting a wind turbine. I already have solar which has been brilliant but I'm thinking every little helps. I also think we're get a lot more high winds and storms in the coming years and why not get something good from it? I've just read quite a good article online about it but they don't mention specific makes or models.

I've noticed that they vary hugely in price from just a couple of hundred to well over a £1000.

Any advice/experience much appreciated.

A couple of points to consider :

 

1) The canals are generally 'low down' in cuttings, surrounded by trees or houses and the wind is unreliable, and variable.

2) Do not fit it to the boat - the vibrations go all thru the boat. Mount it on the bank.

3) Do not believe the manufacturers output figures - they are normally based on something like a 50mph wind on an exposed mountain top,

 

I know of several people who have tried and given up (hence all the 2nd hand units for sale)

I'm sure there are some people somewhere who 'love it'.

[mrsmelly]

I am in agreement with Alan, spend your money elsewhere, more solar would give a better return. They are noisey and the smallest are next to useless. Pound for pound solar is much superior. 

Edited February 13, 2020 by mrsmelly

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

I am in agreement with Alan, spend your money elsewhere, more solar would give a better return. They are noisey and the smallest are next to useless. Pound for pound solar is much superior. 

BUT - not of much use for 4 or 5 months of the year.

 

A generator, tho', would be a good investment.

[mrsmelly]

5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BUT - not of much use for 4 or 5 months of the year.

 

A generator, tho', would be a good investment.

The noise is orrible though even the silent ones!! However an old Honda ex 650 for about 100 squids from fleabay are even quieter than the modern ones and would power a battery charger putting lots of amps in for not much fuel 

[blackrose]

That is clearly nonsense. Having owned both a honda ex650 and now a more modern honda EU3000, I can tell you categorically that the latter is quieter.

[blackrose]

I've had the EU3000 for nearly 15 years. I bought it second hand and it's never missed a beat. I remember mooring at the Grove in Watford once and knocked on a neighbour's boat to ask if she'd mind me running it until 9pm. She just looked at me like I was mad and said "But I can't hear anything!"

 

Anyway, isn't this thread about wind generators? Not sure how we got onto petrol generators...

Edited February 13, 2020 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

6 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Anyway, isn't this thread about wind generators? Not sure how we got onto petrol generators...

Simply by suggesting that Windy Generators are not particularly efficient down in the canal cuttings, but a Petrol Generator will always be available and working when you need it.

[mrsmelly]

23 minutes ago, blackrose said:

That is clearly nonsense. Having owned both a honda ex650 and now a more modern honda EU3000, I can tell you categorically that the latter is quieter.

Thanks for you input which is nonsense. Check Google, I didn't need to as I remember when the newer models came out people remarking they were not as quiet as the ex. The 650 was noted by users for how quiet it was, I was a liveaboards when the new stuff came in

Google specs states 54 decibals for the ex650 and 58 decibals for the eu 3000. 

[Machpoint005]

Just now, mrsmelly said:

Google specs states 54 decibals for the ex650 and 58 decibals for the eu 3000. 

Are you sure the measurement distances are the same, or are they sound power levels? 

 

Just askin'.

[Alan de Enfield]

I know with my EX650 I have occasionally had to put my hand over the exhaust to check it is running.

It really is V.Quiet

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Are you sure the measurement distances are the same, or are they sound power levels? 

 

Just askin'.

The ex are quieter. Smaller output of course but to put a few amps in for a small charger an ideal way. 

[Machpoint005]

I'm not disputing that, I was wondering what the frame of reference was. A sound level in 'raw' dB is like quoting the heat output from a fire in degrees -- no use at all!.

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Machpoint005 said:

I'm not disputing that, I was wondering what the frame of reference was. A sound level in 'raw' dB is like quoting the heat output from a fire in degrees -- no use at all!.

To be honest there are several sources some quote at so and so difference and at quarter load etc some at full load. The one I looked at have an average of 58 and 54 decibels. I didn't need to check as when the new eu stuff came out it was common knowledge that it was slightly noisier. I cant be arsed giggling again but the eu stuff has ptobably only been around about 20 years so I vividly remember it coming in as non of us whatsoever has solar when the eu surfaced. 

[Machpoint005]

58dB at 5 metres is a quieter source than 54dB at 20 metres.

 

 

Both are probably quieter than a farty little wind turbine.

Edited February 13, 2020 by Machpoint005

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

58dB at 5 metres is a quieter source than 54dB at 20 metres.

 

 

Both are probably quieter than a farty little wind turbine.

I don't think wind turbines have altered much over the years, not small ones anyway. There are a few kicking about in boatyards removed and left. My mate Nige removed his and its gone to the skip after laying on his mooring for about five years. 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

BUT - not of much use for 4 or 5 months of the year.

 

Also, not much use during the hours of darkness.

 

Unlike a wind turbine.

 

 

 

 

[Tumshie]

2 hours ago, tove said:

I'm looking into getting a wind turbine. I already have solar which has been brilliant but I'm thinking every little helps. I also think we're get a lot more high winds and storms in the coming years and why not get something good from it? I've just read quite a good article online about it but they don't mention specific makes or models.

I've noticed that they vary hugely in price from just a couple of hundred to well over a £1000.

Any advice/experience much appreciated.

When you're thinking about the domestic / marine wind generator then it's not so must high winds or winds speed that you need to take into consideration it's the quality of wind you might get at your mooring. Wind turbines and generator only work at their optimum efficiency when they are powered by smooth air flow, which is why the big wind farm are up the side of hills, out at sea or wide open spaces, rather than urban or wooded areas. They type of wind generator that you would be considering are the type that work well on yachts because they are mounted up a mast and the air flow is undisturbed, this unfortunately is less likely to happen on a canal; that's not to say that it can't happen but it is definitely something you have to take into account. 

 

 

The marine generators that you can get these days are very much quieter that they used to be and can be quite handy if you can get them set up in the environment that they like best. I strongly recommend that if you want to research these little beasties that you look to yachting videos on YouTube but that you also look into how quality of wind flow will effect whether or not a wind generator will work for you in the places that you tend to moor. 

 

Rutland and Silentwind are two that I know of but there are defiantly more available. 

 

 

[sueb]

Maybe ok if you are permanently moored with your own bit of land adjacent. Useless if you want to move. We inherited one with our boat and found it useless.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

It has been windy enough these past few weeks. Why on earth would you want to install something to generate more?

 

?

[Machpoint005]

In point of fact it has been so windy recently that many of the big wind farms had to be shut down (wind speed at hub height >25m/s).

[matty40s]

3 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

It has been windy enough these past few weeks. Why on earth would you want to install something to generate more?

 

?

We  went to the States last September and witnessed many wind farms turned off to keep Trump voting miners in jobs!!

[peterboat]

So I have a VAWT, google it, its 600 watts, now its currently mounted on the fence, however it will be on the boat possibly tomorrow, its silent and vibration free and is working even with its long powerline which must be cutting down on its output. So the last few weeks sun not so good wind howling I am still getting amps in not amps out, the VAWT also doesnt mind the wind moving around so much, Up the mooring Tony has a Rutland the whole mooring can hear it its like a helicopter!! Now it wasnt expensive 179 quidish and its made a difference as I dont need the whispergen unless its cold

[Machpoint005]

VAWTs are vibration free (or should be) but some models were known to generate an annoying tone. Glad to hear yours isn't one of them! The Rutland, like most HAWTs, is prone to vortex shedding from the trailing edges of the blades, hence the amplitude modulation (helicopter impressions) and flapping sounds.

 

All small turbines suffer from the basic problem of wind shear, though: you can't get them high enough to avoid ground effects!