Wind generators not common?
I've wondered why wind setups are not that common for boondocking times. It is understandable that if one is going from place to place, taking time to set up and tear down a wind tower isn't worth ...
Forum Discussion
Gdetrailer wrote:No problem a few years ago when my anemometer broke indicating 94 MPH.
I would HIGHLY doubt that YOU would be "comfortable" inside or outside a RV with a continuous 15MPH or even 20MPH wind blowing across the BROADSIDE of said rig. Not to mention potential gusts well in excess of 40+ MPH.
Everyone tends to think they are going to get something for nothing with wind power. They read the hyped up marketing brochures from these small wind gen companies selling folks a real snow job.Agreed.
It takes a LARGE rotor sweep area to really capture any substantial power from the wind. Pretty much all of these 500W and smaller wind gens use a three blade setup and typically smaller than 3ft of swept area. That means this blade WILL HAVE to be spinning at a very high speed at the tips, this makes a lot of noise but nets very low wattage.A windmill with 3 ft blades will have a blade swept area of ~28 ft^2.
When the blade tips break the sound barrier it does get a little noisy.
To harvest enough energy from the wind to make it worth while, it requires at least 12 ft blades (452 ft^2).
Most will start SPINNING around 7MPH but the cut in will be well above 10 MPH and when it makes it to the cut in you will be getting only a couple of watts of power..Done that. With the correct pedal crank length and the right sprockets, it delivers about 75 Watts continuously with bursts to 150 Watts.
Pretty much all of these small wind gens spec the FULL output well over 30MPH and some even as high as 40 MPH.. Anything BELOW the full rated winds peed you get MUCH LESS.
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You do realize that if you put an alternator on a stationary bike you can provide 50 WATTS of power for as long as you can sustain it.. and short bursts of power above that..
