Last night we went outside and found the turbine spinning for all it's worth. It was so exciting to see it spinning. (My husband, Mike, shined a flashlight on it.) What was more interesting to us was how it sounded. We heard just a faint whup, whup, whup sound and maybe a slight whistle of the gears turning.
One of the reasons we chose this particular machine (Endurance) was because it was quiet. Our neighbor up the hill has two windmills, and they make quite a bit of noise. We can't hear them from where we are, but our other neighbor can. When my friend, Sue, and I walked up there last winter (in the howling rain!), we couldn't see it because we were walking in the clouds. She could hear it though as we approached and asked me, "What's that sound?" One of our neighbors (the one who can hear the other windmill) expressed his concern about the noise and we promised him it would be quiet. It's not completely silent, but it was fairly still last night. The only wind was aloft, and we could only barely hear the windmill. When the wind is really blowing in the way that it does here, I doubt we'll be able to hear it over the noise of the wind in the trees.
It's always so satisfying to see a project through to completion. I suppose it's one of the reasons I like quilting, because one so often gets to experience that feeling. More satisfying will be when we get our first power bill and can see how much we'll save by generating our own electricity. When we moved up here we were delighted to be disconnected from NW Natural Gas (although we still pay to have our propane tank filled), and Unified Sewerage Agency (because now we have a septic tank and manage our own waste), and Tigard Water District (because now we have a well). And now we'll be substantially disconnected from Portland General Electric as well. Ahhhhhhhhh, a good feeling.
I'm looking forward to the day when wind and other forms of alternative energy will be available to the masses. One can only hope. Next, we're hoping to tackle our hot water heater and install solar. That will have to wait until some more green rolls in.
Cats, Cooking, Quilts, Gardening, and Photography
2 comments:
Wonderful to hear that you are happy with your new dynamo. One hundred twenty feet high is one tall tower! I am suitably impressed.
Twenty years ago my husband, toddler and I lived offshore and used a wind turbine a lot of the time during the winter months. I loved the sound of it literally generating our trons with its purr.
It's so nice living with Lynda all these years, mainly because she's so positive about things that could go either way. As the caretaker of things that go "purr" (!), I get to worry about the small changes in sound that indicate another session of take-apart or put-together.
Wind generators are a bit spooky, since the energy in wind increases as the cube(!) of the windspeed. For example, if the generator starts at 4 mph windspeed, then when it's at twice that speed, then the energy from the blades is eight times as much, and at 32 mph, it's eight times eight times eight times as much: 512 times more! A little hard to believe, unless you're on the foredeck of the boat just under three eight foot diameter blades trying to tear themselves off the hub because the automatic brake decided to burn itself out... the solution is to short the output to slow it down, and then climb the tower on the windward side to block the wind, before the generator smokes out. Fun, huh?
Big batteries needed, and heavy cycling makes them fail quickly also. I'd be tempted to go with a Honda eu2000i generator with a tri-fuel kit, running off the propane tank. Pretty cheap actually, and you can carry it around and run an electric chainsaw or weedeater or skilsaw with it. Then you don't have to keep fixing little stinky two-strokes all the time...
Good luck with your wind turbine, though...
Ormond Otvos
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