- #1
waverly360
- 1
- 0
Hi guys. I'm new to these forums, but have been wanting a place to ask questions like this for awhile. You all seem like a nice bunch (unlike the computer science communities I'm typically a part of) so I'd like to start off with a topic that's been bugging me for awhile.
My father has a rather large piece of land with a nice creek that runs through it, and we enjoy spending most of our time in it. I don't have exact distances, but let's say it's about 1000 feet away from his house. For the past several years we've talked about getting electricity down there somehow. My first thought was to put in a water wheel attached to a generator to just produce the electricity we need. There is a section of the creek that is solid stone, and over time erosion has created a nice 1 foot wide channel where all of the water runs through with enough force to sweep your feet out from under you if you're not careful.
I've found several people talking about doing the same things, but the best was about a guy who took a log that fell across his creek..he cut a channel into the log, and used a modified squirrel cage fan with generator to produce enough electricity to do what he needed. Well, I've been unable to find a squirrel cage fan, and my brain hasn't managed to come up with any alternative for this water wheel, so for now I've put that aside to come back to later.
What I'd like to know now, is what it's going to take to get electricity from my father's house to the creek. The uses of this are going to vary, but in a couple of weeks we're going to have a live band out there. That will probably mean we'll need to be driving speakers and amps, as well as several lights (either a string of 100 watt bulbs or some flood lamps.) I know enough about electricity to understand that extension cords are out of the question for something like this simply because the distance is too great for the cords to maintain the proper voltage (There's also the problem of making sure the breaker we use can handle the load). I feel like it might be worthwhile to use some sort of transformer to step the voltage down and the current up (I think that's how it works) to emulate what happens on actual power lines that run cross-country. Then once at the creek it could be converted back. I don't know how to build a system like this, nor do I really know what I'd be looking for if I tried to buy/order it. Help? :)
Also, in regards to the waterwheel/turbine/hydroelectric issue, I'd like to discuss that in greater detail. Primarily I'd like to learn how to convert the dc power generated from that into ac as efficiently as possible (unless there are ac generators available.) I'd also be interested in finding a way to use the system above to maybe transfer some of that generated energy back to my dad's house so that he wouldn't be as reliant on the electric company. I've heard of folks using complicated circuitry to feed electricity back into the grid, and having the electric company send them checks if they fed more back than they used. That's a wet dream of course, but we're just talking right? :)
Speaking of dc to ac conversion...we toyed with the idea of just charging up a couple of car batteries and connecting those to a dc to ac converter to power a few 100 watt light bulbs for simple lighting. Maybe even throwing a solar cell on those batteries to keep them charged during the day so we could use them at night. I've also heard of the 12v lights that you can use instead of normal AC bulbs. How difficult would it be to setup something like that?
Yes, I realize this was a lot, but truthfully I've been thinking about this for years. I've just not had the know-how, time, or money to get any of it done. I'm finally starting to have the money and time, so I would like some help with the know-how. Plus I'm always open to new ideas. I very much like the idea of living off the grid so to speak. This would be a big jump in that direction.
Thanks for reading all that rambling and I look forward to any constructive criticism :)
My father has a rather large piece of land with a nice creek that runs through it, and we enjoy spending most of our time in it. I don't have exact distances, but let's say it's about 1000 feet away from his house. For the past several years we've talked about getting electricity down there somehow. My first thought was to put in a water wheel attached to a generator to just produce the electricity we need. There is a section of the creek that is solid stone, and over time erosion has created a nice 1 foot wide channel where all of the water runs through with enough force to sweep your feet out from under you if you're not careful.
I've found several people talking about doing the same things, but the best was about a guy who took a log that fell across his creek..he cut a channel into the log, and used a modified squirrel cage fan with generator to produce enough electricity to do what he needed. Well, I've been unable to find a squirrel cage fan, and my brain hasn't managed to come up with any alternative for this water wheel, so for now I've put that aside to come back to later.
What I'd like to know now, is what it's going to take to get electricity from my father's house to the creek. The uses of this are going to vary, but in a couple of weeks we're going to have a live band out there. That will probably mean we'll need to be driving speakers and amps, as well as several lights (either a string of 100 watt bulbs or some flood lamps.) I know enough about electricity to understand that extension cords are out of the question for something like this simply because the distance is too great for the cords to maintain the proper voltage (There's also the problem of making sure the breaker we use can handle the load). I feel like it might be worthwhile to use some sort of transformer to step the voltage down and the current up (I think that's how it works) to emulate what happens on actual power lines that run cross-country. Then once at the creek it could be converted back. I don't know how to build a system like this, nor do I really know what I'd be looking for if I tried to buy/order it. Help? :)
Also, in regards to the waterwheel/turbine/hydroelectric issue, I'd like to discuss that in greater detail. Primarily I'd like to learn how to convert the dc power generated from that into ac as efficiently as possible (unless there are ac generators available.) I'd also be interested in finding a way to use the system above to maybe transfer some of that generated energy back to my dad's house so that he wouldn't be as reliant on the electric company. I've heard of folks using complicated circuitry to feed electricity back into the grid, and having the electric company send them checks if they fed more back than they used. That's a wet dream of course, but we're just talking right? :)
Speaking of dc to ac conversion...we toyed with the idea of just charging up a couple of car batteries and connecting those to a dc to ac converter to power a few 100 watt light bulbs for simple lighting. Maybe even throwing a solar cell on those batteries to keep them charged during the day so we could use them at night. I've also heard of the 12v lights that you can use instead of normal AC bulbs. How difficult would it be to setup something like that?
Yes, I realize this was a lot, but truthfully I've been thinking about this for years. I've just not had the know-how, time, or money to get any of it done. I'm finally starting to have the money and time, so I would like some help with the know-how. Plus I'm always open to new ideas. I very much like the idea of living off the grid so to speak. This would be a big jump in that direction.
Thanks for reading all that rambling and I look forward to any constructive criticism :)