Immersion heater from a wind turbine

[ColJack]

there was some program on a while ago about engineering green.. or something..

anyway, the one I watched the 2 guys had to come up with a way of providing power to a little youth hostel in some remote area..

was gas generator but can't get the gas up there anymore because the road was now disused..

they came up with 2 ideas, 1 was a wind turbine ( didn't work, too unreliable ) the other was a stream coming from the hill

they ended up putting a small dam in to create a pool to get water from, and piping the water nearly a mile downhill through firemans hoses.. ( needed for the preassure.. )
at the end they added a nozel and had it pointing at a waterwheel connected to an alternator..
surprising thing was the waterwheel was only about 6 inches in diameter..
produced enough power to run the YHA and was a constant supply...

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Not surprising - water has a much higher energy density than air.

 

[ColJack]

how about something the size of a shed that burns gas and provides heat and power?

generator with a heat exchanger fitted?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

No - a CHP boiler.

 

[chrishaworth]

Couple of points:- 1. For 12/24V heating systems look at yacht/canal boat suppliers.
2. I looked into ground source for my own house and they did specify 3 phase. Turns out that the systems in use were originally designed for large installations and use 3 phase motors on the pumps. The installers only know how to fit the kit that they've got so that's what they ask for.
Cheers

 

[ColJack]

so you get a 4-5Kw inverter.. no big deal..

ok, so GSHP's are 300-400 percent efficient..

you can get grants for "green" installations..
up to..
£400 for solar..
£1200 for GSHP's..
ther's a cap of £2500 per houshold but you can spread that over different technologies ( ie get GSHP and solar to heat your water.. )

http://www.bhl.co.uk/product.php?productid=6513 savings of aproximately £3000 on this one already, plus a grant for £1200