I've seen a few older threads on similar subjects, but forgive me for starting a new one.
My in-laws have recently moved to a rural area which seems to be prone to frequent power cuts. They are elderly and disabled, and on the EDF "Priority List", but this is of little comfort to them when the power goes out for several hours.
Their heating and hot water is from an oil-fired combi boiler drawing about 270W peak, and I've sprung upon the idea of putting an isolator switch between the mains and the boiler to allow them to switch to an "Emergency Power Circuit" in the event of a grid outage.
Using a petrol generator on this separate circuit would be a stop-gap, but they would be in no fit state to go outside and start it each time the power goes out.
So I was wondering about the possibility of using a small 12V marine wind turbine to power a bank of batteries, and supplying power to the boiler through an inverter? The primary requirement is heat and hot water from the boiler, but any surplus power could be used to charge mobile phones, radios or other critical items. I'm not interested in 'selling power back to the grid'.
I doubt if the turbine mounted on their shed will require planning permission, but how many batteries would I need, and where would I be allowed to locate them (in the loft, for instance??) Any advice on the legalities would be appreciated.
My in-laws have recently moved to a rural area which seems to be prone to frequent power cuts. They are elderly and disabled, and on the EDF "Priority List", but this is of little comfort to them when the power goes out for several hours.
Their heating and hot water is from an oil-fired combi boiler drawing about 270W peak, and I've sprung upon the idea of putting an isolator switch between the mains and the boiler to allow them to switch to an "Emergency Power Circuit" in the event of a grid outage.
Using a petrol generator on this separate circuit would be a stop-gap, but they would be in no fit state to go outside and start it each time the power goes out.
So I was wondering about the possibility of using a small 12V marine wind turbine to power a bank of batteries, and supplying power to the boiler through an inverter? The primary requirement is heat and hot water from the boiler, but any surplus power could be used to charge mobile phones, radios or other critical items. I'm not interested in 'selling power back to the grid'.
I doubt if the turbine mounted on their shed will require planning permission, but how many batteries would I need, and where would I be allowed to locate them (in the loft, for instance??) Any advice on the legalities would be appreciated.