Free camping with wind & rain for days got me wondering about wind generators. ( No references to the other half or bodily functions in general,please.)
Does anyone have one as back-up to solar panels ?
Any recommendations on price and where to get a set-up ?
I've trawled Ebay & found confusion and far too much Chinglish text.
Yuglamron said
06:06 PM May 1, 2015
I haven't actually used them for camping myself. I have a friend with a 5 th Wheeler. H swears by his but is in the situation where he travels for work and spends some months in a CP so it's a semi permanent set up. Very happy with his set up.
His is from one of the Aussie companies, Bainbridge. I am told there are three different websites for Bainbridge companies so you need the RV and Windpower division.
madaboutled said
07:55 PM May 1, 2015
I've started looking into wind generators myself, my concern was noise til I read the following article, here's a link that might be helpful SilentWind
Note no association with them just posting the link as I think it may be of use to others.
Peter_n_Margaret said
08:00 PM May 1, 2015
They are noisy.
Check the output relative to wind speed.
Only large diameter ones are effective.
If the wind is blowing strong enough for them to be effective, you don't want to be there.....
Cheers,
Peter
jade46 said
06:13 AM May 2, 2015
Try boat fitout shop ,Bias Boating or Whitworths .A lot of yachts use them but most are very noisy. You would not sleep near one
(Note I have no association with either of these companies)
Izabarack said
08:46 AM May 2, 2015
chopit wrote:
...... wind & rain for days got me wondering about wind generators.
Most people underestimate how much they will or might get out of a wind generator by a very large factor. Even the small ones need quite a constant, high wind speed for nearly all day to get a useful amount of power out of them. If anywhere in the bush, you typically need to mount the generator several metres about the tallest vegetation to capture the wind. Wind speed and constancy varies so much between sites that it is very difficult to ever predict how much power you might get out of a wind generator. Don't be in a rush to lay out the money without a lot more investigation into how useful they might be as a backup or add on to solar. If you are anywhere near Yamba, NSW, stop into the fish co-op and watch the one mounted there. The blades don't spin much and that generator is mounted in a pretty ideal situation.
Iza
Ondabeach said
09:10 AM May 2, 2015
Noisy and dangerous on a land vehicle, also impractical for the reasons already mentioned. If you don't want to use, or don't think you'll get enough power from solar panels then I'd recommend a small quiet generator to top up your batteries. Have you thought about fitting a second alternator to your vehicle dedicated to the house batts?
Peter_n_Margaret said
09:35 AM May 2, 2015
Fit twice as many solar panels as you need and on the bad days you will still get enough power.
Cheers,
Peter
03_Troopy said
09:55 AM May 2, 2015
madaboutled wrote:
I've started looking into wind generators myself, my concern was noise til I read the following article, here's a link that might be helpful SilentWind
Note no association with them just posting the link as I think it may be of use to others.
Silent but deadly eh?
Allany said
04:33 PM May 2, 2015
Check out the Rutland 913 on UK websites
One of the best marine wind generators
Allan
chopit said
04:33 PM May 2, 2015
Well. That has generated ( Pun ??) a lot of interest, thanks for the responses so far.
We have good solar and a Yamaha genny. All working well but wondering about other options.
I'll look at the websites offered above. Good to do research.
Cheers All.
Phil C said
10:11 AM May 3, 2015
I saw some different wind turbines on various RV websites and decided to give it a miss. Most of what I saw were expensive and not big enough for charging my house batteries. The noise factor is pretty important with these devices, I'm told if you want a peaceful sleep you have to lock them down and stop them spinning.
At the end of the day a generator for a few hours will charge this batteries, note I am not an advocate for generators BUT they charge the batteries. We have been on the road 2 years and our solar does all the charging I need. I have never used the genny on the caravan.
Cheers
Cloak said
12:40 PM May 3, 2015
I'm waiting for fuel cells to be both more efficient and more cheeper...
Aus-Kiwi said
11:10 PM May 3, 2015
Use the generater ...
As Pete said add a few more solar panels..
Free camping with wind & rain for days got me wondering about wind generators. ( No references to the other half or bodily functions in general,please.)
Does anyone have one as back-up to solar panels ?
Any recommendations on price and where to get a set-up ?
I've trawled Ebay & found confusion and far too much Chinglish text.
I haven't actually used them for camping myself. I have a friend with a 5 th Wheeler. H swears by his but is in the situation where he travels for work and spends some months in a CP so it's a semi permanent set up. Very happy with his set up.
His is from one of the Aussie companies, Bainbridge. I am told there are three different websites for Bainbridge companies so you need the RV and Windpower division.
I've started looking into wind generators myself, my concern was noise til I read the following article, here's a link that might be helpful SilentWind
Note no association with them just posting the link as I think it may be of use to others.
Check the output relative to wind speed.
Only large diameter ones are effective.
If the wind is blowing strong enough for them to be effective, you don't want to be there.....
Cheers,
Peter
www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp
(Note I have no association with either of these companies)
Most people underestimate how much they will or might get out of a wind generator by a very large factor. Even the small ones need quite a constant, high wind speed for nearly all day to get a useful amount of power out of them. If anywhere in the bush, you typically need to mount the generator several metres about the tallest vegetation to capture the wind. Wind speed and constancy varies so much between sites that it is very difficult to ever predict how much power you might get out of a wind generator. Don't be in a rush to lay out the money without a lot more investigation into how useful they might be as a backup or add on to solar. If you are anywhere near Yamba, NSW, stop into the fish co-op and watch the one mounted there. The blades don't spin much and that generator is mounted in a pretty ideal situation.
Iza
Cheers,
Peter
Silent but deadly eh?
One of the best marine wind generators
Allan
We have good solar and a Yamaha genny. All working well but wondering about other options.
I'll look at the websites offered above. Good to do research.
Cheers All.
At the end of the day a generator for a few hours will charge this batteries, note I am not an advocate for generators BUT they charge the batteries. We have been on the road 2 years and our solar does all the charging I need. I have never used the genny on the caravan.
Cheers
As Pete said add a few more solar panels..