wind generator, thoughts please

possumyvonne · Senior Member

wind generator, thoughts please

bill12 · Guru

Are you going to put this on your van?

possumyvonne · Senior Member

hi bill, im looking at it, as a may be buy it , thats as far as ive got. maybe put it up at night or if staying some where for a few days. whats your thoughts
regards possum

DeBe · Guru

Looking at the specs its going to be fairl;y cumbersome, has nearly 4Ft diameter blades. To set it up you wont want it fixed to your van as it will be noisy. Also the it takes 8MPH wind to start turning the blades before any thing is going to happen. You will need to camp in fairly windy places. We have tons of wind down here thats why theres a power wind farm here. Daryl

Sheba · Guru

Hi Peter & Yvonne,

I'm no expert, but I would think it's not a feasable option. In the Blurb, they talk of using a 30ft fixed Tower. Even on a boat I would think it would be a different proposition to a vehicle.

Cheers,
Sheba.

possumyvonne · Senior Member

thanks daryl and sheba, i guess i will still keep looking and see what else i can find. i didnt realise it was that big on the blades
regards possum ashamed

jimricho · Guru

I agree with the other posts above that it does not seem very practical for caravanners and RVers. Many GNs etc use solar to supplement their charging requirements, few if any use wind generators, maybe there's a message there.

That site is in USA. Similar units are available in Oz but at twice the price! And local suppliers want us to deal locally and not buy from overseas!!!

possumyvonne · Senior Member

thanks to all that helped me out and now decided to give it a big miss, like every one has said , solar is the way
regards possum

PeterD · Guru

These are great units. They are used quite extensively by those who camp along ocean front sites. The wind is usually fairly reliable there. I don't think they are for bush settings. They are too cumbersome for those that keep on the move, they are more for the long term campers. I have seen them in places like 40 Mile Beach (near Karratha) and around the Eyre peninsula where they set up for weeks at a time. I have never seen them with the travellers.

BobnBev · Senior Member

Hey Poss ,dont be put off by the thought , we have a airex 400 watt, like they have on boats . and only put it up when staying for a month or more. works very well but is a bit noisy when going flatchat.. but works fine .. dont have to run the genny .. and when on the beach there is allways a night brezzz blowing. Good bit of gear mate...I carry a long ally.ex scaff. pole under the van. half hour and its up and wizzing...

possumyvonne · Senior Member

hi bob&bev,, thanks for telling me that, i havent given up on the idea ,i recon its a good one, any thing to save money. can you tell me which one you bort, how much, and where did you buy it from. i supose any info on that you could give me, including how it works and how long before you use something else when theres no wind
regards possum

pricey43 · Guru

Reminds me of the time we camped in the park in Charleville. We were given the site which had a vege and herb garden surrounding the concrete slab. It has a small feature windmill in it.
While going for a constitutional walk some new comers started asking me how effective our wind generator was for keeping the Engel in the car cool.
Feeling very puzzled I turned around to see that the little windmill was just sticking up enough on the other side of our car. It looked like it was attached to the car.

We all had a good laugh over it . smile

iant · Member

The Power o/p graph in the specs shows that you would need a 17mph (27 kph) wind for say, 12 hours a day to produce enough power to run a small Engel or Waeco fridge. (60 W). And you would need a pole like the one in the picture to get it high enough. So I don't think it would be suitable for most of the pleasant spots that we would choose to camp. Maybe along the southern coast, but I couldn't stay in that sort of wind for too long !Ian

-- Edited by iant on Tuesday 30th of November 2010 12:46:55 AM

BobnBev · Senior Member

Sorry poss, We have been on the move and I didnt have a look back here . Think it was around 1400 at the time, but they are half that now the chinezz have started making them. The one we have is the marine one , but you can get one that is for land ,for much less. It will put out 35+ amps at full speed.. It makes a little noise and you wouldnt be the most popular one there if in a crowed place. It can be shut down easy if you want ..Its the same as in the photo below, Airex I think thats the name, The tail hangs down and it has 3 blades..
Would come into its own in winter time with a lot of cloudy days.. That all I can say about it ..good luck Bob