I have a spring on my property that is about 60 ft higher than my house. The spring puts out about 60 gpm I have it piped into my house with a 1-1/4 " line . Does anyone have any thoughts on if it is worth trying to generate electricity? It seems like it would be better than solor because it would make power 24-7-365.
microhydro
- Thread starter KarlK
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The best place to get good info on micro hydro in the otherpower.com web site. I have belonged to that forum for a number of yrs now. There is no end of real diy info on that site. Being a newbie on that site can be a little intimadating though. If you get onto the site, simply google the board before you ask too many questions. You will come up wih weeks worth of reading and get most of your questions answered without even asking them.
MIke
MIke
It is the best way. Power 24/7 with no stupid batteries. Only problem is if the source freezes. You want to grid tie it if you can to sell excess power back to the power company.
Look long and hard into your turbine. You want a good one. I used to have a ton of links when I was going to pull the trigger but then we moved. Also look into how long your transmission line will be. You will get losses and the wire is expensive.
Best of luck.
Look long and hard into your turbine. You want a good one. I used to have a ton of links when I was going to pull the trigger but then we moved. Also look into how long your transmission line will be. You will get losses and the wire is expensive.
Best of luck.
The trade off for being on the grid is that most of what you pay is overhead- you pay that whether you generate enough for yourself or not. The bonuses are that you don't need battery storage, you can sell excess, and it's pretty reliable.
There is a lot of info at this forum And YES with 60 feet of head and 60 gpm you got yourself a dynamo. :
(broken link removed to http://microhydropower.net/index.php)
(broken link removed to http://microhydropower.net/index.php)
Just a reminder that you can not use your supply line for your micro hydro. If you do you will have no pressure for your house.
Now you could put it half way up the line, or split the supply when it enters the house. As soon as it hits the turbine you have killed the head pressure.
Or so I have been told. Can not confirm that and I don't have the gumption to look it up.
Now you could put it half way up the line, or split the supply when it enters the house. As soon as it hits the turbine you have killed the head pressure.
Or so I have been told. Can not confirm that and I don't have the gumption to look it up.
What I have is one 1-1/4 line running to my house but there are 3 more lines that at one time feed other homes . those 3 lines are caped and not in use I would use theme for the micro hydro.
I have no idea how much power this would make . I also dont know how much it would lower my electric bill. I have to find the time to sit down and do the math. If it is a big savings I dont know if I should try to build one using a car altenator or spend the money on a turbine .
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