wind generator

[TPMcGinty]

http://www.windpower.com/Wind_Blue_Lite_Breeze_Complete_Low_Wind_Kit_p/cy-low-kit.htm

Might be another option.

website cannot be found

I think he meant this web site:

http://www.windbluepower.com/Wind_Blue_Power_Lite_Breeze_Complete_Low_Wind_Kit_p/cy-low-kit.htm

[brian_bp]

Turns out, they ARE too good to be true - I won't spend an hour telling you what all is wrong with it . . . . the first one here who buys one can do that.

It isn't worth an hour, but is there a summary in a few minutes and a couple of points which could identify the general issues? What is terrible for one person might be okay for someone else, and even if this unit is a bad choice there must be something which can be learned from it.

My guess is that claimed capacity is at least part of the problem: this unit won't really produce 400 watts in typical conditions, and that's clear in the manual... how often does the wind blow 28 mph and how likely is the unit to be installed in a perfect location? This is the same as solar panels - in real life, they don't produce their ideal rated output. Anyone who buys either type of system expecting ideal performance is guaranteed to be disappointed.

[emiller]

I've heard they work well, my problem with it is its size, the blades span is very large and you would have to put it up on a pole tall enough and depending on wind speed might have to have tethers in which you would need plenty of room to moor it. That's why I built one instead of buying one. Still my solar panel gets 95% of the use over wind or shore power.

[spinnernut]

be sure and hang it hi people like me mite get into it

[Frog]

Len 19070:

I don't know how far you are from your cabin or how long the batteries will be unused, but since you're going with RV stuff, I would think a solar panel would probably work better than a wind generator simply because of no moving parts. Better yet would be to bring the batteries home if they are going to be unused for months at a time such as during the winter so you can keep them warm and periodically charged.

You might want to consider one of the new small portable generator for when you're using the cabin; or even a used RV generator. Many RV's run a 15,000 BTU AC unit with a 4K generator or a 13,500 and 11,000 at the same time with a 5K such as on my motorhome. My 5K puts out 43-46 amps if I remember right. Many RV generators have minimal usage, are reliable and you could probably pick one up from an RV salvage yard for less than the price of a new small Honda generator. (You might get stove, refrigerator, heater, waterheater, sound system, TV, etc and even air conditioner from the RV salvage yard.) RV generators have the advantage of being electric start as well. Some entry level diesel motorhomes have propane powered generators. They are rated at 10% less than their gasoline equivalents, but will probably outlast a gasoline one simply because of a cleaner fuel. If you went with something like this for recharging storage batteries, either a permant tank that could be refueled by a commercial service once in a great while or two or three 7.5 or 10 gallon portable tanks would last a very long time.

I have a friend with a 30' fifth wheel with two solar panels. He has drycamped for three weeks without using a generator to keep his two 6 volt batteries alive and well.

When I was in the service in 1971, I went to Australia on R & R from a Vietnam tour and spent 5 days at a 10,000 acre sheep station 400 miles from Sydney. It was like living in 1930s in the Tennessee mountains. They had a crank telephone, used a gas refrigerator on the back porch, a wood burning stove to heat water for the bath, a sistern to collect rain water and 32 volt electricity from storage batteries in the shed. They handcranked a small diesel generator every three to five days to recharge the batteries. They lighted an entire farm house with that and even had a 220 volt 50 cycle TV running from a converter.

Your use of RV equipment for your cabin seems like an excellent idea. Propane/110v 2 way refrigerators work well, don't use a lot of gas and are not too hard on batteries. 3 way gas/110/12V refrigerators are usually pretty small and can kill a 12v battery pretty fast. When I travel with my wife in our 32' motorhome, we use our own gas heated showers, 8' gas and 110 refrigerator and use the stove and oven. We probably use about 1/3 gallon of propane a day in the summer and maybe 1/2 in the winter. Our 1997 RV has only about 85 hours on the generator, some of which came from just using it to keep it operating well.

By the way, I have a friend in an all electric home that uses a gas clothes drier off of portable Propane tanks. I guess you're onl limited by your imagination.

Bottom line, IMO a single solar panel would keep them charged when not being used, supplemented by limited recharging from a generator. If you don't like the noise, and neither do I, then two solar panels and a pair of 6 volt Golf cart batteries in series of 2 sets of 6 volt batteries in parallel plus some conservation should last quite a while.

Sorry for the long post. Good luck. By the way, how large is the cabin and how remote?