Turbine

[Tony H]

Hi all has anyone used one of them wind turbines on D-Bay gives out 200watts of electric and you just plug them into a plug socket.
I use my garage to hatch and grow on chicks was wondering if this would save me money

[Totally Scrambled]

If it would produce continuous power or if there was a widget that knew when it wasn't and turned on the electric from the mains it could work.
It would need to be a continuous supply for chicks so that there was no chance of them getting cold, especially in the first few weeks.
Dom

[Tony H]

Thanks Dom but the ones I was on about just plug into your house supply so when its windy it puts electric into it but when its not you use the national grid as usual so no risk of no electric, I was wondering if anyone had one and they were worth the initial cost.

[Brianfromdorset]

I've not seen these. Sounds very interesting.
Where does the generated electricity get stored?

[Tony H]

In batteries or just goes into house and gets used, if your not using any the inverter will turn it self off, they sound really good

[Gwenoakes]

They sound interesting, although never heard of them. Are they very expensive?

[Tony H]

Turbine cost about £400 and inverter about £350 the initial cost is expensive but should save in long run, that's why I was asking if anyone had tried it out

[Stig]

That sounds like an exciting prospect, but I wonder about safety. Do I understand you correctly that they can be plugged in to any 13a socket? And it's available in UK?

[Tony H]

yes they can and are available on D-bay (plug and play) they have a load protector so should be safe

[Steve valentine]

200w is its peak power. You'll not get that all the time.

200w isn't a lot of power, by the time the turbine has paid for itself, you'll have replaced it twice. I've a friend who lives full time on a narrow boat. Solar energy is the way to go with a bank of batteries to store surplus energy. Even then, it takes a long time to break even.

[Tony H]

On D-bay they sell them that give 500watt for household use, didn't think that solar would be any good as we never have any sun lol

[Steve valentine]

On D-bay they sell them that give 500watt for household use, didn't think that solar would be any good as we never have any sun lol

Modern solar panels (photovoltaic for the purists out there) work just as well when it's cloudy, hence the move from calling them 'solar' panels.

Even 500w isn't much, it'll run a few lights, but take into account, a kettle, washing machine, iron, all run around 3000w. Even a good sized tv is around 400w.

[saint-spoon]

I am with you there Steve. A while back there was a suggestion of a scheme from the government to hand out grants for house mounted turbines but they weren’t cost effective, Solar panels (yes I know what they are called) are far more effective.

[Tony H]

Thanks for advice time for a rethink, that's why I love this sit someone always there for advice before making costly mistakes. originally I was just looking for a system to help with running cost of by garage where I hatch and rear chicks, but you've got me thinking if i'm going to the cost I may aswell get a system that helps with all my electric use