question about wind generation

[bess]

I read recently about some one generating power by using the whirly gig ventilation thing ( pardon my description, just don't know their proper name) on the roof. Has any one tried this and if so how did it work? How much power could it generate and would you use an alternator or a generator?

[mauzi]

gee bess, Graham is away at the moment but hopefully he will see this post soon (or maybe someone else is out there with some info as well). I haven't heard of this way of generating power but would be interested to hear if it works.

[graham]

Hi Bess,

Sorry about my late reply

As far as using a ventilation whirly gig to generate power, I would think at a guess that only a small amount of power would be possible. Maybe 10 to 50 watts. One could easily experiment here to determine how much power was possible. I have not tried anything like this before.

Try hooking up an old permanent magnet motor, this would work as an alternator. Some washing machines contain a good permanent magnet motor which could be used as an alternator. The Fisher and Pykel are good. People use these in large wind generators to produce several hundred watts at 12 volts. But for the ventilation whirly gig you would need a much smaller motor.

Also look in disposal stores. You could pick up a second hand 24 volt 100 watt DC motor for about $25. Then you could experiment with different gearing ratios to determine if this would work or not. This would work as a generator and produce DC output. Oatley Electronics sell these. You could also try a smaller motor here as well, say 10 watts at 12 volts.

Good luck with your experiments here.

Graham