h a l f b a k e r yA riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a rich, flaky crust
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In sunny regions we have a lot of spinning roof vents. Meanwhile, we are starting windmill farms and use of wind energy is growing faster than any other form of energy. Why visually pollute vast valleys with windmills if we can use the heat in our attics to spin a small "windmill" and add back electricity
to the grid? Others have posted similar ideas but not this one. (There was a spinning roof vent for a car to recharge your battery)
The only downsides might be that it would take an electrician at $X per hour to hook the thing up to your circuitry, and with proper insulation, the spinners might not spin fast enough to generate enough electricity to make this worth it.
But heck, even if it could produce a tenth of your daily energy, it would pay for itself and be a profitable product.
Solar updraft Tower
http://en.wikipedia...Solar_updraft_tower
The large scale equivalent [Skrewloose, Dec 05 2008]
Solar Chimney
http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Solar_chimney
The ventilation approach... [Skrewloose, Dec 05 2008]
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I see so much wind going to *waste* that anything to harness this is a [+] in my book. I have always believed that if every house being built was to have a small windmill for power generation, that we could make a large impact on our insatiable lust for oil. |
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Right now grid tie systems are very expensive, so it would not pay to feed the grid. Your roof vents would not be able to produce a heck of a lot of electricity, but could possibly power some ultra low wattage led or florrecent lighting. If wind turbines are ugly, than there is not a sic enough word to describe fossil fueled power plants. The truth is that our abuse of energy is disgusting. NIMBYs just don't want to face the facts... Keep it cooking... |
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Any energy generated from these would work to reduce the flow of exhaust air from the building. If it's natural ventilation, then the building would stay warmer on hot days (bad). If it's forced ventilation, then this will increase building pressure and make the supply fans work harder - making this at most a net wash and more likely a waste of energy. |
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I fear [World] is right. Instead, why not connect it to a mirrorball in the room below? |
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It sounds like Worldgineer, like most engineers, has a feel for how much energy would be produced versus that amount extracted from the system. The thing I hate about traditional windmills is that they're ugly and distracting from the natural environment. Maybe I need to go work on a true windmill system that is concealed- something the neighbors wouldn't complain about. Maybe something black that fits on the roofline. |
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I like energy-saving ideas in general, and this one's nice. |
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Of course, it won't work. But it's nice. |
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It sounds like you're thinking of something somewhere in-between a solar chimney and a solar updraft tower. Unfortunately the Romans beat you to it for increacing the ventilation in a building! |
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I get the feeling that, as [worldgineer] says, there's little energy to be captured from the loft space in a house (2% for a full scale one doesn't sound like a lot is going to be available). |
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I like the theory though - not gonna run more than a phone charger off it though. |
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