Simple Air-X Installation

The peak of my roof is about 22 feet high. Can I simply use sch 40 pipe to about 28 or 30 feet and anchor it the ground (in cement) and at the 22 foot point on the roof? In other words, no guy wires or other support needed.

Thanks in advance,
Tomas

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    Wind Turbines tend to be noisy and have a fair amount of vibration--attaching to your home could bring noise into your home (at the very least, you would need a rubber vibration dampening collar or something to reduce the vibrations somewhat).

    Next, your turbine should be 20-30+ feet above obstructions. Even if you home it downwind of the wind turbine, you still may have problems with the front of the home directing wind upwards into the turbine--usually not a recommended mounting location.

    Are you going to need a building permit? If so, you will probably require a drawing signed off by a structural engineer (and it will have to address the mechanical strength of your home too)--any opinion we have here will be of little use.

    Looking at wind maps for Texas, guessing you may be near San Antonio, that is some of the least windy portions of the state... Do you have good winds where you want to install?

    From solar irradiation tables, you seem to have pretty good average sun in your area--do you have a reason why wind turbine vs solar panels for your installation? And from your earlier posts--you do have a small solar pv installation already...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • System2
    System2 Posts: 6,290 admin
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    You are correct. My area - deep south Texas - is not a prime area for wind energy. We are much better located for solar and I already have a small solar system but wanted to supplement it with a little wind.

    Seems like it is not worth the effort with all the turbine issues. More panels is the way to go I guess.

    Thanks for the advise,
    tsp
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    tsp,
    i always was of the opinion that wind and sun power was a good combination because when it isn't sunny it is because of a front most of the time and when fronts move through, it becomes cloudy and it is usually windy. our sponsor thinks so too by the name of the company. what i'm seeing nowadays with wind power is far too much in expenses compared to solar even if you have the winds. the wind genny is expensive by itself and has other expenses like telescoping masts or towers (guyed and unguyed) and high maintenance costs due to weathering and moving parts. add to this the obvious limitations of the genny like cutouts, stalls, wind sheers, upper wind speed charge limits and lower startup wind speeds, vibration, etc. and the net power reaped may be far lower than one would expect for the money invested.
  • kenputer
    kenputer Solar Expert Posts: 27
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    Yes you can do that but I don't think you'll like the noise. I have one set up like that on the back of my shed and it noisy and vibrates so not a good idea for a home.
    Kenputer
  • skflyfish
    skflyfish Registered Users Posts: 20
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation
    kenputer wrote: »
    Yes you can do that but I don't think you'll like the noise. I have one set up like that on the back of my shed and it noisy and vibrates so not a good idea for a home.
    Kenputer

    Well if it isn't humming with the wind blowing, you know something isn't right. 8)
  • James
    James Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    Hi Folks, i thought I would add in my limited experience with an AIR X.
    I set one up at my friends off grid cabin per his request. I personally thought of it as misuse of funds, but he wanted it, so i helped him install it.

    we used 2" sch 40 pipe imbedded in concrete 5' deep right next to the cabin.
    I fabricated a very nice heavy duty isolation mount using 2-3/4" stiff rubber strips and steel. It mounts to the facia of the cabin near the roof peak. The actual turbine is set at about 8 feet above the roof. Way too close I know, but the dam thing works well beyond my expectations! I have yet to hear it for myself, but my friend tells me that even at 25 mph winds, there is very, very minimal noise transmitted thru the cabin structure. He tells me that he can hear the noise of the blades in the wind more so than any structural noise.

    As you can guess, low wind speed does not offer him much. but so far the windy days
    have helped him avoid low battery votage conditions. His PV array is only about 300 watts, so the wind genny helps out greatly.

    I should also point out that the house mounted mast is temporary....he plans a higher mast the be located at a future shed to be constructed next year.
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    a few more mph winds would cause it to protect itself and stop power production for a minute or so so if he's typically getting 25mph winds where it's at i'd leave it alone. ask what kind of amps he's typically getting too. sounds like he wipped the vibration issue.:cool:
  • James
    James Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    I only had a 25 amp meter at the time of install, so we used that.
    This location doesn't have very good wind, so he typically get small readings. He is yet to log any readings for me, despite the fancy, simple fill in the blank chart I made for him. He has told me that on the heavy wind days, the meter does peak at the 25 amp end routinely. Very unscientific, I know, but I only have what he tells me.

    He dosn't want to know too much about it. He is just happy he is no longer needing to hook up jumper cables from he truck every night, now that I increased his battery bank and solar array size, and of course added the wind genny.
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    ah yes, if he sees something from it he just doesn't care how or why it is there. i think you see my point of more wind being a detriment as the airx even on a gust of wind will shut it down from production for a short duration when it exceeds its maximum rated air speed. he could increase the general overall average wind speed hitting the airx and this also ups the wind gust averages and frequency causing more cutouts of operation meaning a possible no system gain or even a power loss overall.
  • James
    James Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭
    Re: Simple Air-X Installation

    Hi Niel, Yes, i do see your point about the gain vs. cutout issue.
    From what i know about his setup so far, that should not be too much of an issue. Today is a good wind day with consistant winds avg. around 25mph, with some gusts somewhat higher. Most of the time the wind is much less. Without a data logging setup, I just don't know what it's giving him.
    Every time i have been out to his cabin, the wind was 5mph or less.