The Real Know How

How-Tos, Videos, Tutorials — Ramping Up for the 21st Century

Archive for the category “wind turbines”

11 Mar 2012
1 Comment

Passive Solar Earthship Homes

This video (in English, despite the title in Russian which translates as ‘house build from tires’) takes a look at “Earthship” houses in New Mexico. The houses are designed to be stand-alone, self-sufficient, off-grid units.

In this case, the “Earthships” have thick walls that allow for passive solar heating formed from rammed earth in recycled automobile tires. Empty aluminum cans and glass bottles also provide filler for the walls.

The thick walls can store so much solar heat that the inside temperature is easily a stable 70 F without additional heating, even on freezing days.

So, heating = solar passive via thick walls and window siting, energy via solar panels and wind turbines, water and waste = special filtration and septic systems.

Advertisement
Posted in alternative materials, buildings, construction, earthships, new mexico, solar energy, the southwest, wind turbines and tagged , , , ,
06 Mar 2012

How to Make an Inexpensive Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Using Plastic Barrels

Jeff Berezin of Berezin Technologies shows us how to make a vertical axis, Savonius wind turbine using plastic barrels.

Posted in electricity, energy, save money, wind turbines and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
06 Mar 2012

Make Your Own Zoetrope Wind Turbine

“The Zoetrope is a vertical-axis wind turbine made from common materials such as stove pipe, metal brackets, plastic sheet and a trailer hub. Many of the materials can be found at local hardware or home improvement stores, the rest can either be made at home or purchased online. The Zoetrope was commissioned by Washington (USA) resident and renewable energy supporter Mike Marohn to provide supplemental water heating.

Applied Sciences made the decision to open source the wind turbine and provide a freely available introduction to wind power, thereby allowing others to improve the design and functionality.”

View the construction guide, templates, videos and CAD drawings for the Zoetrope here.

Since it is a vertical axis wind turbine, the Zoetrope avoids many of the problems of the horizontal axis wind turbines we are more used to seeing such as noise, creating hazards for birds and so on.

Posted in electricity, energy, save money, wind turbines and tagged , , | Leave a comment

Post Navigation