Linda asks…

tree house, structure, safety, tree health?

I love tree houses, so does my husband, and we plan to some day build a really nice one, not like one that you completely live in, but maybe a living or dinning area, We don’t have the tree yet. The tree house plans will probably effect what house we eventually buy. I need to know what we are looking for so I need some answers to these questions.
1, Living in an area with moderate winds and yearly ice storms i’m worried about the weight on the tree. Is it acceptable to use posts and ground support to help hold up the structure? Should I forgo any bolting to the tree and use only ground support to allow for wind movement? (the structure would still be partially in the tree, but not rested on it)
2, in my area any building wired for electricity must be inspected by a county official, would this still be necessary if my tree house ran only on self generated solar power?
3, could i use mostly recycled materials to save on cost and be more environmentally conscious.
4, what trees are best for a tree house that I plan to be about 10-15 feet up.
5, what should I avoid in order to help the health of a tree, how much movement room. (wind) if any bolting is safe, how to keep it minimal and safe for tree. cables? can a bolt run through a tree (I”m guessing not)

I know that it’s hair brained and away off considering current economic conditions, but any thoughts, knowledge and opinions would be appreciated, and if entertaining, enjoyed.
thanks!

Henry Dover answers:

I’m not sure this is the place to ask this type of question. Check the internet for resources, or look for a book on building. Sounds like there is too much to consider to depend on answers at a website like this.

Steven asks…

Power Plant With Renewable Energy?

Okay, so you know how there is like solar power, wind power, etc. Well, is it possible for power plants to generate it’s power by solar pannels or wind turbines then getting that electrical current and sending it out to houses around the world? Rather than having every house individually switch to solar power, wouldn’t it be easier and more cost effective to have power plants make the switch?
Oh, so every house would have to get one itself, that’s a bummer.

Henry Dover answers:

Renewables are a diffused form of energy and require a large footprint. It would not be possible for one power plant to make power for the grid because that would require the plant to be very large and transmissin cost would be high too. Also renewables are intermittent, meaning they are not always available. A typical windmill is only available 28% of the time during the year. If one plant was making power for the grid that would mean it would be dark everywhere. It will not talk about the economics of the renewables here. Have a nice day

Maria asks…

How do I feed generated power back into the electric grid?

This is for a school project. I’m going to build and install green/sustainable energy harvesters (solar, wind) for my house. I was wondering how I could feed the energy i get from these appliances back into my house and turn my electric meter backward. Any help would be appreciated!

Henry Dover answers:

Call your energy provider or go on their website. They should have a document explaining it and as long as you have the power, they can supply you with a technology that you can use to grid feed, but it isn’t free. Also, in grid feed, you can never get cash, only credit towards your energy bill; and you cannot sell those credits to your neighbor. I feel that this is unjust and after researching it for a while I feel that the best option is not grid feed, but be on grid and have an off grid system. That way when you are at the point of producing excess, you can sell it to your neighbor. Think about it…

Who do you trust more? An energy company, or yourself?

Michael asks…

Will a trolling motor generate electricity and charge a battery if it is pulled thru the water?

Specific application I’m looking at is using a high thrust trolling motor on a small sailboat for the auxiliary propulsion. Research indicates this will work great. However, the various sites advise using solar/wind/ or shore power for recharging.

Suppose the motor was left down, we raised the sail, and the prop began to freewheel. Seeing as how this is a DC motor, wouldn’t it start generating electricity? Has anyone tried this? What type of controlling circuitry would be needed if any to charge the house batteries?

Henry Dover answers:

Here is the Biggest problem with the trolling motor generator…Its not with the motor but with the capture area of the prop…Lets do the math here real quick …I promise not to take to long…If your trolling motor uses 10 amps at 12 volts thats about 120watts …756watts is about one horsepower,……. To get enough drag surface on the prop you need about 60 sq inches….120/756=.16hp or 480 sq inches per hp….more or less..so thats a pretty good size prop lets say 5″ x 12″ now to get it to spin you need a very easy rotating motor/gen set if its a permanent magnet type you have a problem getting it past the first pole is pretty hard…now lets look at rpm for a moment normally your motor cranks out that 120 watts at say 500-600 rpm to get a sail surface relationship and pitch to get your 12 vdc back… Your gonna need to have one heck of a pitch or loose your voltage for lack of rpm.. So I would say this …your idea of using the regenerative power of a dc motor to make a little wattage is quite sound ..However using a trolling motor made to puLL your boat might not be as efficient as some other means…Keep working on the idea though try using a right angle gearbox being driven by a floating paddle wheel ..or perhaps a flexible driveshaft underneath the boat with a helix coil driving an inboard alternator. Regulation for all the voltage is as easy as pie… A couple of big caps and one transistor and 30 minutes and you can build a regulator for nearly any thing up to 200watts…Ever hear of the 12v Light bulb from the old days being used as a regulator? See didnt even need a cap for that one….Anyhow have a good day from the E…

Robert asks…

Need an info source on how to take my house “off the grid” and run on my own power.?

I have been working, studying, experimenting and building all things related to generating my own power to be able to take my house off the grid. I wont be using wind or solar, but magnetic drive, a perendev style drive in fact. I have already built a small scale platform using this drive with a larger alternator and it powers my fridge. That was easy, 2 deep cycle batteries, a truck alternator, the perendev magent drive, a converter and there you have it.

Im working on a larger scale system with bigger gens and drives that will be able to sustain my home, however were i am stuck is actually wiring it into my box and getting off the grid. I have seen partial scematics and instructions on building the converter box and wiring it all up ( i cant use little converters for this task like my fridge.) But nothing in detail.

Anyone know any sites, communities online, or books i can get friendly with to fill in the blanks?
The perendev works, its powering my fridge for weeks now on this small scale with a single plug converter.

Physics never change, only our understanding of them does. This works, i see it with my own eyes working.

Anyway, i guess i am mainly looking on how to build and inpliment the large scale converter, I can wire the box, and got the wiring up to the bateries down, now i just need to fill in the needed things (equipment) in between my batteries and the breaker box.

Henry Dover answers:

A Perendev Magnetic Motor? As in a perpetual motion device? Where does this machine get its unlimited source of energy? I would look carefully into that question, because wiring it up to your house.
Anyways, I use to work for a company that installed back up Generac generators that ran off natural gas. What we did was install a seperate electrical box called an automatic transfer switch.
We then would remove the wires from the main electrical box and tire them into the new circuit breakers in the automatic transfer switch. The power from the electrical company was brought into the box from a large circuit breaker with wires that ran from the Main box to the automatic transfer switch. The wires then connected to the two individual legs (Two seperated copper strips) in the new box. The generator was also connected to the automatic transfer switch. Their was a host of wires that ran from the generator to the transfer switch. These included ground, power, neutral, and various sensor wires.
When power to the house was a cut it would trip a solenoid that would switch the new boxes power source from the now dead electrical companies over to the generator. You can buy one of the boxes from Generac or a dealer for $600 to $800. They have all different sizes. A very common one had the capacity of 12 kilowatts of power or 100 amps at 120 volts, which is MORE then enough to power almost any house house. Contact me if you want the name and number of the company that sells them.
You can switch the box manually as well from back up power to the electrical companies power. Their manuals have plans of how the box works for trouble shooting purposes.
Heres a very general sample here. Http://www.generac.com/Products/Information/HowItWorks.aspx

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