Hydroelectric Power

[Boboque]

I went to see a dude a long while ago, who had fashioned his own water wheel and was using it to power his house at night. He had fixed it so he could turn it on and off if he wished but he didn't make enough power sometimes to use it. He had it fixed so he could divert the small stream if it was raining and the creek was running too fast. He was a smart little dude. I would love to be able to do something like this but I'm not sure now how he did it. Has any of you ever had anything to do with something like this?

 

[bsmit212]

Sounds cool but no idea how to do it. haha. Good luck.

 

[Grandpa]

In this day and age they use turbines. Much more efficient. They also meter the electricity produced back into the grid rather than self use. This provides revenue to pay your own power bill and gives the user a steady source of electricity. A neighbor installed one several years ago and it has been giving him a steady income ever since.

 

[shaun]

I love the idea of living self-sustainably but I wouldn't know where to start with building something like that and paying someone to build it for you would be expensive. I'd think about it if I had the required skills and knowhow, but I haven't

 

[ppine]

Bobo,
Those types of power plants were very common in rural areas of the west for a long time, especially remote ranches with no chance of being near a powerline. Look up some old articles to find out how it works.

In foreign countries with little infrastructure they are also popular.

 

[ChadTower]

For a small amount of power, say some LED lighting for a couple of rooms, it wouldn't really be hard. Set up a wheel spinning a car alternator or two. Feed the generated current into a couple of daisy chained car batteries. It's quick and dirty, and it's nearly all stuff you can scrounge out of a couple cars, but it would work well if you did it right.

 

[Theosus]

You need a way to turn a wheel... I would start with a gas powered electric generator like you can buy at lowes or home depot. You could disassemble it, so you have the generator part and not the engine. You need a line conditioner, because the water will probably not always be flowing at the same rate, so you need something to smooth out the fluctuations. You need a standpipe of some sort with a turbine wheel, with the shaft output connected to the generator.
You could start small with a little generator, prove the concept, and move up. I'm sure the survivalist sites could give you a lot of information about how to put it together.

 

[mamabear]

He was indeed a smart little dude. Do you have any idea the number of people who would not have the first clue how to take care of themselves with out "provided" electricity? Food would be another story wouldn't it? I'm sure you could figure it out Boboque if you just thought about how to do it.