Inglenook Water Wheel Electrical Generator

[DannysCam]

i think this is a better way to go then solar 

[1wicked2008]

@DannysCam unless the stream dry's up or freezes over..but your right, way better than solar and cheaper probably too

[DannysCam]

@1wicked2008 i saw one made out of 5 galon buckets it looked cool

[uptilwhen]

I wanted to see the source of the water and how it was diverted to raise a head and gain potential energy. The gearing up is not nearly as interesting as the civil engineering task required to raise the water source sufficiently to gain enough energy to drive the wheel. Was the water diverted from a stream or river or what? How did you raise it into your aquaduct?

It's all very neat and tidy though. Great job.

[Prometheus203]

@uptilwhen The water isn't being raised in any way, its merely traveling down the chute at less of a grade than the land below. So when it pours across the wheel it has enough gravity induced pressure to turn the wheel at a useful rate. You can't gain potential energy without expending kinetic energy.

[uptilwhen]

@Prometheus203 The water is being raised relative to the natural level of the river/stream.I understand the conservation of energy but the water in your wooden channel is obviously at a higher level than the river or stream from which it was taken. Was it merely the rate of flow of water that drove the water up out of it's natural channel into the wooden channel you constructed? Obviously with sufficient pressure water can be raised, thus converting some kinetic energy to potential energy.

[Prometheus203]

@uptilwhen I think you misunderstood. The ground below that the stream is flowing on is sloped downward. Some water is channeled into the chute further up the hill and carried at a lesser slope than the ground below so at the end point it pours off and has enough pressure to turn the wheel efficiently. Water can not flow up hill without mechanical intervention, it is not being raised. Everything in this video is flowing downhill even if it doesn't appear to be on the video.

[uptilwhen]

@Prometheus203 I understand perfectly. I know water can't flow uphill unless it's pumped. I just wondered if you had used some kind of solar ram pump to gain P.E. without inputting fuel. Or whether it was merely gravity which had driven the water out of its natural channel into your constructed channel.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate it.

By the way, your gearing system is very neat and well constructed. Nice job.

[astrialkil]

So what is its out put? Looks nice. One of these for each circuit in your house.

[Cameronmed]

how much electricity does that produce and if you had a bunch in a "train" style could you make enough energy to run a house. water heater ac lights ect.

[flamedrag18]

@Cameronmed with these systems, you usually charge up batteries that are only used at night for lighting, ect. it's not meant for continuous power use.

[Prometheus203]

@Cameronmed There would be no benefit to having multiple wheels as compared to a single large wheel, the flow rate of the water source and the differential in grade determine the maximum power output, although in a functional system you would likely have a battery bank and inverters. So the continuous output of the wheel and the draw of your appliances, fixtures etc would need to be considered and calculated to design a realistic system..