so me and my roommate were sitting in our tiny living room whining about paying for heat this winter. we've got a blanket hanging over the door and a space heater running and we're doing alright, we just don't want to have to pay to get the oil tank in the basement filled.
anywho, he came up with the idea of using our only free utility, cold water, to generate electricity and power a space heater! so we want to set up a turbine in our sink or something that will generate and maybe store electricity to power a space heater that heats a small (14'x14' or so) room.
we'd also like to store as much of the water as we can to use for drinking and whatever else. a friend of lucas's suggested we convert the mechanical energy from the turbine directly into heat, without ever converting it into electricity.
any comments? suggestions? encouragement?
anywho, he came up with the idea of using our only free utility, cold water, to generate electricity and power a space heater! so we want to set up a turbine in our sink or something that will generate and maybe store electricity to power a space heater that heats a small (14'x14' or so) room.
we'd also like to store as much of the water as we can to use for drinking and whatever else. a friend of lucas's suggested we convert the mechanical energy from the turbine directly into heat, without ever converting it into electricity.
any comments? suggestions? encouragement?
Converting straight to heat would be more efficient, but you might run into the problem of the heat you want being used to heat the water. Space heaters are also juice hogs. Roughly 1 kW, depending on model. So I doubt you can get the turbine to deliver that kind of power. So that kind of narrows it down to generating electricity and storing it. Then the water can run all day while you are gone and when you get home you can turn on the heat.
Now, what were you going to make the turbine out of? A very simple way would be to get an automobile alternator assembly and modify that. Then it goes right into a battery. Now, if you want to try it, you have the AC source and could hook the heater up to the alternator. Otherwise you need an inverter, which, I'm sorry to say, are expensive and probably won't give you the wattage you are looking for.
I need to think about the direct heating for a bit. Maybe after some sleep.
Now, what were you going to make the turbine out of? A very simple way would be to get an automobile alternator assembly and modify that. Then it goes right into a battery. Now, if you want to try it, you have the AC source and could hook the heater up to the alternator. Otherwise you need an inverter, which, I'm sorry to say, are expensive and probably won't give you the wattage you are looking for.
I need to think about the direct heating for a bit. Maybe after some sleep.
I'd like to see this put into action if that counts, so one up for the encouragement counter!!
Oh so would I. I like seeing new, interesting inventions. Plus I could use it myself.