DIY Windmill

I have created this blog to give some information about what to do when you are doing your own DIY Windmill project. All the information that you will read is thanks to this homemade energy instruction manual.

I highly recommend you check it out.









How to build a Windmill




Lets start from the beginning shall we.





Materials & Tools

The basic materials that you will need for your homemade windmill are balsa wood, metal sheeting, metal piping, PVC piping, rotors, strapping and a generator. The tools are your home handy man tools such as electric drill with the extras, saw, hammer and a possibly simple welder.

Minimum Wind Velocity

The minimum wind velocity should be about 7mph and the maximum can be whatever you want but you will need to make sure that in a smaller wind area there are more blades with a thinner diameter and in a higher wind area there are less blades with a thinker diameter.

Windmill Tower

The tower is generally made out of metal piping so that you can place your wiring through the middle of it. The tower should have a pivot connection to the shaft to allow it to rotate at least 270 degrees.

Shaft & Tail

The shaft is a long slab of wood that has the rotor and generator on one side and the tail of the windmill on the other. The shaft should generally be a few feet long and the tail can be made out of sheet metal or wood also.

Rotor and Generator

The rotor is what the blades are attached to and this is one of the most important parts, I suggest using a large pulley wheel. Beneath the rotor is another pulley wheel that is attached to the generator and this is generally smaller to increase energy efficiency. The pulleys are linked by a strap that is generally made out of rubber.












Blades

The blades can be made from PVC or balsa wood and should be attached to the rotor at a bit of an angle. They should also have a slight twist to them just like the wings of a plane, this increases the efficiency enormously.


More Information about DIY windmills
Please feel free to read the other posts in this blog for more information and by all means leave a comment if you wish. All the best with your DIY projects!

DIY Wind power

Did you realise how much energy can be generated from wind? Do you know that over 80 countries in the World are using commercial wind power because it is environmentally friendly and there is not a limited supply of wind, opposed to fossil fuels.

Principle of wind power
To put it simply the wind force creates rotation of the turbine blades which generates energy that is transferred to the attached generator. A basic example is when you ride a bike your legs create rotation of the peddles that generate energy transfer to the wheels that create your acceleration.

Can you create your own wind power?
Yes you can do this on a smaller scale and build your own windmill. It is obviously much smaller than the commercial windmills you see but the principles are the same and you can build a windmill from most house hold materials and at a small cost to yourself. If there is wind power of about 10mph then you are looking at a situation that you are going to save yourself quite a chunk out of that utilities bill.

How do I build a DIY Wind Power Generator
You need a few things:

1. Time to do a home project
2. A relatively steady wind current
3. Basic home tools
4. Some building materials
5. Windmill Plans

Have a look at the link top/right for more information.

DIY Windmill blog

This blog will show you what you need to do to build a homemade windmill. Stay tuned for future posts.