Schoolbus Homestead

[SeanF]

Thanks Richard - yes, it's nice to be enjoying the fruits of our labor!

Sean

[SeanF]

Some figures based on the first 48 days of bus-living:

70 gallons of freshwater lasts 8-9 days
60 gallon greywater needs emptying every 7 days
20 lb of propane lasts about 45 days (standard 20" gas range and on-demand water heater)
We use 60 amp-hours/day, or 720 watt-hours (I work from home, and am on a desktop PC and satellite internet 8AM-5PM, 5 days a week.)



Just an FYI. This is for 2 adults and 1 cat.

Sean

[SeanF]

We added an awning to the front of the bus:



We used materials from the hardware store...cost was just under $50.
Details here.

Sean & Rhonda

[SeanF]

Added a wind turbine to the roof:


Details here

Sean

[Les Lampman]

I'm really going to be interested to find out how you feel about the noise; it's the only thing that I seen as a reccuring critisism. It's all been heresay (no pun intended) so far with regard to the reports so it'll be nice to get your assessment.

[SeanF]

I'll let you know...have heard the same and it's on mind too.

Sean

[soused moose]

A nice guy who tows his big 5th wheel trailer behind his big truck sent me photos and a short film of his Air-X wind generator ….you can hear what these wind generators sound like in operation.
Here’s my page with the movie and pics (scroll all the way down)
http://www.mobilehomestead.com/alt/wind1.htm

I have the Air-403 stored away that I was going to install on our bus , but I think I’ll get the newer Air-X which is supposed to be amazingly quiet compared to the 403

[SeanF]

Hi-

Well we heard the turbine spin up today...not hugely fast but generating a few watts nonetheless. It emits a whirring sound, certainly not intrusive, but definitely noticeable. I only heard it when outside the bus...I will make a point to listen inside the bus next time.

When I get a chance I'll do a short video and post it.

Soused Moose---feel free to use any pictures and/or text from my website on your storefront.


Thanks
Sean

[soused moose]

Thanks Sean…
Question for you if you don’t mind ….How do you deal with taking the Air-X down for traveling?
And ,Did you get the stop switch for your generator?

I’m trying to figure out a strong enough pole within a larger pole setup ….something that could be raised & taken down easily without climbing up on my buses roof.
Michael

[Demonknight]

Just off hand a cataplut type setup might work...not sure how else to explain what I see in my head long pole with turbine on one end...on the other a heavy weight with a pivot towards the weight end...once its up a simple locking system could be locked in and the weight could then be removed.

Just a fast idea *shrug* ideas come fast, not always workable..but they do come.

[SeanF]

Hi Michael-

The general plan is to have some sort of clamps on the deck to store the mast & support poles. We'll have to remove the turbine (or at least the rotor) before stowing. Unfortunately the deck fittings we used to to attach the poles to the deck don't allow the poles to lay completely flat, which is what we intended. Setting it up (safely) is a two-person job for sure...the pipe is rather heavy and with a 14lb turbine on top...aluminum pipe would be much lighter...and more expensive, but not horrendously so.

Yep, we have the stop switch and circuit breaker.

As far as a system to deploy/stow without getting on the roof...hmmm...I'd have to think about it for a bit.

Sean

Originally Posted by soused moose

Thanks Sean…
Question for you if you don’t mind ….How do you deal with taking the Air-X down for traveling?
And ,Did you get the stop switch for your generator?

I’m trying to figure out a strong enough pole within a larger pole setup ….something that could be raised & taken down easily without climbing up on my buses roof.
Michael

[SeanF]

Today we tilted the solar panels to accommodate the lower winter sun angle.


We used angle aluminum and 3/8" stainless bolts & nuts to attach the braces to achieve a 50 degree tilt


Another view. We had a nice breeze for most of the afternoon, giving us energy through the turbine while the panels were disconnected.


Sean

[soused moose]

Thanks Sean and Demonknight….
Demon your catapult idea got me thinking ….
A person could do something like this setup on the back of a bus or in my case back of my little house section on our bus…



Basically the main pole would sit in a bracket that would allow it to pivot into an upright position or pivot downward.
The main (larger pole) would have a smaller diameter pole inside it and both poles would have holes drilled through them which would allow a person to run a heavy-duty clevis pin through the pipe setup .(for making height adjustments )

To setup the wind generator (or take it down), you’d pivot the pole setup downward ….pull the inside pole out to where you want , pop in a clevis pin to hold it in place ….install the wind generator on the pole and push the pole up till it slips into the holding bracket , then to secure it, put a pin through that.
You could winch the pole setup into an upright position if you wanted to get fancy about it.
To make life easy I would have the wire running up through the center of the inner pole and use Butt connectors or something similar which you’d use for connecting and disconnecting the wind generators output wires.

I know you want to be careful not to distort the Carbon Fiber Composite Blades on the Air-X , but at the same time I hate the idea of dicking around and pulling the blades off the wind generator for storing it away and then having to put it back together when you want to use it.
So I’ve been thinking for a long time about some way to lower the generator (blades facing to the rear ) and have it sit into some sort of bracket that would allow you to keep the wind genny up there when driving…..

Sean question for you…..( great pics by the way)
Why do you disconnect your solar modules when running your Air-X?

[soused moose]

Although ….
With a setup like I’m describing ….I’d bet it would a bit nosier than your setup Sean.
There would be some pole rattle for sure …but that could be helped by adding rubber washers at the bottom pivot bracket and you’d also want to put a piece of rubber into the bracket that holds the pole in an upright position……

[SeanF]

I think your plan is a good start...pivoting a long pole into position or a collapsing pole setup sounds like the way to go.

Originally Posted by soused moose

Sean question for you…..( great pics by the way)
Why do you disconnect your solar modules when running your Air-X?

Ah, we only disconnected the panels while doing the work on the tilting apparatus. I should clarify that on the website. Thanks!

[the_experience03]

This might sound like a noob question, but bare with me because it is. When a turbine is rated at 3000 watts, does that mean 3kWh under ideal conditions or what? I understand atleast conceptually how the charge controller works, etc for solar and I think that much of it would likely port well over to wind power, but what I'm really wondering is about sizing. I'd like to put some means of alternative energy charging into my bus for the simple fact that it's available.....no trips to the gas station for the gennie, no 6.6 liter diesel slurping down fuel just to charge the batteries, etc. Wind makes the most sense for me because while both are expensive, I stand a snowball's chance of making a win gennie my self.

Point of interest-what brought this on was a gentleman coming into work yesterday and cleaning us out of GC2's. He bought 12 to make a 36 volt bank for his solar and wind generation. It may have cost him close to $1000, but it was still cheaper than the $28,000 the electric company wanted to charge to run power up his 1 mile driveway, especially with Minnesota's decent alternative energy tax incentives.

[Demonknight]

np..thats pretty much what I had in mind...though you may still need a bit of weight on the bottom end..add a pole to that 13 pound turbine and thats going to be a tad heavy to lift up *S*

[soused moose]

Experience, you are right …when a wind Generator gives you a rating of 3000 watts or whatever. That is the maximum you can get out of the generator at full speed.
The Air-X Sean & I have maxs out at a little over 400 watts at 28 mph.
The wattage drops as the wind speed diminishes …and also when you reach a higher wind speed then the generator is safely designed to handle.
If you do go for a wind generator on your bus I really suggest the air-x , no other generator in it’s size class is as good.
If you can afford it go for solar panels too with a good charge controller. Because most places the Suns out and charging the batterys. Not so with wind.
This way you’d have all your bases covered .

Demon I don’t think Aluminum poles would be that heavy to lift …
But being the excessive techo freak I am , I’d put a 12-volt winch on the sucker , and the only heavy lifting I’d be doing is holding my beer while the winch did the work.

[the_experience03]

For the price of a 150 watt solar array with a charge controller, I could get an EU2000 and enough gas for a summer

[Les Lampman]

You might also look online at various marine sites for the fitting used for anntenna mounting. Some of the antenna setups on the larger boats (say 60' and above) are bigger than we've talking about here for the Air-X (I just ordered in an antenna that's 27' long all by its self). Since no two boats seem to be alike many of the mounting systems are quite adaptable and are made out of materials that withstand outdoor use quite well. Some are horrendously expensive but there are quite a few that are very reasonable. At least it's another place to get ideas.

So here's one...you could use a swivel mount (it attaches to the side of the vehicle (boat usually) at the base of the Air-X mast (say as low as possible on the skirting). At a higher point above the pivot point (really as high as you can go on the bus side) you install a marine antenna mast holder bracket...they look like this:



It would take a step ladder to reach and flip the upper bracket plate open but after than the whole thing could be handled from ground level.

There's probably lots of stuff at the hardware store that would allow one to put together a less expensive version of this system...it's just here as food for thought.