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EvoQ
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 06:49pm
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I am planning my Micro Hydro Electric power plant and have been doing all sorts of research and came across this very interesting Website about all sorts of Eco-Friendly Home Power Sources. Their section on Micro Hydro Electric power is very informative, some of you might be interested so I thought I would share the link to you.
Then there is this that explains how Efficient that Micro Hydro Power is. I realize that some people do not access to a water source but of those that do you seriously ought to consider Micro Hydro electric Power for your Cabin/Homestead.
The Cost is minimal for how much power you can get from the Micro Hydro. There are various Micro Hydro units for low head and even rivers too. Some of these small units output 1000watts for under $1500.00, that is enough power to supply a small house with enough power to live comfortably and normally.....
Ok; I'll get off my soapbox as you can see I am very excited about Micro Hydro Power. I honestly think that not many People actually know the huge benefits that Micro Hydro power offers, over say Solar which is so ill-efficient.
20% efficiency for Solar to me is such a waste of money "if" you could go the route of Micro Hydro instead.
Moreover this website Link to Home Power .com with info on all sorts of Eco friendly Power sources is also very useful if you intend to do Solar or Wind Turbine as the site covers the gamut of all sources of Eco-Friend Power Sources, check it out.
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Rifraf
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 08:48pm
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I dont think many people are lucky enough to have an adequate water source for hydro electric. Wish I did.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 09:05pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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Yes Rifraf, any water let alone adequate. We know a lot of people with both part time cabins and full time residences in country settings in a number of states and provinces. I can not think of a single one who has legal or illegal access from their property to a running stream of any size.
Not everyone is located where wind power is truly viable either. I looked into that and the height of the trees was just the first obstacle. Inconsistent winds a close second.
The sun shines to one degree or another in more places than there are places with viable waterway access or favorable winds. Of course the sunshine is one benefit we have in the SW; much better than further north.
So if anyone has a water source that can be used for electrical power generation, I guess I'll say "good for you", but unfortunately you are in the minority. The rest of us can only be jealous of your good fortune.
Where are you?
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 09:21pm
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It will be interesting for us to see you bring this to fruition. What is your water source?
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EvoQ
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 10:51pm
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I wonder if some of you read the info at the Link or know about Micro Hydro Electric Power.
Micro Hydro which Only Takes a small amount of flow (as little as 2 gallons per minute) or a drop as low as 2 feet to generate electricity with Micro Hydro, and the Electricity can be delivered as far away as a mile away to the location where it is to be used.
One doesn't need a Gushing Mountain stream flowing 1,000's of Gallons per minute. All it takes is a very small amount of flow and of Drop in elevation to have a more than adequate supply to run these Micro Hydro units. When I say Micro they are super small, no larger than a Small Cooler.
If you are doing the Solar route I commend you for it as lessening one's footprint on the environment is a noble endeavor for sure.
And Yes I get it all the time allot of my friends and family can't understand why anyone would want to live off grid or to get back to nature. But this is my dream and no one elses, and the main reason for me to doing this with my life is so I can lead my life the way I see fit. Not listening to the nay sayers or the people that don't understand, it's quiet alright to not get it.
I am in the planning stages as I have said all along, the Realtors that I am working with, know that I demand water access before any purchase of the land. I know full well what it takes to gain access, maybe even hiring a water attorney to help speed the process up. But that is what this dream of mine is a Process not an instant gratification.
I can understand if you dont understand that Micro Hydro doesn't take much water or drop that is why I posted up the links so that you could read up on the info.
Here's a YouTube Video showing a 1kiloWatt system that runs off a trickle and the system is as a big as a small cooler. The Plumbing is the only issue and water access. But you don't need allot of water flow or even Elevation drop. Sorry you don't get it, but a KiloWatt will power everything that a regular house uses on a daily basis. Just sit back and keep an eye on me as I make this long journey to living my dream.
Happy New Year, what's Your Resolution, you know mine already....
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 12:35am - Edited by: MtnDon
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Quoting: EvoQ Sorry you don't get it,
No, I get it. You do not.
If we had a gallon a minute we'd be ecstatic! What I don't have, what you seem to be missing, is that I have no surface water unless it rains. Nothing. Nada. When it stops raining the ground water soaks in and disappears. And we only get 20 inches a year and half of that at least, is snow. An hour after a rain you can hardly find enough mud to get your boots dirty.
The many friends I mentioned, and a host of others are in the same or similar situations. A few who do get more rain get it all in the space of 4 months or so, then nada. No streams either. That does not work too well even with the most micro of micro hydro.
The closest water that runs around the year round is a half dozen miles away and it is mostly in the National Forest. When it does abut privately owned land, that is all it does. It abuts the land. The landowner does not own the rights to divert a spoonful legally. Landowner can look at it, catch fish if he has a license. But that is about it.
I wish you well in your search for land with suitable and appropriate water. I thought you already had the property but it seems you are still looking. Best of luck on that search. Where we are located that would be difficult to say the least.
Looking forward to seeing it come together. But don't say I don't get it when the truth of the matter seems to be you do not understand that my wife and I and a whole host of others don't have any water that could be used for hydro power.
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EvoQ
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 02:34am
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I did not mean to step on any toes if I did sorry. I think being a new person on this forum that maybe I have overstepped my welcome as with the Internet; people read into what others write down. When I wrote about "not getting it" I was Not talking about the specifics of Micro Hydro power knowledge, but of Some People Not Getting My Motivation for wanting to go Off Grid as I have been lectured to before on this forum about that. And I want to do what I want to do is my choice because it is my life.....I in no way was pointing fingers at you, but again the internet is a bad example of how to communicate. When People's emotions come into play and they think someone was calling them out when that was Not what I was doing..... I think I'll just maybe lurk a while longer on here as this forum is seemingly made up of long time members and new people need to learn the peeking order so to speak.
Have Happy New Year.
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Martian
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 08:09am - Edited by: Martian
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EvoQ. the telling statement in the article is, "if one has sufficient head and flow". Well, DUH! Its not that we aren't interested in finding better, cheaper, easier ways to do things, its just that many of us have looked at a lot of claims that promise its better, cheaper, easier than another way. Then, we get to the "ifs". Its the "ifs" that create skepticism; not your presentation of the information.
When people come to me with ideas that start with, "If we.....," I remind them that, "IF grasshoppers had machine guns, birds wouldn't eat them, either!" Many ideas have merit, but when you start satisfying the ifs, they become unworkable.
But, don't stop looking at new, innovative ideas or sharing the information you find. Who knows, you may run across the next BIG thing, and we all will benefit from your research. Good luck.
Tom
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 09:39am - Edited by: MtnDon
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I re- read this entire topic... I never questioned motivation.... You mentioned that; I ignored that. I questioned what seemed to be a line of thinking that darn near everyone had a trickle of water they could use to make electricity. They don't. To me it does not matter what the motivation is.
Quoting: EvoQ I can understand if you dont understand that Micro Hydro doesn't take much water or drop that is why I posted up the links so that you could read up on the info.
That's a clear statement about the readers not understanding the advantages of hydro. That seems to be assuming we all have water but simply are not using it.
Don't give up on us here; we would like to see more of how this develops. Maybe re-read what has been written and see that it's the water or lack thereof, nothing about anyone motivation.
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MJW
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 10:02am
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I guess my bigger worry on the whole "using water for energy" thing would be the governments growing obsession with controlling what we can do with water at all.
Whoever would have thought there would ever be any sort of law banning us from collecting the rainwater that falls from the sky...even on our own property?
At least, for the moment, there doesn't seem to be any pending legislation on harvesting sunshine. 
Of course, we are talking about our government so this may change.
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TomChum
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 11:41am - Edited by: TomChum
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Re Evoq. Its the dead of winter. You're excited about a life-changing prospect. If thats not a good reason to be  welcome on a small cabin forum then I don't know what is. We could all be so inspired!
I had a difficult time finding land with running stream, and its a tiny stream. It has not frozen over yet, but we haven't had a real cold winter. Solar still works on a sunny day when the stream's frozen, and it has less failure points than hydro. I would like to have both!
Another aspect of Hydro power is its relation to your cabin site. My situation: Cabin's at the hilltop, about 1000 feet away from the stream too, which requires some LONG cables. The stream is flowing away from the cabin, so the more power I want, the longer the cables. And hydro can be noisy, in my case I wouldnt want to announce the location of my hydro plant near the road. I'm tryin' to hideout up here, and to leave expensive hardware screamin' in the woods for a meth-head's next fix is worrisome.
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BadgersHollow
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# Posted: 3 Mar 2013 09:48pm
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I have a spring fed creek that runs 300 feet thru my land. The current in it is decent, but by no means swift water. I don't believe there is any drop. My property line down stream is a 5 foot drop funneled thru a culvert, quite a rush there. I was wondering if I could mount something right at the head of the culvert. Of course, is have to check with the neighbor. And he might get concerned with blockage. Otherwise, I was wondering if a simple paddle wheel would generate any power.
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exsailor
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# Posted: 5 Mar 2013 12:59pm
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I was looking in my bookmarks that did something very similar. They had a very small head basically water running over a log. They used an automotive squirrel cage blower on a small dc motor and generated power that way until the water froze. What is important to consider is the motor has to generate at a low rpm. Also remember it was low current oputput, but it was 24x7 and that goes a long way. Here are a few links to feed your dreams. http://ludens.cl/paradise/turbine/turbine.html
http://www.canyonhydro.com/guide/HydroGuide2.html
http://www.scoraigwind.com/navbar.htm This one is primarily wind power but there is a wealth of information there about other generation forms as well.
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Coastal
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# Posted: 18 Dec 2013 08:37pm
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I'm looking at a forested 1/4 section that has a year round creek and water rights, this is good info! Thanks!
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groingo
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# Posted: 19 Dec 2013 11:27am
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I have a good stream on my property but unfortunately its behavior has changed pretty dramatically over the past ten years which makes a dam based hydro project nearly impossible with flows ranging from 4.5 fps to over 700 within 24 hours...it gets too crazy on a regular basis these days.
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Coastal
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:17pm
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Could you dig a diversion that the hydro electric setup is in that is metered at the start?
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groingo
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# Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:07pm - Edited by: groingo
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Simply more work than it is worth....the problem with the much more erratic flows come from upstream development.
Typical example, water is currently flowing at 6 cfm, stream depth 4 inches by 10 foot wide but at 700 it jumps to 100 feet wide by over 7 feet deep all within 24 hours of a heavy rain bringing with it upstream logs, stumps and crud...the stream now re-routs itself almost yearly.
Do like I did and see if your stream is registered on the USGS stream registry and you may be able to access the archives like mine which goes back over 50 years to help you make a solid decision.
Also, there are some generators that run on the surface of the water that can accomidate rise and fall of water levels and won't bother fish either.
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Caldwellusa
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# Posted: 26 Jul 2017 12:34pm
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Hello, Would any one know where I can locate information on working in NYS, on building my own local Mini Hydro, to supply power to my possible off grid cabin.
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