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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> >I don't know if anyone on the list is doing wind generation, but this
> is as good a price as I've seen for a generator:

Warren, that generator is only 27" across (blade span) and so its claims of 
400 watts is impressive.  I looked up their website to see the wattage vs. 
windspeed  and typically did not find it.  There is a chart there saying that 
if 
your 'average' wind speed is 10, 12, or 14 mph then you could run a list of 
appliances  on a "typical" week.  

10 mph avarage wind speed doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it is.  It 
means that if you had two hours of dead calm then the winds would have to 
blow at 
30 mph for an hour to maintian the 10 mph average.  I've never lived in a 
place that had anything approaching 10 mph average windspeed.

Then look at the chart  
(http://www.sunforceproducts.com/popup.asp?image=%2Fprodinfo%2Fimages%2Fwindchart1.jpg)
You are supposed to be able to run a bilge pump, cb radio, 10 watts of 
lights, a 12" tv, and a laptop computer for a "typical" week.  But what's a 
typical 
week.  I used to look on the package of lightbulbs that claimed they were 
good 
for five years ... the fine print said that the five years was at one hour 
use per day four days a week.    The chart really tells you nothing.  Is the 
'typical' use to have the TV on for half an hour a day and one hour on the 
laptop?

Unless for some reason you do not have access to the grid, most of these 
alternate system  require you to use so very little electricity that if you 
use 
that much now, it wouldn't be any expense at all for you.  For a very remote 
cabin where the electricity use is minimum in the extreme, this system might 
be 
feasible.  But if I were going to that cabin for a weekend once in a while, 
I'd 
rig a few deep cycle batteries in the truck, charge them on the trip there, 
and get by a lot cheaper than the alternate system.

(And by the bye, even my suggestion isn't completely free.  The extra drag on 
the alternator would cost in gasoline and momentum.)

James