Chris Mason explains how he has harnessed his modest mill stream to generate a significant proportion of his domestic electricity. Could you do something similar?
Quite the best UA-cam video there is on small hydro: good camera work held together by an engaging commentary from an engaging gentleman. Altogether you communicate very clearly the varied aspects of this project: technical, operational and financial. Well done indeed!
Nice setup! I think for this location a crossflow / banki turbine is the better choice! In germany we also call it "Ossberger-Turbine". The francis turbine you have used has a good efficiency WHEN water is enough! If the water is on a low level ( summertime ) the efficiency goes down! We see it in many plants. I mostly built crossflow turbines. I like this turbine cause you can take it from 2,5 m and you have no problems with leaves or other things cause the rotation of the turbine have a self cleaning effect! And when it´s less water you go on a smaler runner width!
I wish people could remember the difference between kilowatts and kilowatt hours. kW is an instantaneous measure of power, it is the rate at which work is being done. kWh is a measure of the total work done over a period of time. 1kWh is more properly 3.6 megajoules or MJ. Conflating kWh and kW makes it difficult to work out what he is talking about. He's generating about 48kWh per day, not 2kW per day. It's a bit like saying miles per hour per day. The electricity companies use kWh because it's easy to explain to people. If you run a 1kW electric heater for an hour you have used a unit of electricity.
You have one of the best home generator sets out there. I see you have what appears to be a synchronizer for your small generator. I expect that it must control the speed in order to close the circuit breaker within a 5 degree window otherwise it would do damage to your generator set. Thanks for sharing.
As far as I know, here in Brazil, the power company would only "store" energy for you. For example, solar arrays by day injecting surplus to the grid, then the house draw from the grid at night. They don't pay your surplus if it is a small amount. I know they are planing to change this, though...
Nice little hydro installation. For me it is not even a decision, I am using the water wheel. It is less expensive to replace the copper/bronze bearing liners on a pair of bearing for the waterwheel than to do a new £13,000 hydro install. Personally I believe he should not take public funds(Energy Saving Trust) to do a private hydro project and one where the home owner is getting paid for the excess energy produced. Keep history alive, waterwheels powered the industrial revolution both in the Europe and USA they are certainly good enough to power this bloke's house.
Very clear explanation about the whole process of financing, setting up, mantaining and the grid system. Still a bit sad to not being paid for the last bit of eletricity going to the grid. Maybe not worth it?
Glad my state of Pennsylvania was able to supply you with the equipment!👍 Sad part of it sounds like he has a stupid 'smartmeter' that they won't allow power to go back through to credit!
Judging by his sly grin at the end and age of the property, I'm willing to bet that he has an old clockwork meter which spins backwards when energy flows into the grid, hence not investing the £100ish out of £10k project costs to have the meter changed!
Thank you for sharing this video. I wish you could use the water wheel as well as the micro turbine for some application. Could you add a seond micro turbine to the down pipe so you could harvest the waterflow a second time? I would be inspired to add several auto alternatos to the belt drive to gather more power during peak flow periods. Oh well, it's easier to think about something than it is to do the job! Best Regards from Virginia usa
Back when this system was installed, 2.5kw was the most that head of water could generate. I think you are probably correct that greater efficiency is now possible.
Question why not charge lithium batteries from a MPPT charge controller, this way your initial outlay might seem a lot, but what you will get back is 100% electricity for your home, totally off grid !,,,,,,,,,,just an idea I like Victron Energy unit as the build quality is great
@@ArranEye I did a google search and nothing came up for a micro hydro turbine manufacturer in Pennsylvania. I remember these turbines as they have a stainless steel scroll case which was and is still unusual. Do you remember if the turbine has a tiny Francis runner or small propeller?
It sounds probable that the manufacturer may have ceased trading, or perhaps has been taken over. All we saw is in the video, so I cannot answer your technical question, sorry.
No, they are still in business. Nautilus hydro turbine has pictures of the same older gentleman in your film on their website during the construction phase of the instillation at Ironmacannie Mill, Scotland. Link below for the pictures.
What a bummer. There are many suppliers for small hydro power plant in central europe, espacially in the Alps, because they have eaxct the same small becks like mentiont. Hard to understand why sourcing from over see.
Anton I believe the sourcing problem simply comes down to culture. People around the world understand the concept of conservation but few people have deeply invested in renewable technologies. e.g. here in CA, U.S. we are great promotors/advertisers of renewable energy. It may be the case that gentleman in the video simply googled for suppliers of micro hydro systems. I observed through youtube that people in Europe are very tightknitt, and the companies that you mentioned may simply cater to the microeconomy of a community/state rather than the macroeconomy of the world. Google put up the most popular choice rather than the most practical i.e. Pennsylvania. ; )
Use it or lose it.... give it away to let the power company charge somebody for it. I would only do that if that's a two-way street if you could use theirs and they could use yours both for free. If that's not the case then they need to put a meter up. And there are cheaper alternatives than the lead acid batteries. There's a small fortune there that you're giving away.
Hi Chris - Here's the link for (I believe) the best DIY micro-hydro units in the World; for price, quality, simplicity, durability, cheap spare parts, and ease of maintenance. Check out this URL for both high head and (in your case) low head turbines... www.powerspout.com/
Firstly, lots of people undertake projects like this for reasons other than commercial gain. Secondly, you get the electricity free, on top of the feed-in tariff. Your figures therefore equate to an investment of £50,000! The reality is that this installation paid for itself long ago - and continues to generate income, as well as useful electricity.
There is a saying in this country (U.K) where someone could be described as knowing the price of everything, but the value of nothing. There is another which is self explanatory, and isn't used as a compliment, If the cap fits, wear it!
Quite the best UA-cam video there is on small hydro: good camera work held together by an engaging commentary from an engaging gentleman. Altogether you communicate very clearly the varied aspects of this project: technical, operational and financial. Well done indeed!
This is a very interesting blend of old technology (and an old mill) and new thinking.
and such a lovely looking location
Thanks for your very generous information. Best wishes from Conwy Valley, North Wales. Plenty of potential for micro hydro here.
Glad to share
Nice setup! I think for this location a crossflow / banki turbine is the better choice! In germany we also call it "Ossberger-Turbine". The francis turbine you have used has a good efficiency WHEN water is enough! If the water is on a low level ( summertime ) the efficiency goes down! We see it in many plants. I mostly built crossflow turbines. I like this turbine cause you can take it from 2,5 m and you have no problems with leaves or other things cause the rotation of the turbine have a self cleaning effect! And when it´s less water you go on a smaler runner width!
He could save more by using a heat pump instead of resistive heaters. Nice views of the stream and waterwheel.
that is such a beautiful property and landscape
I wish people could remember the difference between kilowatts and kilowatt hours. kW is an instantaneous measure of power, it is the rate at which work is being done. kWh is a measure of the total work done over a period of time. 1kWh is more properly 3.6 megajoules or MJ. Conflating kWh and kW makes it difficult to work out what he is talking about. He's generating about 48kWh per day, not 2kW per day. It's a bit like saying miles per hour per day. The electricity companies use kWh because it's easy to explain to people. If you run a 1kW electric heater for an hour you have used a unit of electricity.
i was thinking the same thing.
I wish people wouldn't use kWh but the SI unit of Joules! :@
What do you mean by unit?
Very instructive video. Thank you for sharing. I wish I can do something similar one day !
Great job! Enough electricity for one solid household.
You have one of the best home generator sets out there. I see you have what appears to be a synchronizer for your small generator. I expect that it must control the speed in order to close the circuit breaker
within a 5 degree window otherwise it would do damage to your generator set. Thanks for sharing.
Very enjoyabale and very relaxing video to listen to and watch
As far as I know, here in Brazil, the power company would only "store" energy for you. For example, solar arrays by day injecting surplus to the grid, then the house draw from the grid at night. They don't pay your surplus if it is a small amount. I know they are planing to change this, though...
What a gorgeous home!
I kept staring at the small flywheel on the wall behind him it’s very pretty looking
Nice little hydro installation. For me it is not even a decision, I am using the water wheel. It is less expensive to replace the copper/bronze bearing liners on a pair of bearing for the waterwheel than to do a new £13,000 hydro install. Personally I believe he should not take public funds(Energy Saving Trust) to do a private hydro project and one where the home owner is getting paid for the excess energy produced. Keep history alive, waterwheels powered the industrial revolution both in the Europe and USA they are certainly good enough to power this bloke's house.
What a beautiful property!
Great interview !!! Thanks
Very clear explanation about the whole process of financing, setting up, mantaining and the grid system.
Still a bit sad to not being paid for the last bit of eletricity going to the grid. Maybe not worth it?
Glad my state of Pennsylvania was able to supply you with the equipment!👍
Sad part of it sounds like he has a stupid 'smartmeter' that they won't allow power to go back through to credit!
Beautiful setting!
Beautiful system.
Hi Sir, very amazing, really...!! thank u very much for this great idea. .. with the very best regards from Germany
Judging by his sly grin at the end and age of the property, I'm willing to bet that he has an old clockwork meter which spins backwards when energy flows into the grid, hence not investing the £100ish out of £10k project costs to have the meter changed!
Well I hate to brake it down for you but at 3:25 you can see the new meter :). Do you want my paypal for the bet? :P
Thank you for sharing this video. I wish you could use the water wheel as well as the micro turbine for some application.
Could you add a seond micro turbine to the down pipe so you could harvest the waterflow a second time?
I would be inspired to add several auto alternatos to the belt drive to gather more power during peak flow periods.
Oh well, it's easier to think about something than it is to do the job!
Best Regards from Virginia usa
How lucky is he to have that water wheel already there... Very jealous
I love the water gates / flood gates!
With this amount of hydropower you must can generate lot more energy than 2.5 kw.
Why a 2.5 KW system and not 10 kw.
Back when this system was installed, 2.5kw was the most that head of water could generate. I think you are probably correct that greater efficiency is now possible.
At least it should be minimum 5 kw
What a nice man
Indeed, a true gentleman, sadly no longer with us.
Good going! Thanks for posting!
Pure Inspiration
I still would have gone with rebuilding the bushings for the wheel,,but thats just me
use siphon
inverted siphon
with making big pool so continued supply will give continued electrical supply forever
Question why not charge lithium batteries from a MPPT charge controller, this way your initial outlay might seem a lot, but what you will get back is 100% electricity for your home, totally off grid !,,,,,,,,,,just an idea I like Victron Energy unit as the build quality is great
very nice process
Lovely person and an idyllic piece of land.
He’s a pensioner who not only makes his own electricity but can sell electricity to the grid 😁👍
Surely the company in Kendal, who produce turbines, would have had a suitable unit.
Great 'share'. Thank you
That should not freeze,in Canada they can run all the time. Get the air out.
Nice . Life for green energy
What is the name of the US company that built the turbine?
Sadly, I don't remember from fifteen years ago when we made this film. The owner has long since died so I cannot ask him.
@@ArranEye I did a google search and nothing came up for a micro hydro turbine manufacturer in Pennsylvania. I remember these turbines as they have a stainless steel scroll case which was and is still unusual. Do you remember if the turbine has a tiny Francis runner or small propeller?
It sounds probable that the manufacturer may have ceased trading, or perhaps has been taken over. All we saw is in the video, so I cannot answer your technical question, sorry.
No, they are still in business. Nautilus hydro turbine has pictures of the same older gentleman in your film on their website during the construction phase of the instillation at Ironmacannie Mill, Scotland. Link below for the pictures.
Thank you very much for sharing this information Chris. Here's the link: www.waterturbine.com
What a bummer. There are many suppliers for small hydro power plant in central europe, espacially in the Alps, because they have eaxct the same small becks like mentiont. Hard to understand why sourcing from over see.
Anton I believe the sourcing problem simply comes down to culture. People around the world understand the concept of conservation but few people have deeply invested in renewable technologies. e.g. here in CA, U.S. we are great promotors/advertisers of renewable energy. It may be the case that gentleman in the video simply googled for suppliers of micro hydro systems. I observed through youtube that people in Europe are very tightknitt, and the companies that you mentioned may simply cater to the microeconomy of a community/state rather than the macroeconomy of the world. Google put up the most popular choice rather than the most practical i.e. Pennsylvania. ; )
Anton it’s likely that the type of turbine required for the head pressure and flow rate was not available in UK.
Did he say he used radiators? If so he wastes a lot of energy. Heat pumps would be the way to go.
Twelve years ago, heat pumps were not as readily available as now! And remember the scale of this micro-installation.
Use it or lose it.... give it away to let the power company charge somebody for it. I would only do that if that's a two-way street if you could use theirs and they could use yours both for free. If that's not the case then they need to put a meter up. And there are cheaper alternatives than the lead acid batteries. There's a small fortune there that you're giving away.
6m and 100/s would theoretically be 6kw in the real world about 4kw
If you only get 60kwh/day somebody messed something seriously up
si le paradis etait sur terre il ressemblerait a ça !
No. I don't have a mill stream.
Hi Chris - Here's the link for (I believe) the best DIY micro-hydro units in the World; for
price, quality, simplicity, durability, cheap spare parts, and ease of maintenance.
Check out this URL for both high head and (in your case) low head turbines... www.powerspout.com/
at 15 Cents per KW.. It would take 18.6 years till you received a payback..
Firstly, lots of people undertake projects like this for reasons other than commercial gain. Secondly, you get the electricity free, on top of the feed-in tariff. Your figures therefore equate to an investment of £50,000! The reality is that this installation paid for itself long ago - and continues to generate income, as well as useful electricity.
your math is wrong, 60 kw hours a day that's 9 bucks a day 3285 dollars a year
There is a saying in this country (U.K) where someone could be described as knowing the price of everything, but the value of nothing. There is another which is self explanatory, and isn't used as a compliment, If the cap fits, wear it!