# Thermal????



## ARC (Jul 16, 2015)

I offered a different source of energy here and and took time out of my day to explain how it works and a guide for building such a powerful device. Being met with the tunnel vision of members here I replaced my original post with this message. I will not waste anymore time here on this forum to help open eyes to a lot of different possibilities. Good Luck 

Have fun with dynamos!


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)




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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

my opinion? These stoves can run a few hundred dollars? just to charge a cellphone? I think you are better off with a solar panel, and a $10 dynamo for emergency night time use.

but there is something to say about diversity.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Making a "dynamo" is fairly easy but it takes power to run it. it takes 1 HP to make 746 watts.
If we use a car type alternator (an old school one) a 42 amp alternator will make about 546 watts of power and take under 1 HP to do it.
Take a used bicycle and remove the rear tire. (leave the wheel on the bike)
Mount the alternator as close to the wheel as you can and get a belt to fit around the wheel and the alternator pulley. 
Use the adjusting point on the alternator to make sure the belt is tight.
Connect the alternator to a regulator and then to a 12 volt battery.
When you start to pedal the bike the alternator will begin to charge the battery.
You can connect a 60 amp ammeter and a 15 volt voltmeter to monitor the state of the battery charge. 
Connect a "cigarette lighter" (automotive style) to the battery with the proper fuse and get a USB charge cable for a car to use to charge your devices.
You can keep the battery charged to 80% or above and it will last for 10 or more years.
It will take about two hours to completely charge a low battery and two hours turning an alternator will be a big workout.
With a pure sine wave inverter you cold run a computer on this system for a few hours before you had to recharge the battery but a laptop or tablet could be run a lot longer before recharging.
The fully charged battery will have an open circuit voltage of 13.2 to 13.8 volts. The ammeter will read a lower charge rate as the battery charges. When the battery is low it will charge at close to the full 42 amps but as it gets fully charged the rate will drop to less than 3 amps. (it is easier to keep the battery charged up than it is to let it drain to 50% and then recharge it.


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## ARC (Jul 16, 2015)

tinkerhell said:


> my opinion? These stoves can run a few hundred dollars? just to charge a cellphone? I think you are better off with a solar panel, and a $10 dynamo for emergency night time use.
> 
> but there is something to say about diversity.


I covered that in the beginning of my post. I built my own that can easily produce over 32 volts of DC current. I can power far more than just a little cellphone. Also what I have built does not use a stove. It can use hot or a cold source and only the size of a hardback book. What is in the video you posted is child's play compared to what can be built using a series of modules.

Seriously, read my post before condemning it.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

The best use of thermal energy is to cool a home in the summer. It requires digging a 12 foot deep hole about the same size in square feet as your house. Put about six inches of sand in the hole. Lay in a grid of aluminum or copper pipe that will flow enough air to completely exchange the air in your home in about two hours. Bring the inlet end of the grid to the surface and attach some filters to it. Build a little house around it to keep the rain off but have it ventilated so air can flow easily into the system through the filters. The exhaust end should be connected to your furnace blower to blow the cool air throughout your home. Cover the grid with a foot of sand and then back fill with the dirt you dug out. (this would be a great place to put a garden since it is all freshly dug dirt)

When the temperature outside is 90F you turn on the blower fan on your heater without the furnace running. The 90F air goes into the geo-grid and is cooled by the ground to 55F and then circulated through your home. You only pay for the cost of running the fan which is about 1/3 the cost of running an air conditioner and you keep your home cool all sumer long. You could have the thermostat wired in to automatically control the fan to keep the house at a steady 70 to 80F temperature. If you don't do that then you have to manually control the temperature by turning the fan on and off when it needs attention.

You will have to have a damper to shut the cool air off in the winter so you can recycle the warm air in your home instead of heating the 55F air in the geo-grid to the 70F for your home.

This system is easier to install with a new home but it is possible to add to an existing home if you have the property required for the geo-grid.


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## ARC (Jul 16, 2015)

PaulS, The Thermoelectric generator has no moving parts to wear out and you don't have to waste time and energy to keep it producing energy.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Well, you have to heat one side and cool the other side. That takes energy of some kind....


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## ARC (Jul 16, 2015)

PaulS, I am talking about Thermoelectric and a device for generating electricity.


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## ARC (Jul 16, 2015)

PaulS said:


> Well, you have to heat one side and cool the other side. That takes energy of some kind....


It uses wasted energy from a camp fire or cold water/snow for producing energy. I don't have to waste time and energy powering a dynamo and independent of the sun or hydro for power.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

How many volt/amps can you produce in mid summer, and how much wood do you have to burn to make it? (I can see that it would be a natural in the winter - you have to use the fire to heat the home and you have the cold outside air to cool the other side) but in the summer running a fire is bad enough when you have to cook but how do you cool the cold side in 90F weather?


Arc,
The thermo electric devices have been around a long time and in some cases they can produce usable power. Space is a perfect place for them because the side that faces the sun is over 800F and the side in the shadows is -470F. The difference in temperature determines the amount of power developed. 
They are also useful to use power to make cold or heat (actually both) but their efficiency is quite low until the temperature differential is quite high.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

i have one of those bio lite stoves got it last spring took me about five seconds to understand the usefulness of it- -it is cool and works -spending a couple hundred dollars just to charge a cell phone out in the boonies all while cooking up some beans and making a pot of coffee = priceless 
dynamos got moving parts and will break this is a stove burns wood or anything you can stuff in there when there all in the package about the size of a 1 liter bottle of water and sturdy.
summer -winter a fire is always welcome out in the sticks.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

ARC said:


> I offered a different source of energy here and and took time out of my day to explain how it works and a guide for building such a powerful device. Being met with the tunnel vision of members here I replaced my original post with this message. I will not waste anymore time here on this forum to help open eyes to a lot of different possibilities. Good Luck
> 
> Have fun with dynamos!


I clicked the link hoping to have a good read and gain some info - instead I find the above


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

here maine.
BioLite CampStove | Burn Wood, Cook Meals, Charge Gear
all I can say is it works,portable, and I like and recommend it to any outdoors person.


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

If you boys don't play nice I'm going to give all of you a TIME OUT!

I mean it


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## James m (Mar 11, 2014)

In this corner with the red trunks weighting in at 198# and fighting out of wherever.

And in this corner with the blue trunks weighting in at 198# and fighting out of somewhere else.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Already got thermoelectric production. Caframo Ecofan AirMax Heat-powered Wood Stove Fan - Nickel | WoodlandDirect.com: Blowers, Fans & Fireplace Heaters

Sits on my woodstove and makes a slight breeze but it takes a lot of heat to make a little power and I guess it could charge a phone. I think I'll stick with solar.


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