Am I right to be skeptical?

[motoman465]

Hello, everyone.  While wasting time today surfing the net I happended upon a site that reviewed three kits for making solar panels and wind turbines.  I am very skeptical of their claims.  What do you think?

Thanks,

Todd

http://www.44power.com/infowars/

[spinningmagnets]

(sarcasm filter: OFF) Sooo...this is an "unbiased" site that has looked at everything available, and has determined that these 3 information packets ("under" $100 each) that will show you how to save "up to" 40% on your power in a very easy DIY way...is the BEST thing available on the entire internet.

What else have they reviewed and tested? anything in the field of weight-reduction or hair loss prevention?

(sarcasm filter: ON) yes, you should be skeptical, I wouldn't waste one dollar trying to find out if any of it is at all useful. Just my opinion...Best of luck!

[DigitalMind]

Howdy !

Yeah spinningmagnets has it about right.  I run a website and have some of these ads on my site, but the fact of the matter is they're online books that show you all the same stuff as here, but with much less information.  If you REALLY wanna learn about it, spend time on this site and do lots of googling.

They're not realistic about how much it costs to get it done, and about how much power you really generate, or even how "easy" it is to do.

They DO in fact have lots of important information there, and it'll combine lots of reading into one nice little package, but it's never as easy as they make it sound. If it's worth a hundred dollars (or $20 or whatever) to have a book with lots of information in one place go for it, but it's not ALL the information you'll need.

In short, every single one of those programs are part of the clickbank affiliate program and give the website owner about $25 for every sale refferal that goes through them.

The people here at otherpower and fieldlines just released they're own book, you should get that one.  Atleast they REALLY know what they're talking about and have done it more than once for themselves before writing a book about it, unlike most of those places.  

[bazz]

I bought the eart4energy. It does have some good info in it and give you simple ideas. Its written for a total noob and explains how you can get the parts cheap or free...with a bit of hunting. To be honest it has helped me a lot as for simple resource. I think I would suggest it for someone who has no clue as to how to start the process. Then again I'm a noob...a techie, but still a noob.

So in short....Its a good resource with a central location of most info in noob terms. It gives simple ebay searches for the parts you will need, or ideas how to get the stuff free.

So as for the other books...can you point me in that direction....I might be interested in them.

[spinningmagnets]

Dear bazz, this is useful information. I have always lived by the Mark Twain quote: "Never ask a barber if you need a haircut" as the answer is always yes no matter what the truth is. When somebody is selling something, I expect exaggerated sales claims.

You say that you've found it to be a useful resource for a noob. My "skepticism meter" pegged out when they said is was "less than $100", so, could you please tell me how much the Earth4energy set is in USD? Thanks!

[motoman465]

Thanks, Spinningmagnets.  I felt very skeptical about it but wanted opinions of those who have more knowledge about RE than I do.  I am planning on getting The Dan's new book, probably in a couple more weeks.  

I just wish I could put some of the info to work.  Kind of hard to build anything right now considering I live in a mobile home park.

Todd

[bazz]

I bought it for $49.97 USD

As for how to get the stuff for free. I'll give you one that I came up with (dont want to infringe)

So one of the claims it batteries can be recondition. So they give you ideas of the types of places to look.

The one I came up with is a golf court. So I figured that I could call around the local golf court places and ask for who does the maintenance on the carts. From there (I think) I plan on asking if I could have the batteries that they are getting rid of.

So in theory its free/cheap, and it gives me a bank if I can recondition them.

So its a lot of stuff like that, and a lot of how to get things cheap, how and where to look. For those in the states (Freecycle= free stuff)

I did have a few problems with some of the windmill instructions and shot off an email.

At this point though I have seen some things on here that give me the wow factor that I want to try. Only problem......I'm clueless as of the moment. I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of silly questions from me....Such as I when someone pointed this thread http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2008/4/4/23164/05034 I found it very fasanating and wonder if I shoud give this ago. (And not a tredmill motor I was gonna try.)

I guess we will see what happens.

Once again...I think the earth4energy package is good for a noob....but its a lot of the same info that is all over the web. One key thing is... I know nothing about electricity or motors, for the most part tell you what you need so there is no guess work. I think that is the key thing.

Kinda like what I was stating above...I'd like to get a large motor, but now do I need to look at different parts or can I keep to the same configuration that are in the plans. Heck...I dont even know how or where I can get a tower to mount the thing on...lol

Hope that helps, and sorry for going on and on.

[bazz]

Can you point me to the book, or the name of it so I can find it. Thanks

[DanB]

We got a copy just out of curiosity because it seems to show up everywhere.  At the price, it's very limited information - not many pages, huge text and very very misleading/decietful advertizing in my opinion - claims of building your own wind turbine for about $40 that will reduce your electricity bill at all are misleading and all the hype is also misleading.  There is also a fair bit of nonsense in the book itself.  I would personally never support such stuff but that's my opinion.  There are good books on the topic for much less that contain a lot more information.  

[bazz]

I guess that is the ignorance of a noob. (me) For someone like me I have really nothing to compare it to, so I guess that is why it would look reasonable to someone like me.

I didnt see anything about building a turbine for $40, but I did see for about $200.

Was that in an add? I'm going by the pdf. I wish I could post the info so folks could make up their own mind.

However..If you have someone who is looking at it that know what they are looking at, chances are its not all that good. If you have someone like me (who has no idea) then it will look good.

BTW the windmill project in the PDF does have a lot of missing info.

[SparWeb]

Am I right to be skeptical?

Your question answers itself!  If you weren't you wouldn't ask, and if you are, you don't have to ask.  Always be skeptical.  I try to be skeptical of even the most reputable companies.  

How many things have I bought that must have been given "environmental testing" on the lawn of the head office in California?  How many "new software" packages just put a new face on the old code?  How many "new" books just re-hash the science developed 50 years ago?  How many magazines promote products that they haven't thoroughly tested themselves?  You didn't seriously believe Microsoft when they said that Vista would be "better" or "faster", did you?

[TomW]

Steven;

You didn't seriously believe Microsoft when they said that Vista would be "better" or "faster", did you?

No, but those users oo'ing and ahh'ing over "Mojave" on TV sure convinced me.

Funny stuff when a company chooses deceptive damage control ads over fixing the product.

It said Windows Vista or better was required to run the software so I installed Debian 4.0 "Etch". Heh.

Tom

Tom

[wooferhound]

Yeah that's me too, I had trouble with a Windows install, so I downloaded Ubuntu Linux and decided to learn a new operating system. Maybe soon I'll be surfing the internet on the Linux machine.

[Madscientist267]

I think I would stay right here. Many minds, tons and tons of experience all over the place in almost every conceivable area, and best of all (coughing) --- FREE!!!

A "$297" value for "$47" should say it all, and there's no technical mention anywhere in there to support the numbers. Red flags everywhere.

And don't worry Woof, as long as you remember Linux isn't Windows, you'll be just fine. Just like a homebrew power system, it takes some tinkering to get it just how you need it to be. But when it all clicks into place, well...

Steve