Greetings. I will keep this short and at least minimally relevant for my first post.
I live near a transition point between a zone 1 wind and zone 2 wind location within Illinois. The maps are not very precise and I can only guestimate as to which side of the line I am living.. (I am guestimating zone 2). Typical wind conditions at ground level are breezes that can whip ones hair around a bit, with stronger gusts that can make dustdevils.. winter months the wind, of course, is much stronger and more steady. Unfortunately I live within city limits with a few trees and neighbors nearby, so tall towers will not be possible.
That being said, I am beginning to spend my 'free' time working toward longterm energy savings. To begin with, I have begun swapping out old 60-watt lights for CF's at 15 or 13 watts.. (Only have like 4 left to do.. but with very low income the extra money is not yet there to just go out and buy them all at once.) Between that and making the kids turn off the computers when they are not using them, etc, I have managed to cut monthly KWh from roughly 1,250 in winter to 980 this last month. (Made a big difference in energy bill.. almost $30.00 USD savings at about 9c per kwh)
I have been thinking of starting small.. not much money available to invest into this each month.. but I figure the savings from one month will increase the ammount I can invest the next month, which will of course mean more potential monthly decreases in energy bills.
I have researched solar power and wind power for several weeks (Been driving my wife nuts with it) and have decided that while I am waiting for our money situation to allow me a larger investment, I would tinker with some old dead boxfans. (I have 3 Lasko boxfans that stopped working in the past 4 years.)
I have taken them apart and cleaned the inside of all dust and debris, (one which could not even be forcibly turned by hand now spins effortlessly) and have reassembled them with their original fan blades. These motors were from 20" box fans manufactured by Lasko.. they are rated 0.8 amp 120v.. just unplugging a working fan and hooking it up to a borrowed meter I was able to read 0.5 amps approx by hand-spinning it.. although the needle jumped from 0 to 500 and back several times per rotation so was near impossible to tell if it went much past 500.
Holding them outside above my head, the stronger breezes were able to make them spin up on their own, so I know that some low power current can be created from them at or near ground level.
My current 'problem' is this.. When disassembling them, one of the motors had the power 'ribbon' of 4 wires removed from the entry point to the motor. This was done prior to me even thinking of converting them into wind electric generators.
I have one of the three that still has the original cable inserted as per factory release. The ribbon has 1 edge painted blue. I am 'assuming' that the blue edge is the 'neutral' or 'return' line, and the other three within the ribbon are the 3 power lines for the three-speed switch leading to the coils. Am I correct in this?
I realize they will not generate much useful power.. but I have to start somewhere. and with very limited funds at this point.
Apologies if this is too long (I tend to be longwinded) but as I have very little experience in motors or generators and minimal electrical experience, I felt it woudl be best to be verbose in this 1st posting in order to fully explain the situation here... and that as time goes by I will learn more and be able to be more concise in my postings.
Anyway, a big thanks in advance for any helpful tips, hints, links, and advice. (And yes, I am still reading through the forum as I go)
Peace
UOAbigail