Homebrewed Electricity > Temporary power
Generator on LPG
aka47:
On generators
I am currently looking around for a cheap marinised engine to use as a genset prime mover. The cooling circuit then can heat up other stuff I want heated and save me generating electricity to do it. Marinised engines also usually have an exhaust manifold/water tank fitted.
I have always been a bit non plussed about the whole generating electricity to heat stuff whist throwing away the heat (that is is always around twice the energy of the electricity produced)
For an off grid application combined heat and power has to be the way to go.
Air cooled gen sets are a touch more challenging when it comes to using the hot air.
Bruce S:
One of the long time posters on here did a tri-gen. It'll take me a bit to look through the old posts to remember his login name, but perhaps someone else can find it quicker.
There were also posts about people using air-cooled engines with copper wrapped around the cylinder and head to effectively cool the engine while heating up water/antifreeze.
Hope this helps
Bruce S
tanner0441:
Hi
Many years ago here in the UK there were some houses built that had a device called a TOTEM Total Energy Management Sytem. It was a generator running on natural gas, it supplied all the electrical power required by the house the cooling water and heat scavenged from the ehaust was used for domestic hot water and heating.
I don't know how the system performed but after the fan fare to anounce it the whole thing faded into obscurity and was never heard of again.
I have a 2Kw suitcase inverter generator with intelegent throttle for my camper and a 2.5Kw as a stand by unit after living in an area where everytime the wind went above 20MPH the power went off. One christmas after a big storm nearly two weeks. During thst time the Utility company were using me to boil their kettles for their hut they used for breaks, which I thought was a good thing as they kept me supplied in fuel, in fact a very good deal I had several 5 gallon containers of the stuff sitting in the corner of my workshop.
Brian
tanner0441:
Hi
They still make the units. The now call them CHP combinede heat and power But they are aimed at hospitals, hotels and leasure centers because to be viable they have to run 24/7 at 80% or more load.
Brian
kitestrings:
Hi aka47,
I'm not sure you will find something in a small package with these type of features, but putting something together might be possible. I would assume starting with a water-cooled unit would be easier to adapt. And of course "cheap" (inexpensive, but durable, marinized) will be a reach I suspect.
The goal of course is to be efficient and have the best 'fit' for the application. Chris O posted an interesting piece on something called "generator support". It is a Xantrex/Schneider feature that allows the generator and the inverter to combine efforts to serve a load; so a heavier load can be served with a smaller generator (and/or less batteries). You might find it of interest and can easily google it on this board.
I agree that generating to then turn around and dump it into a resistor for heating something seems long a long way around the barn. We still cook toast on the gas-top, though I should use a toaster in the summer months.
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