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Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 8:58 am
by DonJon
This looks to be an interesting option for adding charging to battery banks in the winter! Either by using the COLD or just mounting it to a wood stove or other heater.

http://youtu.be/dMD4GlzLPzw

I watched the entire vid because it got the thought processes going.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 7:34 pm
by techman
Yes, these work. I plan to make one soon. But some of them do not produce very much power and they cost a lot of money.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:17 am
by DonJon

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 1:30 pm
by techman
I cannot watch any videos at the moment, so please give a bit of description to your posts.

Thanks

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:53 am
by Wingnut247
I use one of these

http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/cf_ecofan.php

They take a minute to warm up... But they work well.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 9:11 pm
by Dave Thacker
I have a Peltier device to experiment with. I suppose it might be possible to arrange some of them on the side of the wood stove. On those cold cloudy days and also all night while the stove is burning, you could be making electricity. Any other situation, it would be simpler and more effective to invest in more solar and storage. However, it would be fun to try to build an 18 to 24v unit with 1 amps of output. Something that could be connected through a diode to the charge controller.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Wed May 15, 2013 10:06 am
by techman
Yes, it would work and one day I might do it just for fun, but honestly it is much more cost effective to make a windmill or buy solar panels. The thermoelectric generators are very low power per dollar investment.

Just for fun they are cool unless you have a couple thousand to invest in a larger system.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 7:22 am
by solarway
techman wrote:Yes, it would work and one day I might do it just for fun, but honestly it is much more cost effective to make a windmill or buy solar panels. The thermoelectric generators are very low power per dollar investment.

Just for fun they are cool unless you have a couple thousand to invest in a larger system.
I concur, anyone who has used a solid state beer cooler knows how inefficient they are. You would have to throw them on a fire and cool the other side just to get a few amps. They have their uses when you have extra free power to spare for cooling off beer. Be ready to start your car before the battery runs down though :)

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 6:23 pm
by techman
With the recent heat, and my following sickness from heat exhaustion, I am thinking about another possible use for a Peltier element.

I wonder how many amps you need to make a solid state air conditioner using these. A standard air conditioner uses a lot of power to run. More than I can get out of my current setup. But I was almost able to run my 75 watt thermoelectric cooler 24/7 as long as the sun shines during the day.

I wonder if I could use this thing to cool water in a tube which is then pumped in front of a small 12 volt fan. It would never be able to bring the room temperature down at all, but it may feel good locally pointed at my face or body.

A few years ago I used ice water in a cooler pumped in front of a fan. But my tiny fridge has an even tinier freezer. No chance of making enough ice this year. Anyway, the thing worked as long as I sat right in front of the fan.

Re: Simple Thermoelectric Generator

Posted: Fri May 24, 2013 2:01 am
by solarway
If your fridge can't create enough ice to support that, which is sort of like running the tubes into the fridge and pumping cold water that way, then you need more energy than your fridge is drawing.

A 5000 BTU A/C will take about 500W when running, but in a small space like the trailer it would probably cycle on and off.

You could even make the space it has to cool smaller with a plastic "divider" of some sort to make the space smaller.