Immersion Heater (240V) - powering with a wind turbine

[JonathanAnon]

Hey lads,

My crazy old man has a wind turbine and doesnt think he's realising any energy because of a battery bank (of car batteries) that is sucking away all the power being generated. He really didnt think it through properly before putting it together tbh...

But his latest great idea is to take the power directly from the wind turbine, as A/C, and power a heating element.... Most of the immersion heaters that I can get here are 240V A/C, which can be connected to the mains.

What will happen if I hook up a lower A/C to the heater, will it just not heat up? Or could I put a transformer to step up the voltage.... (though this will kill the current)... The more I think about it, it's probably a stupid idea..

Is he still crazy or can I get this to work? Be aware that this idea has come from the same man that thought there was somebody taking his picture on his laptop one day, and set it on fire...

[tom66]

Re: Immersion Heater (240V) - powering with a wind turbine

Lower AC will heat proportionally less, according to a square law. For example half the AC will heat equivalent to 1/4 the power. A heating element to a motor/turbine is essentially a short circuit, so it may not start by driving it directly. You might have to switch it in after the turbine is spinning.

A better solution is solar water heating.

[trebo]

Re: Immersion Heater (240V) - powering with a wind turbine

Hey lads,

My crazy old man has a wind turbine and doesnt think he's realising any energy because of a battery bank (of car batteries) that is sucking away all the power being generated. He really didnt think it through properly before putting it together tbh...

But his latest great idea is to take the power directly from the wind turbine, as A/C, and power a heating element.... Most of the immersion heaters that I can get here are 240V A/C, which can be connected to the mains.

What will happen if I hook up a lower A/C to the heater, will it just not heat up? Or could I put a transformer to step up the voltage.... (though this will kill the current)... The more I think about it, it's probably a stupid idea..

Is he still crazy or can I get this to work? Be aware that this idea has come from the same man that thought there was somebody taking his picture on his laptop one day, and set it on fire...

I wish I had one like that,(old man I mean) LOL