Electric is expensive..... Hydro power from the sink?

[edro]

Our apartment is a 4 bedroom with like 7 computer running near 24/7 as well as 5 TVs and lots of lights and heat / A/C is all electric. Our electric bill is like $200 a month. The plus side is that that water is free. Is there a way to hook up a hydroelectric generator to our sink and make some power? Like to run maybe just a room or something? haha I know I will need a way to store the power (like 10 car batteries) and I would then need a high wattage inverter to convert it back to AC.

Anyone have any input?

 

[Colt45]

it can be done, but if you use THAT much water, some one will notice and youre going to have to pay for it..

 

[Placer14]

Maybe if you setup the hydro power generator in a manmade waterfall. No wasted water and some free power. Everyone wins.

I dad can build a lifesize waterfall for a small fee.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Hahaha this is funny, I dont think you can get a significant amount of power from that.

 

[Placer14]

Originally posted by: Dark4ng3l
Hahaha this is funny, I dont think you can get a significant amount of power from that.

Hmm..get a pump that pushed a few hundred gallons an hour and I think you could get the generator running pretty fast. All you'd need is electricity for the pump.

Or maybe make it self powered!!! YEA...then you could jump start the wheel like in Whell of Fortune! YES! I'm patenting the idea, no one can take it now!!

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: edro13
Our apartment is a 4 bedroom with like 7 computer running near 24/7 as well as 5 TVs and lots of lights and heat / A/C is all electric. Our electric bill is like $200 a month. The plus side is that that water is free. Is there a way to hook up a hydroelectric generator to our sink and make some power? Like to run maybe just a room or something? haha I know I will need a way to store the power (like 10 car batteries) and I would then need a high wattage inverter to convert it back to AC.

Anyone have any input?

laugh.... Just don't spend your money on weed, and you won't have any problem paying the electric bill.

Seriously, though.. No. It takes a lot of energy to drive a generator. You aren't going to get the pressure and volume of water you need out of your faucet.

Just start turning things off when they're not in use. Replace all the lights in the house with Compact Fluorescent. It will be expensive to do the initial switchover, but if you have a lot of lights on all the time, it could make a huge difference.

Since you have electric heat, make sure you are only heating the room that the heat is turned on in. Close the doors to the rooms that don't need to be heated.

You do realize that high wattage inverters run anywhere from 500 - 5000$, right? And you're going to need one of the better ones if you want to run things like your computer.

If you really are interested in producing your own power, buy a small(5000 - 10000W) generator, and convert it to run on Ethanol. You would then have to apply for a Fuel-alcohol license with the Feds. If you know that water boils at 212°F and ethanol boils at 172.9°F, you're half way there.

You could then legally build a small still and start producing alcohol, for fuel use. If you were resourceful, you could obtain fermentable materials(including waste from your own house) for virtually nothing. Hit up all the grocery stores in the area for produce that they would just normally throw away. Assuming your fermentables are virtually free, you could make 180 proof ethanol for less than 50 cents a gallon, if you make 50 - 75 gallons at a time.

You would need approx. 2,000lbs(1 ton) of fermentables a month to produce 50 - 75 gallons of ethanol a month.

 

[lowtech1]

LOL!

During my late teen, my roommate & I rigged up a garden-hose to a second-hand radiator at our apartment for the winter (hot water was free, but electricity weren?t), because we were poor/cheap students.

 

[lowtech1]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: edro13
Our apartment is a 4 bedroom with like 7 computer running near 24/7 as well as 5 TVs and lots of lights and heat / A/C is all electric. Our electric bill is like $200 a month. The plus side is that that water is free. Is there a way to hook up a hydroelectric generator to our sink and make some power? Like to run maybe just a room or something? haha I know I will need a way to store the power (like 10 car batteries) and I would then need a high wattage inverter to convert it back to AC.

Anyone have any input?

laugh.... Just don't spend your money on weed, and you won't have any problem paying the electric bill.

Seriously, though.. No. It takes a lot of energy to drive a generator. You aren't going to get the pressure and volume of water you need out of your faucet.

Just start turning things off when they're not in use. Replace all the lights in the house with Compact Fluorescent. It will be expensive to do the initial switchover, but if you have a lot of lights on all the time, it could make a huge difference.

Since you have electric heat, make sure you are only heating the room that the heat is turned on in. Close the doors to the rooms that don't need to be heated.

You do realize that high wattage inverters run anywhere from 500 - 5000$, right? And you're going to need one of the better ones if you want to run things like your computer.

If you really are interested in producing your own power, buy a small(5000 - 10000W) generator, and convert it to run on Ethanol. You would then have to apply for a Fuel-alcohol license with the Feds. If you know that water boils at 212°F and ethanol boils at 172.9°F, you're half way there.

You could then legally build a small still and start producing alcohol, for fuel use. If you were resourceful, you could obtain fermentable materials(including waste from your own house) for virtually nothing. Hit up all the grocery stores in the area for produce that they would just normally throw away. Assuming your fermentables are virtually free, you could make 180 proof ethanol for less than 50 cents a gallon, if you make 50 - 75 gallons at a time.

You would need approx. 2,000lbs(1 ton) of fermentables a month to produce 50 - 75 gallons of ethanol a month.

You can also look into converting cooking oil & grease into fuel, then hit your local restaurants for waste fried grease.

Biodiesel.org

 

[heartsurgeon]

why don't you use power conservation modes on your computers (for that matter - why are they "on" 24/7? ) or maybe just turn them off.....
as for the televisions and lights - cut back!

no radical ideas here - just learn to conserve your money (electricity)

if your cold - wear a sweater

get a programmable thermostat to turn your heat down during the day and up at night (winter)

you may as well get going now on some improved power usage habits - because later in life you'll be faced with the same problems and even higher costs -
i own a home, and some months (very cold or very hot) our power bills have been as much as $600/month! - suddenly, you get real use to wearing a sweater, turning out lights, and sleeping under a comforter at nite, to try and get that power bill lower.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: lowtech

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: edro13
Our apartment is a 4 bedroom with like 7 computer running near 24/7 as well as 5 TVs and lots of lights and heat / A/C is all electric. Our electric bill is like $200 a month. The plus side is that that water is free. Is there a way to hook up a hydroelectric generator to our sink and make some power? Like to run maybe just a room or something? haha I know I will need a way to store the power (like 10 car batteries) and I would then need a high wattage inverter to convert it back to AC.

Anyone have any input?

laugh.... Just don't spend your money on weed, and you won't have any problem paying the electric bill.

Seriously, though.. No. It takes a lot of energy to drive a generator. You aren't going to get the pressure and volume of water you need out of your faucet.

Just start turning things off when they're not in use. Replace all the lights in the house with Compact Fluorescent. It will be expensive to do the initial switchover, but if you have a lot of lights on all the time, it could make a huge difference.

Since you have electric heat, make sure you are only heating the room that the heat is turned on in. Close the doors to the rooms that don't need to be heated.

You do realize that high wattage inverters run anywhere from 500 - 5000$, right? And you're going to need one of the better ones if you want to run things like your computer.

If you really are interested in producing your own power, buy a small(5000 - 10000W) generator, and convert it to run on Ethanol. You would then have to apply for a Fuel-alcohol license with the Feds. If you know that water boils at 212°F and ethanol boils at 172.9°F, you're half way there.

You could then legally build a small still and start producing alcohol, for fuel use. If you were resourceful, you could obtain fermentable materials(including waste from your own house) for virtually nothing. Hit up all the grocery stores in the area for produce that they would just normally throw away. Assuming your fermentables are virtually free, you could make 180 proof ethanol for less than 50 cents a gallon, if you make 50 - 75 gallons at a time.

You would need approx. 2,000lbs(1 ton) of fermentables a month to produce 50 - 75 gallons of ethanol a month.

You can also look into converting cooking oil & grease into fuel, then hit your local restaurants for waste fried grease.

Biodiesel.org

Yes, definately. This idea is cheaper than mine.

 

[venk]

Originally posted by: Placer14

Originally posted by: Dark4ng3l
Hahaha this is funny, I dont think you can get a significant amount of power from that.

Hmm..get a pump that pushed a few hundred gallons an hour and I think you could get the generator running pretty fast. All you'd need is electricity for the pump.

Or maybe make it self powered!!! YEA...then you could jump start the wheel like in Whell of Fortune! YES! I'm patenting the idea, no one can take it now!!

pffffffffttt...........al he needs is a perpeptual motion machine.

 

[911paramedic]

Four bedrooms, so there are four of you? That is only $50 each, whats the problem?

And no, you will never get much from using your water, not to mention the absurd waste.

 

[mithrandir2001]

Originally posted by: edro13
Our apartment is a 4 bedroom with like 7 computer running near 24/7 as well as 5 TVs and lots of lights and heat / A/C is all electric. Our electric bill is like $200 a month. The plus side is that that water is free.

Ha! $200 a month and you think it's high. Columbus, OH isn't exactly a warm place in the winter either.

I have a 1200 sq ft 2 bedroom townhouse, 1 PC (on about 6 hours a day), 2 TVs, fluorescent lighting all around, brand new high-efficiency heat pump, brand new low-E argon-filled windows, electric hot water/dryer. My bill for December is $120 for 1133KWH of usage. It'll probably go up to $170 when the arctic air inevitably blasts through in Jan/Feb. That's a lot for a house with one person especially since my house is on the Residential Heating rate plan, which features reduced kwh prices in the winter months. And my heat pump rarely employs the backup 10KW eletric resistance strips that REALLY make the meter spin.

Talking about electric bills...I was Treasurer of my fraternity in college and we had an 80 year old colonial brick house, 25 bedrooms, 4 stories, electric heating (though gas cooking and hot water) and cheap commercial rates. One month (Jan 1994) our electric bill was $2112 for 35,200KWH (!!) of usage. Nobody cared about energy efficiency and I calculated that over the 1993 Christmas holiday between 12/18/1993 and 1/8/1994 the empty fraternity house used $778 worth of electricity. People probably left their windows ajar or something.

 

[hagbard]

Stick a tube up your butt and run the turbine on methane?