, “. ~ .- ,_ . * -I ' REFERENCE- .? -BBRARY p ;A ~~~ect;~~~vol ...

Introduction
line or kerosene generators to charge their
batteries, and the addition of wind power
helped reduce fuel costs and wear-and-tear
on generators. Out of all this backyard activity
grew the pre-REA windcharger industry.
Some half-millron wind systems once existed
in the United Statesalone, but it’s not clear
‘from hrstorical records whether this number
includes the water pumpers along with the
windchargers.
Farmers used wind-generated electricity
to power a radio. one or two lights for reading.
eventually an electric refrigerator. or a
wronger washing r nachine, and not much
else. Electric irons f or pressing clothes, electric
shavers. and ( ther gadgets built to run
on direct current appeared, but most of
these proved un r ealistic uses for windgenerated
electric power. In fact, they may
have contributed to the demise of wind electrrcrty
when rural electrification began. Electric
appliances performed much better
on an REA line, which wasn’t subject to
dead batteries. “Lets go over tothe Joneses.
Pa. They got one of them new power lines.
Maybell says her refrigerator don’t defrost
no more!”
Rural electrrfrcatron put most windchargers
out of busrness. In the Midwest you can
drive for mrles on an empty dir-t road. following
a long electric power line to only one. or
perhaps two. homes at the end of the road.
Leave one road and follow the next. It’s the
same story REA lines were Installed and
Iwind generators came down. Sears catalogs
touted all the marvelous gadgets one could
buy and plug into the newly installed power
line.
Electric stoves, hot curlers, electric air
conditioners, two or more TV sets-these
aren’t very realistic loads to place on a wind-
charged battery. However, wind power can
contribute to the operation of these devices,
especially if grid power is already doing
part of the job. With such cogeneration
(wind power used together with grid power)
the more wind power available, the’less grid
power needed.
In another application, wind power can’
provide heat for warming households, dairy
barn hot water, or just about anything else
for which heat is used as long as the h&at is
not needed in a carefully controlled amo‘+n.t.
This wind heating concept is called. the
wind furnace, and it’s one of our most useful
applications of wind power. Wind furnaces’
can use wind-generated electricity to pro-
duce the heat, or they can convert mechani-
cal power into heat directly.
Energy Budgets
Wind machine design ‘must begin with a
realistic assessment of energy needs and
available wind resources. When confronted
by Inexperienced people observing my wind
machine. I’m most often asked, “Will it power
my house?” Taking this question to its most
J
outrageous extreme. I’m often tempted to
reply,, “Just how fast would you like your
house to go?” But usually. I just ask, “How
much power do you need at your house?” _ stalled by the REA
.
.
“, ., ;
A windcharger of the 1930’s. Hundreds of thousands
of mldwestefn Arnerlcan farm homes were
;)owe!ed by the wind before ut~l~t’y lines were In-