House heating that isn't wood fueled?

[Dan]

In New Mills, Derbyshire they have a community hydro plant. My Mum bought some shares at the start as it seamed a good idea. but I'm not sure how well it works to be honest. http://www.torrshydro.org/

[Ratman]

In New Mills, Derbyshire they have a community hydro plant. My Mum bought some shares at the start as it seamed a good idea. but I'm not sure how well it works to be honest. http://www.torrshydro.org/

They built one in next village to us (whalley) same sort of thing, community input etc but same as you, not sure on the returns.

[Ratman]

https://www.whalleyhydro.co.uk/

 

Very similar looking.

[difflock]

A lot of maintenance work with water power, probably more so on a smaller scale since the leaves and twiggy debris that could easily flush through a larger installation(persumably), will rapidly clog up a small one.

Since my father ran  3 Blakes hydrorams at one time, and they need weekly and bytimes daily(due autumn early winter leaf-fall) cleaning of the intake grills.

Oops, I forget to mention, the Physics teacher wife ran a project on micro hydro, it simply proved impossible to harness the power of the river without engineering works.

Ergo associate impact assessments, paperwork and cost and ongoing maintenance.

Edited December 31, 2018 by difflock

[Paul in the woods]

With the hydroram I've used you build a small header tank and have a feed a few foot under the water level. No maintenance at all for removing leaves or twigs. The only problem is the feed is too close the the bottom of the tank so the odd small stone can cause problems every 3 months or so. (I will ask though, do you know of anywhere to buy the clacks for a good price, £100+ for a rubber washer is rather frightening).

 

I'd expect with a well set up turbine you wouldn't have too many problems. Having said that we occasionally get the odd large log going down stream in times of flood!

[openspaceman]

4 hours ago, Ratman said:

Have asked myself that question a good few times when i’ve been out and about with the dog or in car in some remote places. Hydro would produce steady uninterrupted power all year round. My assumption is that the doo gooders dont want watercourses harmed or damaged etc from their installs and running. Could be wrong in my assumptions of course
They used to divert water courses to run mill wheels? Why not do the same in smaller versions ?‍♂️
 

Licensing is the big issue, EA will charge both for the abstraction and then the return of water  to a stream if it is one they or a drainage  board control I'm told.

 

I'd definitely play with this if I had the opportunity, guerilla style.

 

I queried a scheme local to me where EA are rebuilding a weir and adding a fish ladder (wholly good thing IMO). Originally someone considered putting in a 150kW Archimedes screw generator ( they are more fish friendly than conventional types) but that was abandoned and EA will not explain their reasoning, two similar ones were put on the Thames at Romney weir by  the crown or their agents and seem to work well.

Edited December 30, 2018 by openspaceman
spelling

[Stere]

I think a hydro turbine need a higher head or water  than traditional water wheels to be worth while.

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Stere said:

I think a hydro turbine need a higher head or water  than traditional water wheels to be worth while.

Do you have any particular reason for that thought?

 

I think an overshot water wheel is one of the most efficient, trouble is  it cannot utilise water from a higher head than it's diameter, that's when reaction turbines, like francis and kaplan turbines, take over. Once you get to very high heads of hundreds of metres the impulse  type pelton wheels are more efficient.

 

It's the high flow, low head like weirs  with only a drop of feet but tonnes of water per second that the Archimedes screw becomes worthwhile but it doesn't have the efficiency of the others and because it passes a very high flow it itself is massive (and cost tends to rise with mass)

 

[openspaceman]

5 hours ago, Dan said:

In New Mills, Derbyshire they have a community hydro plant. My Mum bought some shares at the start as it seamed a good idea. but I'm not sure how well it works to be honest. http://www.torrshydro.org/

I missed this earlier; yes finding the actual costs and profits seems difficult but if your mum has shares she ought to have access to annual reports. I'd be fascinated to know, especially how much they have to pay EA for running it.

[Dan]

6 hours ago, openspaceman said:

I missed this earlier; yes finding the actual costs and profits seems difficult but if your mum has shares she ought to have access to annual reports. I'd be fascinated to know, especially how much they have to pay EA for running it.

I'll ask her later, but I'm not sure how involved she really is. I think she's lost interest in it over the years! But often when i go to visit it doesn't seem to be working due to low water levels.