With all of the uncertainty in today''s world many people are trying to become more self sufficient. Growing their own vegetables, raising their own chickens for eggs, or raising bigger animals like beef and dairy cattle if they have the room.
The more self sufficient are even making their own clothes and/or other household items, including building their own homes and even furnishing them with handmade furniture.
Many of those people, those who desire to be off the grid, must find ways to power their homes without relying on the power company.
Some, like the Amish for example, may choose not to use the modern convenience of electricity and so they use lanterns and work horses and the like to meet their needs.
But there''s no arguing that modern appliances and power tools make life easier, so for many self-sufficient folks the only logical answer is to create their own electricity at home.
This can be accomplished in a couple of ways. One way would be to purchase somewhat expensive solar panels to utilize the power of the sun.
Another way would be to spend thousands of dollars on a generator that can be used on its own or in conjunction with the aforementioned solar panels. But why buy one when you can make a homemade generator with an alternator by yourself?
The average American is accustomed to a house power service that provides 110v ac to run basic electronics like the lights, television, computer, or refrigerator, and 220v ac to run their stove and clothes dryer.
But if you''re living off the grid, and doing so on a budget, consider that you can run your house lighting system on a 12v circuit with battery backup simply by using automotive alternators and batteries (actually deep cycle marine batteries work better) with 12v lights.
This lessens the demand for power and in the event of a failure of a gas-powered generator or inability to obtain fuel you can still run your house off of the batteries, and by supplementing the system with solar power and a wind generator built with an automotive alternator (or similar) you can keep the batteries charged to run the 12v lights and power inverter(s).
This 12v system can still run a refrigerator or stove simply by using a step-up transformer commonly known as a power inverter or you can use the 12v system to power a 12v motor to turn an entirely independent generator system with a higher voltage output if you can source that free rather than spend several hundred dollars on inverters.
Automotive alternators can supposedly be reconfigured to generate 110v.
Normally, if you introduce electricity into the motor it becomes kinetic energy and turns the motor, but if you reverse this process and use an outside force to turn the motor, it generates electricity, or at least that''s the story that can be found online.
I''ve never really tried either of those two methods but it''s something to explore. However, I can say with 100% certainty that a 12v generator system with a battery bank and power inverter can run 110v home electronics reasonably well.
I use an 800-watt converter for camping and hunting trips (pictured below) but if you want to use this method to continuously run your home you will need a substantial converter in the 4000-5000 watt range, although a 1000-watt will run the refrigerator, television, and several lights as can be seen in this video.
Another method of running your house off of a homemade generator setup involves a bank of batteries, power inverter(s), and using automotive alternators in a small backyard windmill or other power sources like a lawn mower engine to turn the alternator.
An example of a 12v generator built with a lawnmower-style engine can be seen here.
This setup utilizes the wind or other power source to maintain the battery charge and the batteries power the inverter(s), which in turn power your electronic equipment. Here is an example of a windmill using an automotive alternator.
In some of these videos, people say they bought new components but that defeats the purpose of self-sufficiency. Using found parts, or buying a used mower engine is closer to home.
If you happen to have a fast-running stream handy you could even make your own miniature hydroelectric power station using a paddle wheel and a gear reduction (think 15-speed bike gears and chain drive) to turn the alternator(s).
Whichever method you choose to accomplish this is entirely up to you, and can probably best be determined from what you have on hand to work with and how much you can afford to spend on the inverter if you choose to use the inverter method.
There are tons of videos on how to do this but I''m not sure I want to try that, I''ll buy an inverter.
An electrical supply for a small house is usually a 100 amp service but a larger home will require more. Newer houses, built in the 1970''s and up will utilize a breaker box, these look like switches.
Older house service panels utilize fuses, this is similar to a breaker but when a fuse blows it is done, when a breaker trips you simply turn it all the way to the off position then back to on and service is restored.
For example, there are likely several narrow 15amp breakers that go to house lighting and wall outlets, and a 20amp breaker for the refrigerator.
If you can wire it directly to the feed side of the breaker box since the inverter is only 110v, in order to get 220v you will need to wire 110v from the inverter to BOTH sides of the breaker box (black wires in the diagram below), the breaker box will then divide the power among the circuits accordingly just like if you were on a power grid.
The diagrams above show how to wire the system, starting with the 12v generator made with the automotive alternator, going to the battery bank to keep it charged.
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