Homemade Energy

In a prior post Meg and I had said a word or two about the windmills we see off of the Pennsylvania turnpike. During these gray and chilly winter months I think wind powered energy is probably the best way to go as opposed to solar. Let's face it, from November through March, we get a lot more wind than sunshine. Actually if we had our way I think we would try to harness the sun and the wind to provide our energy needs, but those are much bigger projects than what I'm about to unfold here.

Solar and wind power can be had by anyone willing to make the pricey investment. Right now in Pennsylvania the financial incentives for the installation of an alternative energy system are none. Some of the folks we've talked to who want to make the switch are deciding to wait for the commonwealth to make the first move.

We too are in the middle of a waiting game. Before we can make a move on buying land and building Future House, one of the many colleges that I've sent applications too needs to realize their English department will be vastly improved with my superior teaching skills. While we wait for one of these schools to come to their senses, we want to see if we can bring renewable energy to our chickens.

Yes this is ridiculous, but so is calling a two-party system a democracy. (Wow! That came out of nowhere.) What we have in mind is something we can take with us and also make with used or found materials. The reason we'd like to add power to the coop is that we'd like to be able to provide heat for it in the winter and vent it in the summer. In addition to the chicken's level of comfort, we think a wind powered coop would be kick-ass.

Right now we are strictly in the planning phase. While we visited with friends and family this weekend, we picked Dan's (my mother's wicked smart husband) brain about what it would take to make and store energy from a windmill. Aside from the actual windmill the scrounging list would go as follows:

• alternator - attached to the turning blades will create the charge
  
• contact ring - allows horizontal rotation without the wires getting tangled
  
• deep cycle battery - usually found in boats; it can take and give an even charge
  
• inverter - will change the DC current of the battery into a usable AC current

I did some light searching for some of these items on Craigslist and eBay and they are out there. Before we make any purchases though we need to come up with some concrete plans. Our chickens have been quite happy without a heated and vented coop, so we would also have to find some other uses for a power station to make the endeavor a lot less ridiculous and a bit more practical.