Are they safe, or an accident waiting to happen?
Hey Mike,
Have you done any studies or comparisons on the small portable wind turbines advertised for camping? I'm curious if one would be a good supplement to solar panels while camping.- Cheryl
Hey Cheryl,
I have no experience with wind turbines for RVs except for the one I saw at the FROG Rally in Goshen, IN a few years ago. It looked interesting, but I did worry about sharp spinning blades so close to humans.
Am I paranoid enough?
But perhaps I’m just being overly paranoid. A quick Google search turns up a bunch of 500 to 1,000-watt portable wind turbines that appear to be designed for marine and RV use. Perhaps they are safe enough for use by regular RVers. Or maybe this is just a bunch marketing hype.
Everyone,
So please let me know if any of you have installed and use a wind turbine for your RV. You can leave details in the comments below, and/or send pictures of your RV wind turbines to me by replying to this SubStack post, or email mike (at) noshockzone (dot) org. I’ll post what I learn about RV wind turbines later.
Thanks for your help… Mike
I don’t actively use wind turbines myself, but I have 40+ years experience teaching boating and boating safety, have a technical background, and am knowledgeable about these units. My opinion is that it’s like any technology – nothing is good or bad in itself, but only in our choices in when and how to use them. I think they are perfectly safe provided they are appropriately installed and maintained to provide clearance and safeguards. Depending on where you’re located they can provide a consistent and steady source of power day, night and rainy weather.
I’ve been interested in the bladeless turbines, but they always seem to be 1-5 years away.
I’ve followed the bladeless turbine technology for a while, which would be great if it works. Here’s a link with engineering white papers you can download. https://vortexbladeless.com/technology/
I am a full-time RVer of six years; previously off-grid for nine years. Living off-grid we relied on solar, but investigated hydro and wind generated electricity extensively. The consensus at the time was that unless you were on a clear hilltop with a tall mast and daily strong wind, the marine type turbines were not cost effective. Translate that to RV use and add the inconvenience of assembly and storage…for me that’s a no go.
My research on them and actual output based on reviews indicates they barely make any power to charge your RV batteries, and even then the starting wind required makes them ineffective in most situations.
You pretty much need a continuous gale to get even close to their output…and who wants to RV in a continuous gale?
Might be useful when camping at a seashore/beach, but that would be the extent of any usefulness.
The turbines I have seen in use are extremely noisy. If anyone was within a quarter mile, they would be complaining about destroying the peace and quiet of nature!
Mike, We have not had a wind generator on our RV but we did have one on our boat for almost 30 years. As with any type of equipment the safety factor depends on the user. We never had a problem and it was a great supplement to our solar panels. The main reason we don’t have one with the RV is because we mainly plug in and don’t spend enough time boondocking to justify the expense and then there is the storage space needed to carry one around. The small factor units don’t put out enough juice and the larger ones take up a lot of space. Then there is the requirement to put them up and take them down every time you relocate. On our boat they stayed up all the time. You can’t do this with an RV. They would be great if the RV stayed put for long periods of time. The earlier post about noise and the need for strong winds to get them started are just not true with todays modern units. As I stated the smaller units do not put out much but the larger ones generate a fair amount of amps. But you do need wind for them to be effective.
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