Rotation to Heat?

jim_mich · Post by **jim_mich** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:05 am

Dang it's cold out tonight! The national weather forecast for tonight is -3ÂºF (-19.4ÂºC) while the local weather guy is predicting -5ÂºF (-20.6ÂºC). My thermometer is currently reading -5ÂºF and it is only 9pm with clear skies, so it will be getting even colder before morning.

I sure could use a Bessler wheel to heat my home right about now.

What's the best way to convert wheel rotation into heat? Maybe paddles in water?

DrWhat · Post by **DrWhat** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:42 am

Just interpret those yellow numbers as Celsius and you have our current Down Under temperatures!

justsomeone · Post by **justsomeone** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:44 am

I feel your pain Jim. We are to get our second frost of the year! Time to move further south.

greendoor · Post by **greendoor** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:55 am

IF we had a functioning Bessler wheel, the creation of heat would be trivial. I believe the most efficient way is simply to rotate steel disks immersed in oil. In fact, I think this would be a good use of erratic free energy, such as wind mills.

The Savonius Rotor windmill is my favorite (imagine a windmill made out of 44 gallon drums, spit into long halfs. They aren't super efficient - but, they are self starting, self limiting, self orienting, high torque and dirt cheap. Imagine some big ones made similar to yacht sails ...

This low speed torque could create a lot of friction heat in an insulated oil tank, and this oil could store heat for days.

Alternatively - use your source of rotary motion to drive a conventional heat pump, which has typically 3 X overunity anyway ...

jim_mich · Post by **jim_mich** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:17 am

It is now a little past 11:15 pm and -9ÂºF (-23.8ÂºC). I just threw four more logs into the wood burning furnace. They will be gone in about three hours. I expect -12ÂºF (-24.4ÂºC) before sunrise.

Right now it is perfectly calm, so a wind generator wouldn't be any good. Heat pumps only work good down to about freezing. At 42ÂºF below freezing a heat pump is totally useless.

justsomeone · Post by **justsomeone** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:23 am

It's now a little past 11:22 and I just through four more beach towels over our shrubs.

We need smiley faces.

greendoor · Post by **greendoor** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:33 am

That's a bit chilly. And good points about wind & heat pumps. However - heatpumps don't have to use air temperature - you can have pipes deep in the ground, which never freezes.

I would absolutely love to heat my house with a gravity wheel ... the first sniff of a viable design and i'll be there ...

jim_mich · Post by **jim_mich** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:50 am

greendoor wrote:you can have pipes deep in the ground, which never freezes.

All pipes in Michigan are required to be at least 4 foot deep, else they freeze. The ground will freeze to about 3 feet deep or more.

The temp. is now -10ÂºF at 11:50 pm.

greendoor · Post by **greendoor** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:58 am

Yep. So bury your external heat exchanger (i.e 'pipes') well below 4 feet, and your heatpump will extract useful heat energy at a very efficient rate. This is basically solar energy - maybe geothermal if you dig deep enough!

Savonius rotors can operate in extremely low wind speeds - unlike typical propellor designs that might be more efficient, but have numerous limitations. Imagine a large yacht sail on a mast - even when you think there is no wind, it's going to move around ... the beauty of converting that motion into heat using friction disks in oil is that it doesn't matter how fast, or what direction.

genmurphy · Post by **genmurphy** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:08 am

Hi everybody,

For me, the best way is to generate electricity (efficiency >90%) an then, to supply an electrical resistance (efficiency 100%).
The electrical resistance is the only "component" that I know of that has an efficiency of 100%. It convert all the electrical power into heat.

Genmurphy.

ovyyus · Post by **ovyyus** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 11:55 am

genmurphy wrote:For me, the best way is to generate electricity (efficiency >90%) an then...

So where do you think the other 10% is going? Sorry, but duh!

genmurphy · Post by **genmurphy** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:04 pm

So where do you think the other 10% is going? Sorry, but duh!

You are right Ovyyus, the 10% are converted in heat but very close to the wheel. I suppose that you do not want a turning wheel in your dining room.
But if it is the case, you have then a 100% conversion rotation to heat...

DrWhat · Post by **DrWhat** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:33 pm

Jim,

sorry to hear it is so cold. Don't let that beard of yours ice up, lol

Here it will be 47 degrees Celsius on Sunday, and I'm talking about Sydney not some outback town.

AB Hammer · Post by **AB Hammer** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:06 pm

Damian

Are you frying eggs on the pavement and having a burning problem? Is this normal or just a heat wave?

DrWhat · Post by **DrWhat** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:27 am

AB,

this is very rare. Call it a heat wave, others blame the volatility caused by global warming.

Queensland up north has been flooding. Adelaide at the centre base of Australia (a city) has had a week of just under or over 40 degrees. Worst ever.

I'd fry eggs but the pavement is too dusty!!

BesslerWheel.com

Rotation to Heat?

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