Jan 25, 2012 04:46 pm
Re: minimizing your electric bill "the mensa method."
Hi Steven. Yes, I have some thoughts on the electric motor powered generator, or alternator, if you are using it to produce AC power. You state that after an initial startup by battery, the electric motor will run on its own generator produced power? This is theoretically impossible, since both the motor and generator have losses in power conversion and one cannot get more power out than is put in to a source.
The monthly electric bill of $15 is likely the utility company rent for having wired their power source into your building, and may not indicate any actual power consumption at your structure. The previous genius owner must have had some power source to run the electric motor/generator combination that was independent of utility company power in order to have an electric bill which is that low. The way to gauge actual power consumption from the utility would be to read the watt meter which they placed at the point of entry for the utility power line.
If you have experimented with solar and wind power and have been dissatisfied with the results it may be that you do not have good enough exposure to those sources of energy or you did not commit to an adequately sized installation of solar panels and wind turbines. I wish you good fortune on your mensa project. :-) Jon C.