Is there home (facet attachable) hydrogenerator?

Question

I am attempting to make the world a greener place but really just trying to save some green myself. At my apartment complex water/sewer are free and gas/electric are metered. Thus...I am wondering if there is a home hydrogenerator, something small that could run one appliance (such as a my fridge) off of a garden hose. Thanks!

-Corbin

P.S.

I does NOT have to recycle the water, simply generate electricity using the pressure of the hose and have an "out" nozel for me to deal with the "used" water. Thanks again!

Answer 1

Basically, a hydro generator would use a water to turn a wheel, that would in turn turn a elctrical generator to produce electricity.

You can build a simple one, with vanes on a small DC motor (acting as a generator) and running water over it from a faucet, but it'd only generate enough power to maybe light a flashlight bulb.

To build something to run a 'fridge, you'd have to connect a larger turbine(?) /generator to maybe a fire hydrant, and run water full force over it continuously. It'd also take a lot of maintenance.

Reread answer one above. He is right, It is a horrible idea. It shows that you are more interested in being greedy (wasting water and then dumping it down the sewer system) than green.

If it was cheaper to run a 'fridge by water than electricity you'd be able to buy one with a hose on it instead of a power cord.

It's a nice thought, but here's hoping you have a better one next time!

Answer 2

Horrible, horrible idea, if you are at all interested in making the WORLD a greener place (and not just your wallet).  That water pressure doesn't come free, electric pumps use power to produce that pressure, and the overall efficiency of that scheme would be quite bad, and that's not even taking into account the thorough waste of the water and sewer services.

"Real" hydropower is extracting energy the sun put into the evaporation process and getting it out by tapping the gravitational energy of the water flowing from a higher to lower place, so is truly 'green'.

A few more things to consider, your water/sewer are NOT free, your management is simply amortizing the total cost for everyone and including it in your rent.  Were you or a substantial number of tenants doing that, they would have to considerably increase your rent.

And chances are if they found out what you were doing, you'd catch some sort of h**l, even if there may not be specific language in your lease.

All that being said, I think there are EMERGENCY generators for producing a small amount of power that way, but I really doubt you'd get much out of it anyway.

Answer 3

I'll need to know the water pressure and flow rate to calculate the horsepower you will be able to produce.