New bee shed arrived

[Bob Bee]

I've taken delivery of my new bee shed for a secure out apiary and it will be 18 months before I can hook up mains power. Any suggestions on a good cheap system of either wind or solar power that will run a basic system until then and then be resell-able.
Ideally I'd like to run the existing lights and maybe a heater and an extractor which are 220/240 volt. Most of my other tools are battery so no need for much more than that.
I shall clean it up and fit it over the winter.

 

[REDWOOD]

wind generator would be the cheapest option, but not cheap by any means, a few grand to produce 240v without the batteries and inverter and planning permission, possible option is second hand one.

 

[enrico]

For solar you will need at least fifteen panels and a converter...it will only work if the sun is shining, I think it will give a variable rate too, or you buy stacks of batteries and get a converter that will work until the batteries run out, that seems a better deal. Wind power is similar. Stack one end of the van with car batteries! Use solar and/or wind to charge them and a simple 12 v to 230v converter. My only worry is if it would have enough power for tools! Otherwise make everything 12 v, heating and lights is easy, look at good caravan suppliers. Posh though! Hope you don't have a problem with vandalism!
E

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

All you need is a small petrol generator...

 

[Bob Bee]

Posh though! Hope you don't have a problem with vandalism!
E

I've got grills to cover the windows and someone lives close by on the site which is gated and padlocked. It only cost £200.00 delivered from a bee friendly neighbour, so I could spend a little. I just cant seem to find a way to get the 220 volts economically. If I go 12 volt I would need to get an extractor that would run on a 12 volt drill or battery powered drill, probably do able, any ideas on that.

 

[Bob Bee]

All you need is a small petrol generator...

Doh ...... That's why I need the forum........

 

[alanf]

All you need is a small petrol generator...

Any wind or solar needs a lot of storage if you need it when there's no sun or wind. That's stacks of batteries and an inverter. Plus a lot of installation work for the panels or turbine which you'll never get back. Simpler to get a small second hand generator and when you're done sell it on or keep it as backup. If you want to add heating, use a portable propane unit.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

For solar you will need at least fifteen panels and a converter...it will only work if the sun is shining,

Unlike wind power which will work all the time................
as long as the wind is not blowing too hard............. or too softly, and it's not raining...........or sunny, and not if there's an A in the month......or a U.......or an E, or it's aleap year....... or there's an odd number of days in the year.

 

[IGPebble]

For solar you will need at least fifteen panels and a converter...it will only work if the sun is shining

Sorry, this is wrong, the majority of solar energy comes from ambient, non-direct sunlight, you only lose about 15% on an overcast day.

That saying, a small petrol generator would be better, as long as you don't mind the noise.

 

[Brosville]

I'd forget all about solar panels or wind power, you'll need to spend a small fortune (especially on batteries), and heating with them is completely out of the question (it takes gobbets of power) - I'd concur with "get a generator", and use bottled gas or diesel for heating, running something like a Carver or Eberspacher heater (ex caravan breaker or similar).

I'd suggest one of the better 4 stroke gennies, perhaps bought secondhand (I picked up a very serviceable 1.5kw Honda generator for £70 recently), then run the it when you want to use the extractor or other mains tools, and charge a battery with a large car charger whenever it's run, and run some 12v fluorescent lights from the battery.......

 

[Luminos]

We've had solar lighting for our outbuildings for the last seven years.
There's one small solar panel for each unit; the stables have a battery accumulator so they work if the sun isn't shining. (Google "Shed-Mate").
Depends how good the lighting needs to be.
It wouldn't power a heater though. Would a small woodburner be practical?

 

[alldigging]

It wouldn't power a heater though. Would a small woodburner be practical?

I'd assumed they meant honey heater but could be wrong..

 

[Woeski]

Wow.
How many bees does it sleep? ...........

 

[Luminos]

I'd assumed they meant honey heater but could be wrong..

Oh - right - I thought it was for making the toast to spread the honey on...

 

[alanf]

I'd assumed they meant honey heater but could be wrong..

A solar honey cabinet? Perhaps vacuum tubes as heat source plus thermostatically controlled circulation pump? Not saying it's sensible economically, just an interesting design idea,

 

[Bob Bee]

Doh ...... That's why I need the forum........

I figured that there wouldn't be an easy wind or Solar option but wondered if someone had found a solution....

The generator is clearly the option for the time being when running extractors etc and I could maybe find a small but efficient solar panel for a 12 volt leisure battery to make tea and run a couple of cheap caravan lights I would have most of the options covered. Any recommendations on a small solar unit that would trickle charge a leisure battery ?

 

[Bob Bee]

We've had solar lighting for our outbuildings for the last seven years.
There's one small solar panel for each unit; the stables have a battery accumulator so they work if the sun isn't shining. (Google "Shed-Mate").
Depends how good the lighting needs to be.
It wouldn't power a heater though. Would a small woodburner be practical?

I like the shed mate, thanks, maybe I should just use a little gas burner to make my tea, I've got one in the camping kit i think.

 

[Brosville]

I ran a small system in my caravan for years which was fine for summer use - it was an 85 amp/hr battery, 20w solar panel and a solar charge controller (essential) - it was sufficient to run my lights, radio, heater blower, water pump, the occasional hour or two of tiny portable tv, and keep cameras/'phones charged -BUT bear in mind that in the depths of winter you'll need a pv panel around 6 times as large (120-150watts) to do the same. I also tried carting a small wind turbine - it really isn't worth the hassle!

Again, I would always avoid trying to heat (even kettles of water) using a small system, heating takes enormous amounts of power - use a gas stove.........

 

[Luminos]

Or take a thermos flask...

 

[ratcatcher]

a simple butane gas ring from flea bay and a gas bottle, will provide heat and cooking/boiling needs

mine cost around £44 all in (not including the crayfish boiling pot)


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