Wind generators, yay or nay?

Aug 17, 2013
1,037
Pearson P30 202 Ottawa/Gatineau
Hello everyone, another couple of questions for the hive mind.
was looking at getting solar panels for my boat, but I simply don’t have the room for them.
So I got to thinking about wind generators, I can get a 400w for under 400$cdn.
I don’t know if that would be sufficient for my boat, I mainly want to keep the batteries full when away from dock, I am running an ice box refrigeration, lights and radio, not sure what my needs are in terms of watts.
so my main question is those who have wind generators, do they work well?
 
Jan 4, 2006
7,281
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
I don’t know if that would be sufficient for my boat,
And neither does anyone else. You have to prepare an energy budget in amp-hours to determine what your boat needs. Lots of lists which have been prepared are in the archives.
 
Feb 10, 2004
4,143
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Well, here is my 2 cents worth. And I think worth every penny too!
10-12 years ago I put a 400W Air-X on my h40.5. My goal was to top off my house batteries after I left with my boat on a mooring, so that I would not have to run my genset excessively before I left. This goal was met very well. I could leave my batteries at maybe 85% SOC and they would easily top off in a few days.
However there were no loads on the batteries when the boat was left on the mooring. No refrigeration; nothing. My location was in Narragansett Bay, RI, and the average wind was under 10kts. The wind would typically come up around 10am and blow at 12-16 kts until about 4pm. My 400W Air-X would start charging over 10kt. So on an average day I might get 4 hours of wind over 10kts. That is not a lot of charging in my location.
Before considering a wind generator, you should determine the real wind speeds that you will actually see.
Now I have been in winds of 25-30 kts and in those conditions the wind generator pushes out 20+ amps, but that is not the average. I would guess that the average number of amp-hours that my wind generator produces is about 20Ah per day. That is nowhere near enough for refrigeration, and it might not be quite enough for all of the other DC loads depending upon what else you are running.
I think the first thing you need to do is to analyze how many Ah each load on your boat consumes in a day. Then you can have a good idea on what you can realistically supply from a wind generator. To do this, measure the current draw for each item and multiply by the number of hours you use it each day. Make up a table and tally the totals. This will give you the total daily power requirement.
If you still think a wind generator will meet your needs, I would look at the 200W units that begin charging at a lower wind speed. The maximum power will be lower, but the time that the wind will be in a range to produce power will be longer.
Of course if you have heavy winds every day for many hours, that could let you use a larger 400W generator.

Back when I installed my Air-X, solar panels were very expensive and much less efficient than they are today. Today I would go with solar as opposed to a wind gen, given my experience and state of the technology today.
But you said that you don't have room for solar panels, so maybe that option is out. But I would look closely and get creative with mounting. If you are giving up on refrigeration, a much smaller panel could supply all of your needs.
And, BTW, solar is quiet. Wind generators, not so much.

I hope this helps. NO refunds on the 2 cents......
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,255
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
Hello everyone, another couple of questions for the hive mind.
was looking at getting solar panels for my boat, but I simply don’t have the room for them.
So I got to thinking about wind generators, I can get a 400w for under 400$cdn.
I don’t know if that would be sufficient for my boat, I mainly want to keep the batteries full when away from dock, I am running an ice box refrigeration, lights and radio, not sure what my needs are in terms of watts.
so my main question is those who have wind generators, do they work well?
Never used one so I can't say how well they work for the owner. But as someone who has anchored or moored plenty of times next to boats that have them, let's just say that I'm not a fan of the noise (from the noise of the fan!). And just as with those who convince themselves that their neighbor cannot hear their "exceptionally quiet" generator, the reality here, too, is that indeed they can.
 

jssailem

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Oct 22, 2014
23,259
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
My thoughts lean toward Solar. On average I would think you get more solar generation than wind generation.

I had not thought about the noise element of wind. I have seen them on power boats, but every time the wind has been a light or non-existent breeze.
 
Jan 11, 2014
13,010
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
For wind generators to be effective there needs to be a good breeze, around 12-15 knots. Check the specs. How much current is being produced at different wind speeds? They work well in the tropics in the tradewinds, I don't think Ottawa is in the trade winds.

Solar is a better option. They work especially well when a big windless high pressure system settles in and they will provide some energy even when it is cloudy. The point @Ralph Johnstone was making is the size of the panels depends on the other charging methods and the amount of energy that is being used. For some folks 50 watts of solar serves them well, for others 300 or more watts is needed.

For Ottawa and the Great Lakes, solar is a better choice than wind. The next question is how much solar is needed.
 
Aug 17, 2013
1,037
Pearson P30 202 Ottawa/Gatineau
Thanks everyone for all the great replies, I will have to figure out how much solar I need and where to install the panels, I have a rather long boom, almost to the backstay so it doesn’t leave much room, maybe if I raise the boom a bit
 

Joe

.
Jun 1, 2004
8,205
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
I'm a solar guy, but I live in a climate (except this week:)} conducive to sun rather than relying on wind.
but..the few folks I've talked to that have direct experience with the two, emphasize that you get what you pay for regarding wind generators. in other words, don't go cheap. That's just what I've heard, I believed it, so I donated 2 cents to the cheap sailor's fund.
 

dLj

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Mar 23, 2017
4,426
Belliure 41 Back in the Chesapeake
It's been my understanding that it depends upon where you sail. Also that often when there is limited light, often there is more wind, and vice versa.

If you are staying in one region, then you assess what kind of prevailing winds you have.

How's that for a non-answer...

dj
 
Aug 19, 2021
508
Hunter 280 White House Cove Marina
I do not own a wind generator. The guy that owns the catamaran on the next pier over does. Our boats are separated by 75 to 100 ft. We were BSing one afternoon by my boat and I looked at him and said "Is that your generator making noise?"
His response was "you should hear it when its really blowing"
I am not sure if it is a maintenance issue or not.
I occasionally watch the Okellys on YouTube. They converted from wind to solar because of the generator noise.

I think my next upgrade will be solar.
 
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Feb 10, 2004
4,143
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
It's been my understanding that it depends upon where you sail. Also that often when there is limited light, often there is more wind, and vice versa.

If you are staying in one region, then you assess what kind of prevailing winds you have.

How's that for a non-answer...

dj
Actually that is a good answer. I've had lots of sun and little wind, and I've had wind blowing strong all night. Wind or solar- you have to accurately evaluate your positional conditions to make an intelligent choice.
 
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NYSail

.
Jan 6, 2006
3,145
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
Not familiar with wind generation but I love my solar.... 400 watts. I run my refrig/freezer non stop during the summer with no issues. Battery bank is 580ah (480ah house / 6 v and 100ah starter / 12v). On the hook never have to run genset to charge. This summer we are ditching the slip and moving full time to our mooring as the boat now is self sufficient.

Good Luck!

Greg
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,255
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
Not familiar with wind generation but I love my solar.... 400 watts. I run my refrig/freezer non stop during the summer with no issues. Battery bank is 580ah (480ah house / 6 v and 100ah starter / 12v). On the hook never have to run genset to charge. This summer we are ditching the slip and moving full time to our mooring as the boat now is self sufficient.

Good Luck!

Greg
Your mooring neighbors will thank you for not making an infernal racket next to them, Greg.
 

NYSail

.
Jan 6, 2006
3,145
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
And I likewise thank them....... Unless we have a heat wave in which case we all close the hatches, fire up our gensets and turn on the a/c! Actually, there is little noise from the gensets besides the splash of water from the exhaust.

Greg
 
Jan 11, 2014
13,010
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
And I likewise thank them....... Unless we have a heat wave in which case we all close the hatches, fire up our gensets and turn on the a/c! Actually, there is little noise from the gensets besides the splash of water from the exhaust.

Greg
My experience as a listener in an anchorage is there is a big difference between properly installed marine genesis, Hondas, and other cheaper generatorators. The properly installed genesis are pretty quiet. Hondas and others on deck are not so quiet.