Home made energy scams

Olowkow

Philosopher
Olowkow
Joined
Oct 29, 2007
Messages
8,230
Well, this may not belong in the General Skepticism forum, so please feel free to move it. I found a link on the Huffington Post that was very disturbing, so I did a little research:

http://wiki17.com/
This link will direct you to:
http://www.homemadeenergy.org/?hop=followto

I am very disappointed in Huff Post for running these ads, as I generally have looked favorably on the blog, but I really don't want to email them, because the last time I did, it took me months to get "unsubscribed" from their junk mail.

Now, I am sure that most people on the JREF forum understand that this is a scam, but what I found interesting was that when I did a Google search for "homemadeenergy.org + scam", there was a real surprising lack of hits with any relevance. Most results were actually not so clever "endorsements" of the site and its nonsensical book of "secrets" for $47.00. It is all quite transparent, since the styles of the "endorsement and review sites" are very similar to the main site. There are even "competing" businesses telling us they are real, and homemadeenergy.org is a scam! It sure looks to me like they are all just parts of one elaborate fraud.

I did finally find a few real debunkers, of which this one is pretty good:

http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.php

This guy explains how scam artists can use Google to promote themselves. I found it informative, and hope you do too.
 
Huff Post is dismally bad on science in general. This is not a suprise coming from them. If you look at any of their medical articles, be prepared to throw things.
 
Hey, thanks for the link Olowkow. I've got friends who would fall for that... now I have a way to warn them!
 
Amapola said:
Hey, thanks for the link Olowkow. I've got friends who would fall for that... now I have a way to warn them!
Click to expand...

You're very welcome. So do I. I loved the little video with the guy obviously in his garage sounding so sincere. Eccch!

What I found most interesting though was the link at the bottom, where it is explained how the methods used by Google are subverted to work for the scammer's interests (towards the end of the article). Bidding on key words, etc.
 
Olowkow said:
Well, this may not belong in the General Skepticism forum, so please feel free to move it. I found a link on the Huffington Post that was very disturbing, so I did a little research:

http://wiki17.com/
This link will direct you to:
http://www.homemadeenergy.org/?hop=followto

I am very disappointed in Huff Post for running these ads, as I generally have looked favorably on the blog, but I really don't want to email them, because the last time I did, it took me months to get "unsubscribed" from their junk mail.

Now, I am sure that most people on the JREF forum understand that this is a scam, but what I found interesting was that when I did a Google search for "homemadeenergy.org + scam", there was a real surprising lack of hits with any relevance. Most results were actually not so clever "endorsements" of the site and its nonsensical book of "secrets" for $47.00. It is all quite transparent, since the styles of the "endorsement and review sites" are very similar to the main site. There are even "competing" businesses telling us they are real, and homemadeenergy.org is a scam! It sure looks to me like they are all just parts of one elaborate fraud.

I did finally find a few real debunkers, of which this one is pretty good:

http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions6.php

This guy explains how scam artists can use Google to promote themselves. I found it informative, and hope you do too.
Click to expand...

The logical approach would be to seek out a physicist and a mechanical and/or chemical engineer to discuss the prospects of home made energy. If their residence(s) are running off of the grid you may be onto something. If they pay their electricity bill, you haven't lost anything. All of my physicist and engineering friends and acquaintances use the popular, simple method of converting currency on a monthly basis to energy. Conservation is another story.
 
Olowkow said:
but what I found interesting was that when I did a Google search for "homemadeenergy.org + scam", there was a real surprising lack of hits with any relevance. Most results were actually not so clever "endorsements" of the site and its nonsensical book of "secrets" for $47.00. It is all quite transparent, since the styles of the "endorsement and review sites" are very similar to the main site.
Click to expand...

I had similar results when I was recently looking into an MLM scam for a friend of a friend.
 
Unless you live in a place with good wind conditions, are fairly handy, are willing to scrounge for used parts like there's no tomorrow (treadmill motors ftw!), and have very low energy consumption rates, cheap home electricity production just isn't feasible.

You can build a very inexpensive windmill fairly easily, using the chispito generator plans. The thing with these folks is that they aren't trying to make a buck from you (though you can buy a kit.) They tell you exactly what you need, how to cut and assemble parts from salvage, all sorts of good things. The downside is that you still need the ability to convert the power to a usable form and/or to store it for later use, which does cost money. This type of generator doesn't produce much power at all though, about 0.1 kw, or about a quarter's worth of power per day. If you had half a dozen, and you used very little power, and you lived in a place with good wind, you definitely could power your own house though.
 
I saw the ad a few days ago and thought it was a scam. It was just too good to be true. Like 'how to get these batteries for nothing.' If they were useful they would have a value. Solar energy is expensive and they were saying use that.
 
ColMD said:
The logical approach would be to seek out a physicist and a mechanical and/or chemical engineer to discuss the prospects of home made energy. If their residence(s) are running off of the grid you may be onto something. If they pay their electricity bill, you haven't lost anything. All of my physicist and engineering friends and acquaintances use the popular, simple method of converting currency on a monthly basis to energy. Conservation is another story.
Click to expand...

I'm right here LOL ( ME & EE) and I'll give you the advice for free ( but you can still send the 27.00 if you want to)

Seriously, the "theory" is sound ( as far as using alternative energy to get "off the grid") but the cost/benefit ratio makes it unfeasable for an individual home.

However, it would work for say a development to buy ( assuming you were zoned for such) a windmill to power it.

Just remember ( did a wind project a few years ago) a "true" windmill generator with storage batteries, distribution system et al will run about 5 mil.

You will get a better bang for your buck by insulating your house and practicing good energy conservation.


DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUILD A GENERATOR FOR HOME USE USING THESE HOMEMADE KITS other than for a light bulb and maybe a true induction device.

a "motor" ( DC) is NOT a generator. ( they are wound differently, dont have the right wire sizes or magnets)

It will generate power but doesnt have the electromotive force to do much with.

Not to mention that they are going to put out DC current and a commercial inverter puts out RIPPLED DC Current ( which does NOT have a true AC sine wave) ( a real inverter that puts out true AC costs thousands of dollars)

If you plug in electronic devices to rippled DC, you will destroy them in a short time plus possible overheat wiring and start a fire.

A true AC sine looks like ~

rippled DC looks like ^^^^^^^^^
 
LONGTABBER PE said:
I'm right here LOL ( ME & EE) and I'll give you the advice for free ( but you can still send the 27.00 if you want to)

Seriously, the "theory" is sound ( as far as using alternative energy to get "off the grid") but the cost/benefit ratio makes it unfeasable for an individual home.

However, it would work for say a development to buy ( assuming you were zoned for such) a windmill to power it.

Just remember ( did a wind project a few years ago) a "true" windmill generator with storage batteries, distribution system et al will run about 5 mil.

You will get a better bang for your buck by insulating your house and practicing good energy conservation.


DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUILD A GENERATOR FOR HOME USE USING THESE HOMEMADE KITS other than for a light bulb and maybe a true induction device.

a "motor" ( DC) is NOT a generator. ( they are wound differently, dont have the right wire sizes or magnets)

It will generate power but doesnt have the electromotive force to do much with.

Not to mention that they are going to put out DC current and a commercial inverter puts out RIPPLED DC Current ( which does NOT have a true AC sine wave) ( a real inverter that puts out true AC costs thousands of dollars)

If you plug in electronic devices to rippled DC, you will destroy them in a short time plus possible overheat wiring and start a fire.

A true AC sine looks like ~

rippled DC looks like ^^^^^^^^^
Click to expand...

I'm right here LOL ( ME & EE) and I'll give you the advice for free ( but you can still send the 27.00 if you want to)

See everyone? Right under my nose, lol. Suffice to say you crossed my mind, but I gather you charge more than the $27.00 (a few more 0's, perhapds?) for house calls? I left out EE's by mistake, what is your area of expertise?

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO BUILD A GENERATOR FOR HOME USE USING THESE HOMEMADE KITS other than for a light bulb and maybe a true induction device.

Heed these words.

Save your money (and your CNS/cardiovascular system should you take direct amperes). Ironically, if they (paramedics/fire) get to you in time they will use the paddles should you go into cardiac arrest.

If you plug in electronic devices to rippled DC, you will destroy them in a short time plus possible overheat wiring and start a fire.
What amazes me is how often this still happens.

A true AC sine looks like ~

rippled DC looks like ^^^^^^^^^
And, if one is unlucky enough to stop their heart, it looks like

|_________________|HR BPM 000

|_________________|BP

|...........................|
|. . . . . . . . . . . . . .|SP02
|...........................|

*audible alarm*
(depending upon monitor and screen)

So listen to Longtabber, the resident engineer, and myself, the resident physician...you'll save money AND live!

(BTW LT, I charge $27.01 just to say I'm better paid, LOL)
 
I saw one of these home energy ads on the Museum of Hoaxes website :(

Unfortunately, it was not a feature story, but an actual ad.
 
One of the chief engineers on my ship have a solar collector for hot water and heating.
He is planning on a small windmill on the roof hooket up to a heating element in the hotwater tank. I assume it comes with controlbox to prevent overheating.

That solves the problem of DC-AC converter* and energi storage.
*Usually 1000Kr pr KW

The efford and parts to connect to house grid or return power to grid is not for the home improvement crowd.
 
Beerina said:
Their politics, however, are immaculate. :teacher:
Click to expand...

That depends on one's individual politics. I find the site to be too far to the right for my tastes (most things are). ;)
 
I met a family in Iowa who run their whole house on wind power, with just one windmill. They did it without breaking the bank, but only because they did all the work themselves, scrounged for cheap or free parts, and at least one of them had the electrical knowledge to know how to build what he wanted.

The windmill charges 12V batteries (surplus from the railroad industry) and the whole house runs on 12V DC (light fixtures came from trains and the merchant marine). They don't have a washing machine, a drier, or a dishwasher, and I'm not sure about a microwave.

So it's doable with some sacrifices, but only if you have land in the right place and the know-how to build it yourself.
 
ColMD said:
See everyone? Right under my nose, lol. Suffice to say you crossed my mind, but I gather you charge more than the $27.00 (a few more 0's, perhapds?) for house calls? I left out EE's by mistake, what is your area of expertise?
Click to expand...


Motor controls, PLC's, DCS, Power Gen and power quality ( harmonics )

I started out doing housecalls ( residential) but it didnt take me long to see that just didnt work LOL

From gd

>>>I met a family in Iowa who run their whole house on wind power, with just one windmill. They did it without breaking the bank, but only because they did all the work themselves, scrounged for cheap or free parts, and at least one of them had the electrical knowledge to know how to build what he wanted.

The windmill charges 12V batteries (surplus from the railroad industry) and the whole house runs on 12V DC (light fixtures came from trains and the merchant marine). They don't have a washing machine, a drier, or a dishwasher, and I'm not sure about a microwave.

So it's doable with some sacrifices, but only if you have land in the right place and the know-how to build it yourself.

Yep it is. Remember, before Tesla really sold AC, power in the US was DC.

You could do the above ( I'm pulling this from memory but I believe household voltage back then was between 40-90 VDC) and most devices except complex digital or processor controlled machinery can operate on DC or rippled DC. ( basically any light, heating element) you would have to retrofit other appliances with DC motors and timers and such but it can be done.
 
Lightswiches for AC will not last long with DC.
When the contact open there are no zero-cycle to break the spark.

Do NOT just change the house supply from 110V AC to some 108-120V DC.
 
Lightbulbs and the carbon motors in vacumcleaners will accept DC, not much else will.
 
Computers and most home electronics run on DC. You have to replaced the AC-DC transformer with something that will step down the voltage. And naturally you would use wiring, switches, and fixtures designed for DC power.
 
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