We feel privileged to be on Guadiana river. We are on the Spanish side now, where there is no shore power, but a magnificent view on Alcoutim on the Portuguese side.
Sunny Alcoutim (Portugal)
Until, after some days of fog and rainy weather, we noticed our batteries were on lower capacity than was to be expected. Trouble in paradise! Was this only the lack of sun and wind?
Gloomy weather on Guadiana River
We realized that our batteries were deteriorating after 7 years of faithful service. Not unexpected, but nevertheless: bad news. Especially because we have a lot of them.
Onboard of Ya we currently have 24 lead-acid batteries
But, never waste a good crisis. We have been carrying around 25 liters of gasoline and a small generator the size of a sewing machine for in case of emergency. With too little sun and wind and lacking shore power, we decided to start using it.
One of the smallest generators available
During the circumnavigation we never had to use the generator, the trip was truly fossil free. The gasoline is now 5 years old. So, we had to filter it several times before we could use it.
Fossil in paradise
We are grateful that this now helps us through the windstil, cloudy periods on the river. And we are grateful to our neighbours for not complaining about the noise. But, oh boy, what a nuisance, this fossil in paradise. It stinks, it disturbs the peaceful quiet on the river and we have had to repair it 2 times already because it had hardly been used.
Generators need maintenance
We pray for the sun to shine and the wind to blow so we can use the generator as little as possible. As we write this we see the meter jump to charging 400 Watts on wind and sun so this is a lovely day.
Ya in Sanlucar de Guadiana with the SilentWind (our camera is quicker than the human eye, it was spinning!)
We have started the search for new batteries to be able to continue our fossil free life.
In one of our next blogs we will tell you about our search and all that comes with it.
The Nortada, the Portuguese Northern Wind, brought us to the Algarve. We have been here for a while now, happy victims of the Guadiana Glue. Since our wind generator broke down, we wanted to select a new one. Which one? In this article we compare the three most used quality wind turbines: Air Breeze, Superwind and SilentWind.
Airbreeze (with SilentWindblades), SilentWind and Superwind
We compare these three wind generators because they are universal. They can handle all batteries, can be combined with solar panels and other generators, and they are available in 12, 24 and 48 Volt. They are often used on yachts and they are all good, high end generators.
We chose for the SilentWind for its light weight, low noise, the power in also the high range, and the low maintenance.
The yield is in the height!
If you really want a wind generator to deliver, then it needs height. Don’t put it on a 3 metre pole on your boat, but put it higher than 5,5 metre, away from wind obstacles. Then it delivers double, because that is where the wind blows.
This is the Zaan at Zaandam from Claude Monet. The 17th century Holland was packed with windmills, used for all sorts of industry. They determined, when higher than 5,5 meter, the wind became significantly stronger. This rule could very well be sufficient on yachts.
This ‘higher-than-5,5’ metre rule dates from 17th century. They figured this out in the time that building high mills was difficult, while the wind in Holland was crucial for the industry there. In those days, the Zaanstreek was the innovation centre of Holland, the dominant and richest country of the world. It was full of windmills, for sawing wood, grinding grain, and they were pumping the water out of the polders around Amsterdam. They could use every sigh. This ‘higher-than-5,5-metre’ rule nowadays is interesting for us sailors.
The diagram on the left shows the windspeed windward of an urban place. On the right, you see the diagram of the wind speed on the lee side. A windmill must be put much higher than the disturbing buildings to catch good wind. (Source: Fernando,J .(2010). Fluid Dynamics of Urban Atmospheres in Complex Terrain. Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Vol 42, s365‐389)
Check the picture above. The wind blows from the left to the right. On the left side you see a diagram of the ‘clean’ wind. The wind is there if not too close to the surface. The wind blows over the buildings and creates turbulence above it. On the right side you see the influence of these obstacles. For good wind, you have to be far above that ‘stuff’. This also underlines the +5,5 meter rule from the 17th century, when obstacles in the field were not higher than the cattle and the grain. And this corresponds with our yacht: a hull on the water, with a railing and stuff on deck. So we’d better stick to that +5,5 meter rule.
If ever you want to remember anything about the yield of windmills: the height is essential. A cheap windmill put on 7 meter, gives a a far better yield than a high-end windmill put on 3,5 meter.
From here we go into the nuances and details.
The windmill on the Ya is over 7 metres high. There’s metres free of obstacles, and you need that to get good wind generation
More height – less weight
A sailing yacht should not capsize. The ‘Ya’ is an ocean approved yacht and complies with the highest standard; even with the mast top blown into the waves she still self-righting. So, all high things on board are necessarily light things.
There are two pretty light wind generators. The lightest is the Air Breeze (5.9 kg). SilentWind a bit heavier (6,8 kg). Heaviest is the Superwind (11,5 kg).
The Superwind is too heavy for a yacht like the Ya; we would have to put it two times lower and this is close to nonsense. But it is a good turbine for a bigger yacht.
The power – it is in the range, not at the peak
The peak power number only gives an impression for a first orientation. All three wind generators are in the range of a couple of hundred Watts. Instead of the peak power, you must look at the power curves. Then you understand the power of a windmill and what suits you.
The Air Breeze (red line) may be the smallest in peak power, but this light mill delivers already 75 Watt at 15 knots wind speed, which is of great value in the leisure sailor’s wind. And there is an extra power peak in the 6 and 7 Beaufort (when there is mostly overcast, so no solar power). You always sail in strong winds? Take the Air X Marine (blue line).The SilentWind continues its increase till 28 knots of wind. This When over 7 Beaufort, it supplies an awful lot of electricity. In this graphics you also see that generating on high voltage is more efficient; the 48 Volt version yields nearly 25% more than the 12 Volt version.The Superwind is heavier and delivers slightly more from the first cut-in, and from 25 knots of wind (12 m/s) it delivers 350 Watt continuously. The internal regulation dictates that the 12, 24 and 48 Volt versions all deliver the same 350Watts.
Shrieking, madness….and then silence
We are cruisers. We love nature and the silence. We want our wind generator to deliver energy, not the noise.
All three windgenerators have 3 blades. This is a compromise between efficiency and noise. Interested in the technological reasons why? Rosie explains it simple and straight here.
On the Ya we started with the Air Breeze with the standard blades. From the first cut-in, it started making noise. First you like it, because it delivers. But when it really starts delivering and nears the 15 knots of wind, the blades produce a high shrieking sound. The first neighbour started to complain. At 20 knots of wind the neighbours got angry.
Then we discovered the silent blades. Made in Portugal by SilentWind. A high-end product, just as the price of over 300 Euros. But it was worth every penny. Now the same Air Breeze was making a bit of a whistle till 10 knots, a more serious whistle with more speed, and when the wind is somewhere between 15 and 20 knots, the wind generator’s noise drowns into the ambient noise of the wind blowing through the rigging of the boat.
The Air Breeze with the original blades. When equipped with the blue low noise SilentWind blades, you maintain a good relationship with your neighbours.
Now we have the SilentWind. When the rotation is slow and you listen well, you can hear the sound created by the magnets or the new bearings. At 8-12 knots you hear a light low whistle and when faster it becomes a friendly lower tone with more volume. When over 15 knots, the noise drowns into ambient wind noises.
The Superwind you will not hear from 20 knots of wind. I listened many times to this mill in several situations in light winds, and it is really low noise. But nothing beats the SilentWind.
Brakes and no brakes
All three can be switched off manually, for example when there is not enough wind. The switch simply makes a short circuit. The Air Breeze and SilentWind also use this short circuit brake to prevent too much speed, which is near hurricane. Before the blade tips would reach bullet speeds, spin out of control and could be ripped from the turbine, the electronics create a short circuit and the blades will slow down to a near stop.
The SuperWind solves this differently, with smart blades. From 25 knots the blades automatically start to adjust their pitch and the rotation speed will not increase. So, in a severe storm, when there is not much sun for your solar panels, the Superwind keeps on generating energy for you.
One could say that the extra moving parts of the Superwind blades have more chance to fail than the simple fixed set of blades of SilentWind and Air Breeze. But this elegant mechanical solution is perhaps safer than the electronic shut off, because also electronics can fail.
Every windmill can be pre-set to stop generating electricity when a certain voltage is reached. Air Breeze and SilentWind simply use the same short circuit brake to prevent overcharging. Since Superwind does not have this brake, all the excess electricity is regulated to go into big capacitators that will get warm, or even hot, and will be cooled by the air around it in your engine room. I don’t like that for leisure sailors. In wintertime the consumption is low and the battery full, while the winds are strong. Then, when nobody is on board, the capacitators in the engine room or cabin cupboard get very hot. It doesn’t give me a safe feeling.
The Superwind
Keep your maintenance low
Superwind designed the mill to keep the maintenance low. The blade pitch against too much RPMs and the double bearings are two examples. Great, but all together it became too heavy for us.
Our Air Breeze broke down. It did not work properly in the medium wind range. Was it the circuit board? We lowered the mast, unmounted the shaft, et cetera and took the circuit board out. We sent it to the service. It was renewed. We remounted everything, put the mast up again, and it ran well. One week later, the same problem. We lowered the mast… to cut a long story short, we lowered and raised the mizzen mast six times (Thanks to Piet, Tulga, IJsbrand, Henk, Jaap, Mick, Inez and others). We also renewed a chip up there, and other things.
The electronics of the Air Breeze are extremely simple. Great, I love KISS. But they are in the housing of the turbine. Too high to keep an eye on it or maintain it.
Then one morning, we were on the river Guadiana and I saw a strong breeze running over the water towards us. I looked up the mizzen, and saw the Air Breeze hardly responding. I knew, this was its last breeze. Our Air Breeze was no more. We declared it our late Air Breeze.
After these ups and downs, I learned what had to be down. That’s chips, diodes and circuit boards. They don’t belong in the top of your mast, where the rain and moist and salt from the sea reign and you can’t look after it. If you want to keep your maintenance low, then keep it low. Superwind and SilentWind put the electronics in a box (converter or MPPT) and you mount that box in your engine room or cabin or any other dry place. Ofcourse it can break down, but in that environment the chance is smaller and the (preventive) maintenance is easy there.
Weight=height. On the Ya the windmill can be put on 7 meters high, on the mizzen mast. If…. the generator doesn’t weigh too much. The 6 kilograms of the Air Breeze and the Silentwind don’t influence the stability of Ya. The Superwind with its 11,5 kilograms should be mounted half way. But on 3-4 meters height there is simply not enough wind to justify such a high-quality piece of equipment.
Silence. All three are reasonably silent. (if the Air Breeze has the low noise blades). On the other hand, if you are on anchor somewhere in the middle of a creek enjoying the singing of the godwit, bluefinch and specked spoonbill, and then a light breeze picks up, you will enjoy the off-switch of your wind generator.
Which is the best on low noise? My private opinion is that the SilentWind -what’s in a name- beats the Superwind.
Power range. All three deliver well in the critical wind range we like to sail in, or when we anchor in a more open bay. The Air Breeze is best in ‘our’ leisure sailors wind range and falls back in the higher regions. The Superwind is doing about the same, but is cut on 350Watts from 25 knots. The SilientWind continues in the high range. We are also interested in the production in stronger winds, when the weather is bad and our solar panels don’t deliver. Then the 12 Volt delivers continually 420 Watts. The 48 Volt version -which is of our interest- delivers even 520 Watt, so much better than Superwind (350 Watt) and the Air Breeze (200 Watts). Our battery capacity is big enough, it is seldom full, so let it all come in, SilentWind!
Regulation You can look deep into the regulation. We love KISS, and then the Air Breeze comes close with a simple circuit board built in the mill. SilentWind’s regulation is based on the core business of the wind generator: to take all energy it can get from that wind, from the cut-in speed to the safety limit at gale wind. The only disadvantage is that you have a big MPPT in your engine room. I do like the blade pitch solution of the Superwind to keep on running smooth in even a hurricane. But I don’t like that the mill keeps running when the battery is full and the capacitators can get hot. Batteries are full when there is no consumption, so mostly when nobody is there. Then we don’t want critical hot things on board.
Low maintenance. A special word to Superwind. They have put a lot of attention to durability and low maintenance. Unfortunately, this is also the reason that it became too heavy to be effective on the Ya.
I see maintenance, preventive or repairs, as a daily custom for the sailor. But our Air Breeze signed its death warrant when it had to be lowered from the mizzen for the 8th time to check the circuitboard. The SilentWind (and also Superwind) keeps this delicate stuff in the converter or MPPT, to be mounted low, e.g. in your engine room.
Conclusion: We chose SilentWind. Please mail info@fossilfreearoundtheworld.org if you have any comment. We’re curious what you choose and why!
In Alcoutim, we saw a beautiful creature on the shore. Very big and bright. She is called: LONTRA.
Plastic Otter, 2020, Bordalo II, created out of plastic waste for the Festival do Contrabando, Alcoutim. Photo: Chris Costa
The artist created her out of waste plastic. He is called Bordalo II. On his website we read why he makes this kind of art. “The excessive production and consumption of ‘stuff’ results in a constant production of garbage (…) and leads to the destruction of the Planet.” Bordalo II uses this garbage as raw material in the construction of small and large scale pieces that he has spread around the world. They bring the universal ‘manifesto’ against waste.
Bordalo II also makes more provocative art, which you might find interesting. So here are two more pictures:
Selling The Truth, Lisbon, Portugal, 2015. Photo: Bordalo II
Mourning The Oceans, Covilhã, Portugal, 2014. Photo: Bordalo II
We were quite impressed by Bordalo’s work and hope you like it too; his message speaks for itself.
The Ya spent Christmas on a beautiful spot in the Guadiana river. In the morning, we could hardly believe what we saw: there was a beautiful thin layer of frost on the deck. Apparently, it had been freezing. Inge quickly took a picture and went straight back into the comfortable cabin of the Ya. Contrary to most yachts, Ya hardly ever needs a heater to keep it warm inside, even in wintertime. Is this a miracle? No. We will tell you our secret: it‘s just about three things.
The secret of Ya keeping warm inside in wintertime is in three things:
Insulation
Insulation
Insulation
1. Insulation – a lot, and neatly built in
Before we started with the carpentry, the hull of the Ya was insulated. This was done very precisely with high quality foam, called PIR foam (not PUR!). It is built up in layers up to 11 cm thick. Every foam plate is tightly closed to the other, with some caulk or PUR in between. So, there are no heat leaks.
Before and after the insulation: Tsjerk built the PIR foam up to a layer of 11 cm thick. As a real ships carpenter, he sealed all seams with great care, so, no heat can leak through and no condensation can occur.
2. Insulation – PIR as an affordable quality foam
How good is this PIR foam? Well, it is a great insulator and very affordable, and it is self-retardant, so it slows down fire. In the table below you see some numbers.
The Lambda number says how many Watts of heat goes through the material if it is 1 m thick and when there is 1 degree (Celsius or Kelvin) difference on each side. So, the lower the Lambda, the better the insulation. As you can see, the very expensive Vacuum Insulation is doing best. The PF Quod Core (0,015) is second best, but it can only be applied flat, and it is rather expensive. And the third best is PIR: this can be used on yachts. It is also self retarding. Materials like cork or expanded clay are doing much worse. Better not use them on yachts, they also weigh a lot.
On board of steel yachts, often glass wool is used. It is easy to put it neatly in any corner. But, once wet, it insulates only as good as the water in it. And it can go down and hang, a disadvantage. When it is dry, it insulates OK. But PIR does that better and PIR can’t take water (condensation). Disadvantage of PIR is that you need to work very precisely. Every open seam is a heat leak and that also creates condensation.
The final column in the table shows the resistance value (R-value). As the Lambda is a theoretical number, the R-value shows the effective heat resistance when the insulation is used in houses, caravans, boats. The higher the R-value, the better. It confirms that PIR is the best affordable choice.
On Christmas night it was minus 3º Celsius. We were having a Corona-proof dinner with some fellow-sailors. It was nice, we had fun, lots of olives and almonds, little alcohol and no heater Then, our friends asked where our heater was. Well, somewhere packed deep down in a bilge; we can’t remember using it. Yet, the atmosphere on the Ya felt as comfortable as in a house, or even better. How is this possible?
Now, let us compare the insulation of the Ya with that of a normal house built in the 70’s or 80’s. How well is it insulated? Or, to put it technically: What is the heat resistance of the house’s walls and the Ya’s skin?
Suppose you live in a house with brick cavity walls and 5 cm of rockwool insulation. The two layers of 10 cm bricks each have an R-value of 0,125. So, this is 0,25 in total. 10 cm of rockwool has an R-value of 2,6. Your house has 5 cm, with an R-value of 1,3. So, for the house the total R-value is 1,3 + 0,25 = 1,55 which is the total heat resistance of your wall.
Here you see the intersections of the skin of the Ya and a cavity wall of a normal house. The heat resistance -the R Value – of the skin of the Ya is 3 to 4 times higher!
Now the Ya
The skin of the Ya is made of 6 mm of glassfibre, 20 mm of core-cell foam, then 4 mm of vinylester/glassfibre. In addition, on the inside the skin is covered with 110 mm PIR foam.
So, the skin has glassfibre (6mm +4 mm) 10 mm. The R-value of 10 cm is 2,5, so the R-value of 1 cm = 0,25. It also has core-cell foam 20 mm. The R-value of 10 cm is 2,6, so the R-value of 2 cm = 0,52. On the inside: PIR foam 110mm. The R-value of 10 cm PIR is 4,4, so the R-value of 110 mm = 4,84. So, for the Ya the total R-value is 0,25 + 0,52 + 4,84 = 5,61.
The total heat resistance of the skin of the Ya is more than 3 times higher compared to an insulated house. No miracle Ya keeps it warm inside in wintertime.
The sun power can be used to really heat everything. In this last episode show we show the heat pipe panel, for even hotter water. And on top of it, we show a multi purpose system to really make a beautiful water heating system on board, or at home. Too technical? Then go to the end of the article. There you find a picture with a cute model (says Inge) trying outthe shower!This Heat pipe panel becomes hot by the sun. Each pipe is dark, and surrounded by a transparent pipe, so with a vacuum in between for splendid insulation. There is a little bit of fluid in each pipe. This fluid will evaporate. The hottest damp will go to the top. There a cooling fluid flows along the outside skin, taking the heat and cooling the skin down. So the damp inside the top of the pipe condenses and runs downward to get heated and evaporate again.
The heating panel collects the heat and gives it to a cooling fluid. The fluid circulates through (or around) the boiler and gives the heat to the colder water. But that is just one function. The beauty of this system is that it is a multipurpose system: for heating and cooling. In this film you see a short description.
If you want to know more, check the drawings and the text here below.
The Heat pipe in a basic system
This closed circulation system is filled with cooling fluid. The circulation pump makes the circulation. The fluid goes through the heat pipe panel. Only a first sunray through a cloud will heat up the water there.
The fluid then runs to the boiler, where it goes throught the boiler spiral , so that it heats the water in the boiler.
Then it runs back to the panel.
To a multi-purpose system
You can put a stove in the form of a radiator on board. It works sufficient in autumn; it will not give much heat. There is a valve before it in the circulation system and you can choose if you want to let the fluid go through the radiator. If the valve is closed, it runs further.
You could for example use this stove in the evening, using the heat from the boiler. With an extra valve you close the heat pipe panel out of the system so you let the circulation go from the boiler to the stove and back. And you can do more. Here we show it on video:
A multi purpose heating system with Heat pipe panel, stove, boiler, and motor built in. Also the motor, because you can cool the motor, or use your diesel to heat.
You connect the circulation system of your motor into the circulation system. So, the motor is also a heater. An electromotor is highly efficient, so you won’t get much heat of it, but it works more efficient if it stays cool.
Especially for combustion motors it is interesting to build its cooling system into your cooling system. Combustion engines are terribly inefficient and the mostly produce more heat than propulsion. A diesel engine converts about 50% of the diesel into heat.
And on the other hand, your system can warm the motor up. A cold running combustion engine wears the engine out, so why not first heat it up? It saves your engine from wearing out.
Regulating the system
To get a high heat intake from your heat pipe panel, the circulation pump should run slow. That is the main thing to regulate. You can put a by-pass in it with a valve to lower the flow. Or if you like it the electrical way, put a resistor in your feed to lower the power to the pump. There are also electrical regulators with a pot meter.
Put many valves in the system, so that you can do whatever you want, such as:
Heat your boiler with the heat pipe panel
Make your stove/radiator work with the heat of the boiler
Cool your (electric) engine and controller, or your combustion engine
Heat your boiler and/or your stove with your engine.
When you want to heat in the night, put a valve before the heat pipe panel, to prevent loosing heat there.
Simply use valves that you can open and close by hand. Just make sure that there is a flow in the system, because the circulation pump must be able to do its work.
Often, you see three-way valves in such systems. These valves always give way to or one way, or the other way. Disadvantage is that you must choose. You swith or/or, and sometimes you want and/and. For example if you want the radiator to be warm and the boiler, donot use a three way valve, but put just regular valves in, as drawn. Advamtage is that you can even regulate how much you want to feed to e.g., the radiator, and to the boiler. Or, when the motor produces heat, you open that valve.
First do it manually, and when you are experienced, you automize the options you want. You could put sensors everywhere in the system and connect them with valves. But that could make it much more complex than you want. Start with the basics first.
The system can be drawn very schematic, but as you can see here on board Jaap his yacht, is that you have a spaghetti of hoses, lines, pumps and wires near your boiler, simply because you put a boiler in your bilge as big as possible so the space is so small for everything..
The test
With this heat pipe added, you can get really hot water and not only during summer. The spiral heater is doing great, and you can build it yourself. But the heat pipe panel is directly handy to build in. and it looks like it can take more heat out of the sun. Great to get a big hot shower, even in winter time.
Because of COVID we started our fossil free tour around the world later than planned. But, never waste a good crisis. COVID can be a turning point in the fossil fuel consumption.
More and more of us see, that working at home works. In 2020 there are more electric cars sold then all years before 2020. In some countries the CO2 emissions lowered. Since 2020 is again a year where we break meteorological records on high average temperatures, more and more people become aware of the climate problem.
Good intentions for 2021? Be the one of the growing many to act. Reduce your fossil fuel consumption. Insulate your house. Only take the car if you need to. Stop cooking with gas, put solar panels on your roof and cook with an induction cooker. Ask your local government to stimulate solar panels on buildings and industrial quarters. Ask your MP to reduce or stop the aid to fossil companies such as airlines.
It saves money, and it is a start to stop compromising the future of our children and grandchildren.
Wherever you are, we wish you a merry Christmas in (fysical or virtual) good company and a happy, healthy and fossil free 2021.
We are proud that SilentWind sponsors the Fossil Free Around the World project. The Ya had already the low noise blades of SilentWind on our last windmill. But now it is all SilentWind in our mizzen mast. The specifications of the windturbine promise a high yield, a good efficiency and, important, a low noise. We will keep you posted and tell you about our experience.
Last week you read about the shower bag. Now we describe a system with the Spiral Heater that you can build in on board, even by yourself. It is a rather simple system, with some technical things, so sometimes boring. But we have a cliff hanger: would the story end up with a beautiful model under the shower head? Male or female?
2. The spiral heater
The cupper spiral is just visible through the double skinned insulation plastic, that prevents that the heat gets lost.. The sunrays go through it, heat the spiral and the water circulatiing through it.
You can make a 30 cm diameter spiral of thin cupper pipe. This solar spiral heater consists of two spiral pipes connected to each other. It is not that difficult to make. Just buy a 30 meter roll of cupper pipe 6 mm that a plumber uses for oil and butane gas lines. This pipe is rather flexible and with a bit of feeling for the material you ‘mould’ the line in a spiral without kinks. Connect the outside end of one to the outside end of the other, and the flow of the one runs against the flow of the other, which is most effective. In the middle you have to ends: one is the inlet and one is the outlet.
How the system schematically works, with the spiral heater, boiler and taps, is shown in this film.
Interested? Here is the schematic drawing and the description of the complete system.
In general: the Pressure pump keeps the water system under pressure, so the (cold and hot water) taps can give water. The circulation pump circulates the water first through the spiral heater, to the hot water tap and into the top of the boiler, pushing the cold water under into the circulation system.
We start under with the water tank containing water.
A pressure pump pumps water in the system: the water lines, the spiral and the boiler. From now you can use the cold water tap and the hot water tap (although the latter one is still cold now, but wait).
Then, a little circulation pump pumps the water into the spiral heater. The sun heats the spirals, so the water gets hot.
The water leaves this spiral heater through a line going along the hot water tap further to the boiler. It will be led into the top of the boiler. Hot water is lighter than cold water, so the hot water will be stacked on top. The cold water goes downwards. Down in the boiler there is the outlet, so from there the cold water will be sucked up by the circulation pump. Then the water is pumped to the spiral heater for a new circulation. Easy.
Only one safety issue. If water becomes hot, it expands. The pressure would get too high and it would damage the system. Therefore, there is an overpressure valve mounted in the system. It opens when the pressure becomes too high. Mount it just after the pressure pump. The water coming out, can be led to the water tank, or directly before the pressure pump. (this is not drawn here).
This pump is a typical robust circulation pump. It works on 12 Volt. It switches on when the temperature of the boiler is lower than the temperature of the spiral heater.
Regulating the heat of the water
The pressure pump has a pressure regulation: if the pressure drops, the pump starts running till the pressure is (mostly) about 2 Bar, the minimum water pressure for drinking water.
The spiral heater and the boiler each have a temperature sensor:
If the temperature of the heater is higher than the temperature of the boiler, the circulation pump will start running.
If the temperature of the heater is lower than the temperature of the boiler, the circulation pump will stop running.
A simple black water bag makes you shower fossil free. Just use the sun power for your shower.
The sun loves the colour black! In a black bag, container, or barrel your water heats up whenever the sun shines. Check the solar water bag. You fill it up in the morning, hang it where the sun can reach it, and in the afternoon, you have a nice, warm shower.
Here on the picture a better shower head is mounted, so the spray is not that drizzly dribble. But still, if you want a real strong shower spray, then connect a hose to it and hoist the bag in the mast (as long as your hose is). The longer the hose, the higher the water, the stronger the spray. Check this movie to see how it works with a 3-meter hose.
By the way, put a drop of chloride or baking soda in it to prevent bacteria growth.
Here you see what I bought to connect the shower head to the hose and to the water sack: Shower spray head including washer; ½” to ¾” adaptor ring; valve ¾”in – ¾” out; ¾” washer; hose with ¾” in – ¾” out; adaptor ¾’ in – hose tail; 5 cm hose 14 mm.With the shower head comes a hook, to screw on the wall. Screw it in your shower/toilet. You can watch the movie above to see how that works.
The black bag with standard shower head costs you 20 Euros. The better shower head (with hook) costs 15 Euro and the hose with fittings about 10 Euro. A fossil shower in the harbour mostly costs 1 Euro so your pay back time is 20-35 times. And it makes you independent.
Next week we show how fellow-sailor Jaap made a simple system with a boiler that anyone with a pair of right hands can make.
We must stop the poisoning of the coral reef and the plankton in the oceans. If we do that, plankton and ocean life will restore itself. You can increase the seas’ CO2 absorption. This restores the oceans capacity to solve the CO2 problem.
This unknown world of plankton has a great capacity to restore itself. But, it needs help.
Stop or at least reduce using toxic chemicals
You probably already know that eating organic food and minimizing your energy consumption -like we do on the Ya– helps to make a better world. Perhaps you did not know that some chemicals can have a dramatic effect on climate change. However, the good thing is: you can do something very effective about it yourself. Yes, it takes some effort to read the small letters on the everyday products you use. Also, it will take some effort to find alternative products. But it’s worth it. Take a deep breath, here’s the list:
Oxybenzone orbenzophenone-3orBP-3 is top on our list because it’s really bad. This hormone-disrupting UV filter is used in sunscreen and many products exposed to sunlight. For example cosmetics, plastics, paint, rubber, cleaning agents and detergents.
Don’t buy sunblockers or other products containing oxybenzone. Tradenames are Milestab 9, Eusolex 4360, Escalol 567, Kahscreen BZ-3. Bring them back or throw them away responsibly. Use alternatives (hyperlink https://www.health.com/skin-cancer/sunscreens-without-oxybenzone), there’s plenty of them. Or, for example, make your own sunscreen.
1 drop of Oxybenzone from a bottle of sunscreen, can kill 140 billion tonnes marine plankton. 70 thousand tonnes would destroy all life in the oceans, and the global production is in excess of 300 million tonnes. Oxybenzone does not stop working when in the water. They change the wavelength of the sunrays into heat rays and thus kill the coral reefs. The reefs are necessary for life in the oceans.
Other harmful chemicals used in cosmetics: this list is very long and you will not like what you see. However, please take some time and check for example on www.goesfoundation.com
Dioxins mostly exist as by-products of industrial processes such as bleaching paper pulp, pesticide manufacturing. Most pollution comes from combusting electronics and plastics, and waste incinerations.
Don’t buy bleached paper. Don’t use pesticides. Reuse and repair your electronics, before you remove them. Try to produce as little waste as you can. Buy only things you love and need and use them carefully.
Methyl mercury can be found in nature, so also in coal and biomass, combusted in power plants. Only in the US the incinerators emit 80 ton per year.
Stop using electricity from coal and biomass power plants.
DDTDichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) kills marine life. It is meant to kills insects, such as the malaria mosquito. It is advised to use as minimal as possible, but it is not forbidden.
If you need to use it (malaria), make sure it doesn’t get into the marine environment (water waste treatment).
Plastics contain chemicals and the chemicals mentioned above ‘stick’ to it in the environment. They disintegrate into microplastics and accumulate in organisms that eat it. Also, chemicals ‘stick’ to it.
Reduce your plastic consumption (bags, small bottles etc.) Re-use whatever plastic you have. Make sure it doesn’t end up in the environment. If you can, pick up the plastic waste you see on your way and put it in the garbage.
In 2009 all countries (Stockholm Agreement) agreed to stop using the next substances:
PCB’s (or Polychloorbifynil), used as electric isolation fluid, cooling fluid.
PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), makes fabrics water repellent, for example raincoats.
PBDE’s (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers), used for flame retardants.
Has this Stockholm Agreement been translated in your national laws? If not, you can write your MP about it.
The good news: if we succeed, the plankton will restore itself
If we can take the brakes off the ecosystem by allowing the plankton to grow, then recovery could be really quick. It would take ten to twenty years for plant biomass to double on land. But, it just takes only 3 days for biomass to double in the oceans!
Trees take many years to removeCO2 from the atmosphere
Marine Algae take just a few days to remove CO2 from the atmosphere
Marine Bacteria take a few hours to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and grow 1,000,000 times quicker than terrestrial plants.
And the damage done? Plankton that is killed by toxic combinations end up on the ocean floor. We don’t know the impact of the plastic and toxic chemicals on the sediment. But, it may be that the chemicals and plastic could be locked out and no longer create a hazard. This would be a good news story and would give hope for the future of the oceans.
Start now
If we follow the current strategy of climate change mitigation, we will be too late to stop the acidification of the ocean. In ten years, the pH will reach 7.95 which will cause run-away climate change. If we just could stop the use of Oxybenzone, we could probably gain an extra 10 or 20 years to fix the ocean pollution problem. We must do this now because in a decade it will be too late; the oceans are going to be too acid. And we need healthy oceans to stop climate change.
If we stop toxic chemical pollution and clean up our plastic environment, we will be able to develop a sustainable ecosystem and reverse the effects of climate change. You can stop being worried and start taking care. Do what you can yourself. Use your consumer-power. Help your government reach the climate-goals and question them about the chemical pollution. Create a clean wave!
Motivation is plenty. It is good for the economy. It prevents a climate migration of millions of people. And, if we start now, we can restore the health and beauty of our planet.
This is the last in a series of articles based on the presentation and articles by Dr. Howard Dryden from GOESfoundation and Diane Duncan from Clean Waterwave Foundation. For more detailed information and insight please check their websites.
You can read the previous articles on our website:
