Part 20-1 MicroHydro Power System in CO

[@audiomantim]

You say: “Thank you for watching.” I say: “Thank you for providing such amazing content for us to watch!” You’re living the dream brother. I hope to build a similar dream here in the mountains of Montana someday.

[@mrhydrohead]

Hey more power to you. Takes time,$ ,effort. Well worth all if it

[@keaganknapp2237]

I am jealous of your location, its beautiful!

[@mrhydrohead]

I pinch myself all the time. Got very lucky to find this spot. Thx for watching

[@jeffdible8171]

A real contribution to sustainable energy and sustainable living.

[@robnnorthaustin]

I've been a viewer from the beginning and have shared your videos many times. I think your video series is among the best on You Tube. I miss Colorado and you are an awesome advocate for that beautiful area. Rob

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx Rob. I do appreciate the compliment. Glad you enjoy them. A new one should post tomorrow. 😉

[@oscill8ocelot]

I've been subscribed to your channel for a number of years and the quality of your videos has just kept on improving. This is an incredible project and I can't wait to see more. =)

[@mrhydrohead]

Yeah, the first vids were pretty rough and initially intended to show any future owner of the property how the heck the whole thing worked. The choice to move the system inspired me to practice my craft as a retired Cinematographer and share what I've learned. The response of interest was a pleasant surprise and has kept me motivated to do better on each video. With the exception of a few shots on other small cameras and recent drone shots it has all been done on an iPhone. THAT sort of blows my mind as I worked in Hollywood for 30 yrs shooting 35mm film, now a nearly dead skill set. Ultimately it's not the equipment (it's all just a box and bottle), but what the eye chooses and content that make something of interest. Thx for he compliment and watching! Parts 2&3 of synopsis are cut, just now being polished and should post once done to my satisfaction ✌️😉

[@cuttheknot4781]

These folks really have their !@# together. I mean, even the narration is top quality and exudes a certain grace and conservatism. Great job, folks.

[@shankarthakur1]

Your videos are so detailed and well edited. On top of that the way you narrate is perfect. These videos are by far the most helpful of any other hydro related videos. Keep going and best of luck!!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx so much for the compliment. And thx for watching. More to come soon

[@brucesaunders728]

Shows the value of excellent pre-planning. I have enjoyed your videos immensely , thank you for taking me along on your journey.

[@mrhydrohead]

Most welcome. 2 more parts of synopsis are cut a being polished. Soon to upload those. Thx for watching and coming along

[@mrmindless]

The drone footage really gives a great sense of the layout and scale of the project. Great addition to a recap!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx I'm still learning to fly it but find it invaluable for the synopsis overview. Thx for watching

[@Biogasifier]

I'm very excited about this multi part video!! Thank you for this wonderful content that is produced so well.

[@mrhydrohead]

It has been a daunting task to compile the hours of footage and make the 1000's of choices as to how to compress 5 yrs into about 21 minutes across the 3 segments. The other two are cut but not yet fully "sweetened" with audio mixing, graphic overlays, and color corrections. It is a lot of work and it is rewarding to get a comment like yours. Thx for watching. I hope you will enjoy the next 2 videos when posted.

[@kevinmatthews2620]

your video editing skills are on par with any hollywood productions,along with your clear and concise narrative, oh and the beautiful scenery helps too, we dont get snow like you do here in the uk nowadays

[@mrhydrohead]

Thanks for the kind comment. I worked in LA as a cinematographer for 30 years. The series in part is an excuse to keep making images and its also a way to give back for all the blessings I've had in my life. Thanks for watching.

[@alexyegon2381]

Such an amazing narrative voice, makes watching so enjoyable. Great content too.

[@mrhydrohead]

Thanks for watching

[@shawnbixby1]

Huge treat when you post a new video thanks

[@mrhydrohead]

You're most welcome. Other 2 parts of synopsis are cut and being polished a bit now. Will post soon. Thx for watching

[@913WildCat]

Huge fan of this series. The production value is very high. Good work!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx! I'm amazed that it looks relatively good even being shot almost completely on an iPhone. DJI drone shots help though. Thx for watching

[@TheFogLakeshore]

I've had one complaint about this series, and it is the lack of an global map of what is going on, especially of the upper collection phase. For others in my boat, there is a very, very brief overview of the system beginning at 3:18. The system is not shown as a complete map, but if you pause, you get a view of the upper creek diversion, meadow collection, pipe bridge, then pausing again and again, the pipeline to the powerhouse, and thence cable to the homestead. At 2:24 there is a very nice overview of the pressurized portion of the system with elevation relief and calculations. This is superior to just about any Micro-hydro project on YT, but I admit my frustration at the missing overview of the collection process. While the collection process is covered in detail across several videos, and the aforementioned view is available to an agile viewer at 3:18, this deserves a better plan overview. The initial diversion, meadow 'slow reservoir', weirs, and bridge are the most novel features of this installation, and we still don't have an actual paused, dwelling view of what's going on. But thank you for at least making it available, as I finally understand it! Great series of videos and one of the best and most powerful systems on YT.

[@mrhydrohead]

Robert, I don't think I've seen any comment throughout these years that is as detailed as yours. I see what you are saying and I should have added a magenta line to the diagram at 4:00 to represent where the pressurization begins and continues on to the right in the image. I had that line on the google map I used however whenever I activated it, it would obliterate the bridge line in grey. I couldn't seemingly adjust the sequence of layers with the bridge always disappearing below the penstock line. This synopsis group of videos(2 yet to come) were put together in a different manner than all the other videos in that I wrote and recorded the narrative of the script first and then crafted images to illuminate the dialogues. This was in contrast to all the previous videos where I wrote and narrated after "locking picture". I was starting the process and had numerous hours of materials to refine down to what became about 21 minutes for the 3 synopsis videos. I intentionally flipped the direction of the two diagrams of the intake area with the meadow and unbuildable area because I'm not too interested in broadcasting to the world my exact location for privacy reasons and felt it might add some confusion as to where NSEW reside. It would make it more difficult to locate on maps for most people. The narrative at 4:00 is trying to get to justifying the need for the bridge and I made the assumption that most people wouldn't miss the penstock line in magenta if I just left it out. So, there were reasons, both a technical one on layers and a procedural one with how I edited this time and my timeline for getting it all done. I was pretty pleased with many of the ideas I came up with to fill in parts of the narration for which I had little imagery to show. Recording the narration is my least favorite step and I didn't want to rewrite and re-record so I invented the map overview to try to show my words. I must say I'm flattered that you've focused so closely on details. Most I'm sure do not. As every system is unique in hydro, I feel that too much specificity might become boring to the majority of viewers. So hopefully this explains a bit of how it ended up looking like it did. I might add a bit of clarification to the 2nd segment of synopsis to make it more clear. Thx for watching and thx for the detailed scrutiny. 😉✌🏼

[@corgraveland4874]

Well, just an amazing project at an awesome location, we can just dream of. Look forward to explore more of it!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for watching!

[@henrypuyi5485]

I can’t believe it’s been that long. I have enjoyed the vids and the project. Thanks again for sharing the journey.

[@mrhydrohead]

Glad to share. 2 more coming soon. Thx for watching

[@danbleumer]

Fantastic, thank you sir

[@mrhydrohead]

Most welcome more to come very soon. Just polishing parts 2&3 now

[@CJWarlock]

As I've already commented on another video (part 18 or 19 I think), it's my new favorite channel. :) And the aerial views! Definition of beauty. Thanks for the video. All the videos. :)

[@mrhydrohead]

thanks again for watching.

[@kenleach2516]

Great vision and fun, love it

[@simoncorporation3]

Very inspirational overview along with your other videos I have just seen for the first time you should be proud of your innovation thank you for sharing.

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for the compliment & thx for watching! Parts 2&3 of synopsis coming soon

[@pritambissonauth2181]

Great project, wished I had a similar property and installation. Thank you for thinking renewable.

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for watching.

[@krowvin]

I wake up and I look out the window at my neighbors fence. You wake up, and you look out the window to THAT 1:28

[@karllindqvist3489]

This is such an inspiring project! Love the presentation format :) Would you consider making an overview of the amount of labor (roughly) required for each part of the system (intake, bridge, penstock, powerhouse...)? This could probably help the planning of similar systems!

[@mrhydrohead]

It's an interesting idea but I just have the data. My contractor/friend who also built my house gave me bids for the various parts of the system and I don't know the actual hours for each part. He works very fast and owns/operates the heavy equipment. I was his worker but not there everyday of construction. Having set bids was necessary for getting the loan to finance it, 60k of which I spent about $55k. Also every system is highly unique so numbers might not transfer well. Hope this helps. Thx for watching!

[@HBPowerwall]

Well done again buddy - shared!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for watching & sharing😉✌🏼

[@russellridd2637]

Great videos! Do you have any information about the turbine and generator you are using?

[@mrhydrohead]

The turbine was manufactured by Canyon Industries www.canyonhydro.com and was a model 1051 with bronze pelton cups, single needle nozzle, with jet deflector. It cost $6700. The Generator was a Lima brushless SER 250S1230 10kW which was $2100. Those prices were in 1996, so a comparable unit would be much higher these days, but they are still running great so it pays to buy quality equipment. Lima was bought out by Marathon www.marathongenerators.com many years ago. In addition I had attended a class at Solar Energy Intl www.solarenergy.org in 1996 and the instructors had good connections and may have enabled me to get good pricing. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!

[@jonq7442]

Hey there Mr H, Great work. It seems more and more people are waking up to the fact that they don't have to be slaves to power, water, gas companies. Since you are open to input, I've got a suggestion that you may be able to use at some point in the evolution of your system. Most of my background is in audio related fields so unwanted sound/vibration is something with which I am familiar. I don't know if you still have any concerns in that area, but if you do, since most vibration transmission in a structure like yours will be structure born, not air born, one of the best ways I've found to deal with both the decibel level and also the longer term vibrational damage to the equipment itself is to effectively sonically decouple the source of the sound from anything to which it's attached. We used neoprene jacks in the creation of an entirely new concrete floor within an existing room. When the floor was cured we cranked up the individual jacks one at a time to raised the new floor a few inches and built a new room on top of it. The floor was now sitting on a number of 6" diameter neoprene "pyramids" which virtually eliminated any sound (like a passing 40 ton trailer) from entering the room. In your case, doing something similar with the concrete/steel bases on which you've mounted heavy/noisy equipment might be advantageous. There are also inline hanging versions of the same kind of neoprene isolators so anything in your power station, sitting or hanging can be decoupled from the structure itself.

[@mrhydrohead]

It does sound interesting. Thanks for the suggestion. and Thx for watching. Our power house sits ~1200 ft from our home and we seldom hear it at all. The white noise sound of the creek is the most prevalent sound. Nonetheless, my plan has always been to wrap the building in stone for permanence, fire protection and some audio isolation. Just haven't gotten to it yet. Project list never seems to shorten.

[@fuckelonmusk9395]

Micro hydro...truly cost effective renewable energy

[@Beltdriven6]

I live outside of denver, I would love to come see your system someday.

[@mrhydrohead]

My wife gets nervous about me inviting strangers to the property, so I have to respect her wishes and decline your request. We're actually pretty private folks. I'm flattered by your interest, but hopefully the videos show more than you would see in a short visit anyway. I do appreciate your interest. Thx for watching!

[@Beltdriven6]

I can certainly respect every bit of that, ill keep on watchin!

[@epallejohnbaptiste393]

What software did you use to do the measurements for head shown in the video

[@mrhydrohead]

There are a couple of methods for measuring head in part 6 & 7 of the series. Neither is software based. You can however use elevation readings in Google Earth Pro to define entry and exit points. You can get fairly accurate with any of the methods. I was off by 2-3 ft using the method I show. It is possible to use surveyors tools which utilize GPS, but it can become expensive to hire a surveyor. Another semi accurate method is to use any variety of cell phone app which displays Topo maps and GPS. If you are measuring head in hundreds of feet, any minor errors are not as impactful as when you might be measuring in tens of feet. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻

[@mrhydrohead]

I forgot mention that the head in feet divided by 2.31 will give you the static (non moving) pressure potential. You also need to determine the best pipe size based on expected flow rate which won’t introduce an excessive amount of pipe friction and hence loss of pressure in active (moving water) capacity.

[@The_JEB]

Hi there MrHydrohead, I was just curious, as I cant quite remember if you expanded fully on it in your previous videos, but what was the overall cost in both time and money to acquire the water rights to your property?

[@mrhydrohead]

Long story. Water rights are first granted conditionally and once proven to be put to useful benefit are made absolute through another filing. I first filed on the springs and pond in the early 90's. These were made absolute in the later 90's and another filing was made on the creek when Bush came into office in 2001. This was renewed twice by successive 7 year filings and will be done when I complete a filing to make them absolute for the hydro used on the creek. So not fully done yet, but close. There are numerous sites and details to the rights so it probably sounds more drawn out than it has been. So about 27 years so far and maybe $3500 in legal & court fees over that time frame. Hard to remember the specific costs.

[@aaronr3637]

Neat! Looking forward to the next video!

[@mrhydrohead]

Coming soon, thx for watching!

[@yankey4]

Brother I do not know if you told us or not. I have seen all your videos and LOVE them. Would love to know way you guys did not just go with 20 or 30 kw of PV solar. Now with solar being so cheap I would think even thing it would have been less. Like I was saying I know you had a reason for not doing it. Thanks for the blessing your have been sharing and keep sharing. God Bless.

[@mrhydrohead]

A few reasons exist for why not solar. Initially cost was way higher than today in 1995 and I had no desire to deal with batteries back then as the property was initially a second "Vacation" home and not always occupied. The spring water source became useful for both power and domestic water. The purchase of the additional land was an investment in the future expansion of power and when the springs went from 80 gpm to 10 gpm it became necessary to go that way. Given the choice in 2013 whether to go with solar, the aversion to batteries remained. Other factors were the existing constancy and density of power available from the creek, the already owned hydro equipment, and the fact that at 8600 ft. In winter we can get multiple feet of snow in winter that would need to be removed from solar panels each time it fell or drifted onto the panels. And lastly the self applied moniker "hydrohead" comes into play. Working with hydropower gets in your blood and you come to love it and it can be addictive the ease and constancy of the power. So Mrhydrohead was a moniker I dawned to undertake the re-engineering of the system on to the creek. Being a retired Cinematographer I thought it would be a fun project to document and share the experience and knowledge of how one goes about creating a system. The property was always a place to retire in my mind and having abundant and reliable power would be a prerequisite to moving here full time which we finally did in 2016,selling out of the first home in LA and escaping that rat race. It has taken decades to realize the dream of living deep in nature with abundant power, but now we are here and I get to pursue photographing the display of natural beauty which arises each day. So it's sort of a long winded way of saying there was just a momentum to continuing with hydro vs. solar as a source. I knew it well, had the equipment, funds and skill and somewhat of an addiction. It has been an adventure for sure. Thx for watching! Parts 2&3 of synopsis are cut now but just being polished a bit with sound design, text notes and color correction. That's an addiction too. 😉🙏🏻

[@yankey4]

Love it brother. I have been working in the renewable energy field for the past 20 years. I have seen the days where PV was 100 dollars a watt or more. Now seeing PV at some times 20 cents a watt just blows me away. I have worked all over the world. In the south pole, North pole and even at places I still do not know if I can say. One thing that happens in all tho's places. NOT one thing worked the same as it did in the last place. I worked on a hand full of hydro power plants. Most where 1 MW or smaller. They where for small microgrids that where out where the main grids could not or would not go. To this day I kid you not. I dream at night about the sounds of tho's old Pelton wheel turbine singing there songs. I love the sounds they would make. One we called grumpy it was not good at staying up to speed. We had a main bearing that was bad even tho it was brand new. We it would get rolling and man would it make this high pitched whistle. Even tho it was 10 years ago or more I still can hear it. Funny the things that stick with you over time. June 1 I will be 40 and I still get joy out of my air conditioner cooling my house on a hot day from the sun. The same sun that is making it hot or that nice glass of ice tea. Sorry have no clue why I am sharing this. Thanks for you do. Your videos have helped me out in some bad times of my life. I have a lot of bad health things going on. Just a few weeks ago I was laying in the hospital bed sick and in a lot of pain. Your videos I had not seen helped me forget about it for a bit. Thanks for that true blessing. God Bless.

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for sharing. Our pelton is rarely heard being 1100 ft from the house. Sometimes heard if the wind is right. Fortunately it's bearings don't complain and the would of raging creek water prevails. Sounds like you've had some interesting travels. Me too having been in the film biz. Sorry to hear of your health troubles but glad the videos have provided a bit of distraction/solace. Hope you heal quickly. Best wishes and prayers to you🙏. Illness reminds us each day is a blessing. Now 65 and older than both parents that went at 61. I savor freedom each day✌🏼

[@sharondowdy9413]

I have a small spring that run year around and I would like to get a system for it. Where can I find what I need? And which system is best.

[@mrhydrohead]

Sharon, the two essential things you need to know first are how much head (fall) you have and how much flow you can expect throughout the seasons of the year. With those measurements you can then determine what equipment is best suited to harness the potential power. Every site is unique and the more you can research and learn the less likely you will make costly mistakes. There are many factors to consider including water rights, whether you have grid access, pipe length and diameter, turbine equipment, power usage, AC or DC with batteries, budget, distance to house from turbine, local laws, and many others. The “best” system is not a simple answer as there are many suppliers and many different ways to go in design and installation. This author has edited some good books that can aid you in learning: www.amazon.com/Scott-Davis/e/B001KMNH1Q/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

[@OGH3294]

Beautiful !!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx for watching

[@MrMp569366]

amazing, thanks for sharing

[@mrhydrohead]

Thanks for watching.

[@MoZz..]

holy moly, you live in a fantasy world! i live in a flat country :D

[@TestarossaF110]

Are you able to sell energy back to the grid or store it for later use or maybe even powering a pump that would increase the gpm?

[@mrhydrohead]

We are 7 miles from the grid, so no means of net metering. The estimate to run lines into our property in 1996 were for 20K/mile or $140k and then we would have had power bills. This was vs. 25K to construct our first system (series parts 1-5) which also provided us pressurized domestic water and a fish pond. A no brainer choice. No batteries in system by choice, and no demands for power beyond production. Storage is as hot water. 300 gallons always available. A hot tub to use too. No way I see to use any sort of pump.

[@TestarossaF110]

@@mrhydrohead thanks for the quick response! Absolute awesome system very jealous of the area and the engineering :D its incredible!

[@mrhydrohead]

Thanks for the compliment and thanks for watching.

[@Bark777]

This is true wealth.

[@mrhydrohead]

We think so too. Thx for watching

[@rai3r]

great

[@jimbeck553]

Where could I purchase the 6 inch low pressure pipe? What is a rough cost for it?

[@mrhydrohead]

What part of the world are you living in?

[@jimbeck553]

Southern Oregon. I need to measure the length of the creek, at least 500 feet I am guessing

[@mrhydrohead]

I would suggest speaking with pipe suppliers that provide irrigation pipes to ranchers and farmers. I bought 3 grades of pipe shown in video. The lowest rating I used (as per advice I received)was sdr 51 80psi bell end gasketed for $1.65 ft in 2013. Prices vary with the cost of natural gas which pvc is made from I think

[@Rednesswahn]

Great video! :)

[@gamelover2594]

What is formula of power in hydroelectric plant? Thank you!

[@mrhydrohead]

(Net Head in ft. X Flow in GPM) / 9 = AC watts, Divide by 15 for DC watts. Net head means after loss to pipe friction. Thanks for watching!

[@Jordankewl]

Living the dream

[@scottcash2960]

What are the advantages of a turbine Opposed to a water wheel design? I have a similar situation as this and im trying to decide on one over the other.

[@mrhydrohead]

A pelton turbine is for high head sites where you can use the head to pressurize the water jet. A water wheel might be effective where you have a low head and large quantities of water. There are certainly more efficient devices like a vortex or francis turbine.

[@cryptoFindalf]

That's a lot of effort. If solar was as cheap as it is today, would you still opt for hydro?

[@mrhydrohead]

Good question. I would still opt for hydro because of constancy and density of power, old tech, no batteries, and no winter snow removal from panels. But the property lends itself to this so well it's hard to not harness it even though solar cost has fallen so sharply

[@supremeleader7555]

I am really enjoying these videos, but the only downside is that watching these make me feel like my dad.

[@mrhydrohead]

I guess I'm an old man in your view, and I am in my mid 60's. My mind remains young though. Thanks for watching.

[@supremeleader7555]

@@mrhydrohead. Sorry, It was not my intention to call you old. I intended my comment to be an insight to how I have grown and matured. I merely found it interesting that I ended up watching videos that I could see my dad enjoying. I love what you have done with the property.

[@mrhydrohead]

supreme leader 👍🏻😉 Glad you appreciate it all. It’s been fun to share

[@stevenf4164]

Your videos are great...do you ever consult with other land owners to help them develop similar systems...or can you recommend anyone that does...

[@mrhydrohead]

I have shared my knowledge with others. Im not a trained engineer with my understanding gained from years of practical experience. The hydro guy i used way back when moved to s america. Glad to help if i can. Are you planning something? Where?

[@stevenf4164]

MrHydrohead We have 135 acres and our building site has two creeks that flow by the house...we just received an estimate for an electric line from the power company...$ 200K + !!! So we are looking at “plan B”......

[@mrhydrohead]

Steven F It sounds similar to my situation way back when. Im glad to share my experience. If you share your contact info via email to [e-mail], I’ll do the same and we can discuss it privately.

[@growguy6517]

You are living my dream this is my exact ultimate life goal how much did the it all cost after everything was said and done

[@mrhydrohead]

First system about 25K, the move to the creek added about 55k but greatly increased the power. thx for watching

[@raphola1]

Great, i"m educated, please where can I purchase most part of the system... turbine especially.

[@mrhydrohead]

Canyon Hydro located in DEMING Washington

[@giusepperandazzo9915]

Hi amazing videos, where can I purchase a hydro power system?

[@mrhydrohead]

That’s a very broad question. You first need to figure out how far water will fall or your head and the flow you can rely on before you can determine what sort of equipment you will need. There are numerous suppliers depending on what sort of system you are going to install. My turbine came from www.canyonhydro.com as the system was direct AC You might also look at www.powerspout.com if the system would be DC. I can say it’s important to research as much as you can so you don’t waste money The whole series is intended to give an overview of our system and every system is unique to itself depending on the available potential power, your need for power and your available funds. Thx for watching

[@ibcrypto6139]

@@mrhydrohead Is not one of the most critical things is finding the right location, including rules/regulation's allowing for this? When you purchased your property was building a HydroElectric Generator a factor in that part of your research? Thank you for all you did and shared!

[@mrhydrohead]

Oddly enough it wasn’t the primary thing. The beauty and splendor of the property was what hooked me initially. I drilled three wells searching for domestic water and finally found it in the third well. A local rancher asked why I didn’t just pipe down water from 2 very productive springs on the property. That idea got me researching the potential for generating electricity from the water which was something I had been interested in for many years. In 1995 I took a course in MicroHydro power at solar energy international in Carbondale Colorado and realized that there was great potential energy from the Springs. The instructors helped me design and access the equipment necessary. A couple of years later I purchased the parcel which had the creek on it thinking that someday in the future I might install a system there. In 2013 the flow from the springs was greatly decreased by both drought and changes to the aquifer feeding the springs. At that point I decided to move the system to the creek and document it on KZbin as there were very few videos that had any detail on how-to go about doing it. My knowledge and understanding of micro hydro had been hard won and I wanted to give back and share what I had learned. I would say that finding a good property and researching the power potential is definitely a primary factor that one should investigate before purchasing land. In my case I just got very lucky to have such abundant power potential available. Solar was very expensive when I started out and that should be considered along side any Hydro potential these days because the cost has come down so much for solar. Thanks for watching

[@Flightstar]

What was the kw output of your original system. I cant do the math on how many kw produced over the said years.

[@mrhydrohead]

Ah yes, those first years on spring water from 1996 until the switch to the creek source had a wide variation. The system was designed to max out at 5kw. 212psi static or roughly 200psi active with a max flow of 80gpm. The actual numbers were generally less of somewhere like 1500w in winter to 3500w in other seasons. The house was initially a vacation house and the flow setting was turned down while not here. I don’t have as precise of records over those years, but the cumulative kwh shown in the video is where it stood when I switched the system to the creek. Not many people ask about the previous numbers but we just passed 266,000 kWh total since the 1996 installation. So you can see the total is rising far more rapidly, but if course we use all the heat we can now in winter. Currently running at 7150w. Hope the helps. Thx for watching

[@Flightstar]

How was the generator freq regulated? did you use heaters as ballast or a mech/ electronic flow controller?

[@TheUserid82]

How much sand/gravel has the new system deposited in the meadow?

[@mrhydrohead]

Minimal as far as I can see. We do get silt that collects in the pool above the coanda screen, but it is easily flushed by opening the stand pipe and flushing tit under the weir dam and thereby back to the creek. Do that maybe twice a year.

[@dustinkrejci6142]

The production value of this video[s] are too high it is in space! I can only see a tiny flame where the out of your preverbal rocket. :D ;D

[@quinnkent3558]

The Spreadsheet...would you be willing to share it?

[@mrhydrohead]

I'm not sure if it would make sense. The one shown in the video dealt with Pipe sizing, friction loss, and cost/benefit at the outset of the redesign.. Is that the one you are interested in? If so, send me your address to [e-mail] and I'll send it along.

[@keithnikolaevich7530]

how many KW is your whole system

[@mrhydrohead]

If i were to install a second jet in the turbine I could reach the 10kw limit of my 1phase generator, but with one 1" jet I max out at about 8000-8500w. That is in winter when I need the heat at 8600 ft in the CO mountains

[@donshilo2024]

You guys live in paradice

[@mrhydrohead]

Thx. We are indeed fortunate.

[@energyzone242]

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR A LIVING - MUST BE AN ARCHITECT / ENGINEER AS THE COST OF DOCUMENTATION ALONE WOULD BE CONSIDERABLE AND NO TRADE ORIENTED GUYS WOULD GO TO THAT EXTENT FOR THERE OWN PROJECT,

[@mrhydrohead]

Retired Cinematographer with a passion both for filmmaking and hydropower. Worked in Hollywood (35mm film) for 30+ yrs. before finally escaping L.A. back to Colorado. The series was largely done on an iPhone except for the drone footage that was done with a drone funded by ad proceeds from the series. Thx for watching.

[@fuckelonmusk9395]

183 kwh per day....i used 5 yesterday.. Lol

[@mrhydrohead]

Now THATS efficiency! Winter is generally the only time we can effectively use what is generated. I guess you’ve watched most of the series by this point. Hydro IS great for it’s constancy and low E impact. Thx for watching!

[@bob15479]

ok not to be nitpicky but 96-15 is not decades.

[@mrhydrohead]

Yes that is pretty nitpicky. By the time this video was being made, the system certainly had been running for decades and still is. Thanks for watching anyway.

[@bob15479]

@@mrhydrohead Thanks! Question, have you looked into the possibility of your system charging an electric car like a Tesla.

[@mrhydrohead]

Mark Brand Yes! It would be possible to do level one or level two charging. Level two would require the higher winter output to be able to handle that.

[@thelonewanderer420]

Where the fuck are you in Colorado?

[@mrhydrohead]

East of Ridgway and North of the Uncompahgre wilderness area. It is indeed beautiful. Thx for watching

[@mrhydrohead]

I do count my lucky stars

[@changedahanddlessss]

dam i use 900kw a month... 184 a day >_< startup the bit coin mining datacenter lol..

[@mrhydrohead]

Yeah the standard household usage in america is about 30kWh per day. We looked into bitcoin mining, but concluded that it wouldn't be all that feasible given that you compete with massive server farms with the best tech and you need to upgrade your own equipment frequently to remain competitive. I might be wrong, but thats how I looked at it. Most seasons we make a little over 100kWh/day and its in winter that we make 170-200kWh/day and use it all for heat. thanks for watching.

[@jimwoodard927]

how many other people have also donated to that I bet you they're made $10,000 they're trying to scam I'm still about the copyright payment. This sucks but they're making money from their brakes...

[@mrhydrohead]

Hmmm? Not sure what you are talking about. I have received a total of $210 in donations in the last 5 years over the entire series. The largest part of that was from someone I helped analyze their site for hydro potential. No scam here and not sure what the value of having a donation link on the page is. But, whatever...

[@marcbotnope1728]

I am jealous of you not going to jail for environmental crimes that building one of these in Sweden would earn you.

[@mrhydrohead]

Interesting comment. Not sure if you jest on crimes or not, but don't see any problems and it's all legal here. Perhaps the Swedes have onerous laws preventing people from utilizing what's reasonably available on land they have title to. Really, the whole thing has minimal impact on the nature here.

[@marcbotnope1728]

Sadly not jesting, currently, the apartment responsible for the oversight of hydropower is on a rampage in Sweden forcing plats that have existed for 80years to close or invest in costly rebuilds. The small hydro station like the one you build will never be approved as you may not divert 1 millilitre of water from a stream for hydropower without a permit (Peopel have asked). You need an full-blown $10000 grand permit process and your station must be to the benefit of society, thus a small station to power your own farm (these are the ones that have asked) will never fulfill that.

[@mrhydrohead]

That is sad to hear. Water use must be permitted here as well, but it's being non consumptive the courts view it as a benefit as less water evaporates while in the pipe. Nobody really owns water even though wealthy corporations lay claims to own it. Water court is expensive here as well due to lawyers, but the process can be pursued "pro se" permitting people to represent themselves. It's a clear difference in cultures Swedes/US. I agree with Ove in his attitude about "the white shirts" in Frederik Backman's book A Man Called Ove and I've owned Saab's since 1987😝✌🏼🙏