Mother Earth News Handbook of Homemade Power

by Mother Earth News Staff and Mother Earth News

This 374-page book offers answers to independent energy on the topics of: wood, water, wind, solar, and methane. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553200771
• ISBN13: 9780553200775
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 374 Pages
• Weight: 0.54 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Interesting Information

This book is a collection of reprinted articles from popular magazines about making use of no-cost energy sources. The book is organized into 5 sections: wood energy, water energy, wind energy, solar energy, and methane energy. Some of the articles are interviews with people either use the kind of energy under discussion or helped to develop equipment for using it. Other articles are technical descriptions of how to build specific pieces of equipment yourself. The book is illustrated with black-and-white drawings and diagrams. At the back of the book is a bibliography of further readings by section. The bibliography also includes contact information (as of the 1970s) for where to find equipment mentioned in the articles. There is also an index at the back of the book. The articles are drawn primarily from Mother Earth News and Popular Mechanics. The quality of writing varies. Some of the articles contain very little information, and others are quite informative. Perhaps the most valuable lesson I learned from reading this book was the best uses of each of these types of power sources: wood and solar energy are great for heating and cooking, water and wind are good for generating electricity, and methane can be used to run diesel engines. When you're figuring out how to power your house independently, you should choose the kind of energy source that is most efficient for your needs. Also, as Ed Trunk points out "Before considering the wind [or any alternative energy] as a source of power for your domestic needs, ... you should take a look at the electrical appliances you now have and decide which you consider essential, and which are just conveniences. If you can live with reasonably modest lighting, ... a small black and white TV, [and] a refrigerator, you may find that the wind can supply all of part of your electric needs." Even more to the point, since mass-produced power is so cheap, if you're already connected to the grid, simply instituting serious conservation measures (which you would have to do anyway if you switched to alternative power) will be much more cost-efficient than installing your own alternative power system. On the other hand, if you don't have affordable access to grid-power, the ideas in this book would be some viable alternatives that may provide the power you need. In addtion, if you use solar and wood for as many heating/cooking needs as possible, you will greatly reduce your need to purchase heating oil, propane, or electricity for heating hot water or air. For me, the most interesting article included in this book was an interview with Marcellus Jacobs. From the 1930s to 1950s, Jacobs developed and sold the premier equipment for home wind power systems. He solved numerous problems with the equipment, such as a governor that prevents the blades from flying off the tower during storms, and voltage regulators for the battery charging system. His systems were known for being top-quality and extremely