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Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

kickstarter.com

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Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#51

Post by jacquesm »

Volodesign wrote: post #32
jerfelix wrote: post #3

Looks like a cool project. One note to entrepreneurs using Kickstarter, or creating any slide presentation for potential investors: Take the time to spell check your slides. Tim Sefton (creator of this project), if you happen to be reading this, here are some notes that may help you make your presentation more professional... "One thing.. The Sterling engine is about 10% more efficent then the gasoline engine, but st…

Appreciate the feedback. I'm going to have to give that typist a tough tongue lashing !

One of the first things you learn when you run a company is that you own your mistakes in public. In other words, it doesn't matter who f'd up, you own it and you can't pass the buck.

Regardless of who did it, you should have proofread it, or you should have had someone else proofread it.

And even after that any mistakes would still be yours to own in public.

If it was in jest and you were the typist then apologies for responding in a serious way.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#52

Post by napierzaza »

ck2 wrote: post #7

Yes gas is near $4 - what does that have to do with utility prices, since there aren't any gasoline powered plants in the USA since the 70s ? I would have to assume the way the utility company produces power is far more efficient than a town with thousands of mini-engines. Only stuff like solar cells work better in distribution. Not sure how this would work either - what fuel are you going to use to power it for 24 h…

A huge amount of the generated electricity is lost on resistance of the power lines on the way to your house. So having it in your basement and going 30 feet to a lamp/outlet would be more efficient.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#54

Post by matthiasl »

napierzaza wrote: post #52
ck2 wrote: post #7

Yes gas is near $4 - what does that have to do with utility prices, since there aren't any gasoline powered plants in the USA since the 70s ? I would have to assume the way the utility company produces power is far more efficient than a town with thousands of mini-engines. Only stuff like solar cells work better in distribution. Not sure how this would work either - what fuel are you going to use to power it for 24 h…

A huge amount of the generated electricity is lost on resistance of the power lines on the way to your house. So having it in your basement and going 30 feet to a lamp/outlet would be more efficient.

According to wikipedia, the average loss on the power lines is 7%. Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_power_transmission#Lo...

That's not what I'd call "huge".

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#55

Post by Volodesign »

jacquesm wrote: post #51
Volodesign wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appreciate the feedback. I'm going to have to give that typist a tough tongue lashing !

One of the first things you learn when you run a company is that you own your mistakes in public. In other words, it doesn't matter who f'd up, you own it and you can't pass the buck. Regardless of who did it, you should have proofread it, or you should have had someone else proofread it. And even after that any mistakes would still be yours to own in public. If it was in jest and you were the typist then apologies f…

Yes, I'm the typist - just trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#57

Post by damoncali »

grecy wrote: post #43
damoncali wrote: post #15

An interesting side note: You can build one of these that will run off a candle and fit in the palm of your hand. I've got one in my office. It's a pretty neat technology.

Can you give us more details please - did you build it? buy it?

It was a kit like one of these: http://www.ministeam.com/acatalog/Bohm_Stirling_Engines_and_...

I also tried to build one from scratch once, but only got a few parts in before I sold my lathe and mill. The kit was much easier...

Also look up flame eater or vacuum engines. Pretty neat.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#58

Post by grecy »

MrEnigma wrote: post #2

Seems like a huge long shot. Even if you wanted to get one now, it's $250. I guess I've never seen this yet, but what happens when they can't' deliver you the working product? Do you get your money back?

Can you point me in a direction where I can buy one now for $250? It's something I'd love to experiment with in my off-grid cabin

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#59

Post by GigabyteCoin »

colanderman wrote: post #14
jerfelix wrote: post #3

Looks like a cool project. One note to entrepreneurs using Kickstarter, or creating any slide presentation for potential investors: Take the time to spell check your slides. Tim Sefton (creator of this project), if you happen to be reading this, here are some notes that may help you make your presentation more professional... "One thing.. The Sterling engine is about 10% more efficent then the gasoline engine, but st…

Not to mention it's "Stirling", and not "Sterling".

This. Maybe it's just because I am a web designer and lover of the English language, but when a company's blog URL looks like this: http://volodesigns-sterlingproject.blogspot.com/

a) free site b) a dash? c) mispelled stirling?

I get just a tad anxious.

Re: Kickstarter project for $100 - 1 kW - stirling engine

#60

Post by meow »

grecy wrote: post #50
meow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on what your power requirement is. For a 200C difference, you should be able to get around 500W to 600W with a properly built stirling engine.

Sounds nice for all the people running off-grid up here who get so little precious sunshine in the winter. Can you provide more information on where I might be able to buy such a Sterling engine? Are there any companies actively making them?

Unfortunately, there are not many companies building these engines commercially (at least at these power outputs). Most of the engines I have seen are built by hobbyists (either too tiny or crude :( ). That's changing in recent years with increased focus on solar power.
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