Whey up internet! So today i'm going to be taking on a renewable energy project but
there is a reason why i'm doing this. Now every year, Shell run what's called their
Eco Marathon. Now this is competition for university students and clever people alike,
and they set various challenges like trying to get cars to run from London to Rome,
just using a litre of fuel. But this is 2020. You ain't running no events this year are you?!
But they've not just given up, they've come up with a new event called 'Pitch the Future' which
is where ol Furze comes in, because it's an online event, and I'm hosting it! So those same students
get to pitch their ideas in from these wonderful four categories. Now these are real world issues
like trying to make your house more efficient, your deliveries more efficient, and your batteries
in your car more effective. So if i'm talking to these people in this wonderful competition,
I should probably have a crack at one of these categories myself. So what's the plan then Furze!
so I've chosen the category decarbonising the home, because I am at home and this is my idea...
gonna make a wind-powered clothes drying machine, stay with me, stay with me! Now the brief of
this category is to make the home more efficient without losing our creature comforts, and a tumble
dryer is very much that, creature comfort! You put your washing in the basket, you stuff it in,
it gets dry, bosch! Now a washing line, which you could already argue is a wind powered close
dry machine, you have to physically hang it all up, as humans we're past doing that, no!
So this is what we're going to do, we're going to get the pole that the 360 swing is on.
We're going to mount a wind turbine on it, the shaft's going to come down,
it's going to turn a big drum of clothes, which can naturally dry inside of it.
Oh it's going to be magic! Right I need to get myself some sort of drum to put the clothes in.
Fine example of a machine! Right let's get the drum out.
Right that's got it out, it's second hand of course, so it's a bit manky in the back.
Now I was looking at it thinking it's not really very big is it Colin?! Now of course when it's
an actual tumble dryer and you're pumping hot air through it, that doesn't really matter, but
if I shove a load of wet clothes in there and then just turn it round,
it's not going to dry very quick, they're kind of insulating themselves and obviously that's
the beauty of a washing line, they're all flapping around in their own space.
So Colin's looking at this thinking, 'you need to be a lot bigger, so it tumbles it a lot more'. So
I think i'm gonna have to do away with this, and make me own! So that was a complete waste of time!
oh!
Well it's kind of circular! Welcome to 'Pitch the Future' where even the chairs move! Got the
tumbly bit! A lot bigger, nicer, I like it. Now I've got a few things to do with it. I'm going to
take these starry bits off. It's strong enough, it doesn't need that! Then it needs some sides and it
needs probably a bit of a back on it, because at the moment the clothes are all half falling out,
and they're all going to get tangled up in the mechanism. Now we need to make this spin of course
from a wind turbine. I'm going to put this gearbox thing on the back of the shaft, at the back there.
Have another shaft go up, to a spinny wind thing. Yes and I think i'm going to do an upright wind
turbine, so we don't have to have another one of these, because the more gears, pulleys and
connections you have, energy losses my friend! We do not want energy losses! Not in this system!
Bit more of that look! look at that look! Just need a giant mouse now don't I! Ain't got one!
There's a little bit of rolling resistance, I may have over engineered it slightly and put too
many bearings on, but at least it ain't gonna fall to bits! Spinny washing, decarbonisation,
home comforts, yes! This will not be a chocolate fire guard! We cannot let it be that!
Yep well it's massive! Right let's see if we could uh, hang it up, if it works,
this is the moment of truth! Well it's up! ha! We got no wind!
Okay, got myself some.... oh am i in focus! yes it was! We got a wind turbine,
It does spin around when it's windy! Made my adaptions to the washing drum,
strengthened it up, added a bit of perspex, also done the same sort of thing around the back with
a bit of plywood, oh very nice there Colin. Now of course we're going to attach this to our shaft
and it's going to spin round, but I hear you say Colin, if it rains all your clothes are
going to get wet and therefore ruin your clothes drying process! So what we're going to do. Oh,
it's not what we're going to do, I've already done it. I've made this look... oh yeah! look at this
so that can go in there like that that can spin round in there and it won't get wet anymore,
that's good! So we can just come in, shove the clothes in, they can be in there for hours
tumbling around. They'll get dry. Now. to aid that we've got a solar panel up here haven't we
Colin? Yes, that is going to be powering this van, van? it's a fan Colin! We're going to shove that
in the drum somehow, so we can kind of you know, really, really get the air in there circulating,
really help dry the clothes off better! And then the only other problem we've got,
is of course if it's not blowing any wind, the drum's not going to be turning around and we're
just going to be blowing out a load of wet clothes sat in the bottom of a very nice cylinder! This
renewable energy malarky is pretty tricky in it? Kind of makes you appreciate what the engineering
students have got on their hands with this competition. Right let's go get it mounted.
okay
we've got no wind again, but it's a perfect sunny day, this is perfect drying clothes weather.
So then, what I'm thinking of doing, i've done a little bit of maths. That solar panel will
run that fan for 10 hours at least. If it's sunny it'll technically keep it going forever
because the panel is powerful enough to feed the fan, you know just constantly on its own
without the battery being involved. So we've got power in abundance. We've got power to spare.
So what i'm thinking is we'll stick a motor on the back of it, so when it's not windy, it can
be motor driven and of course when it is windy it will be wind assisted, basically. So that is
what we're going to do. Now that's kind of quite complicated, but it's all right i have a plan!
Oh! Right this is my motor setup. Now this is slightly more complicated than it looks,
there's a few things we don't want to be doing. When we're powering the drum with a motor,
we don't want to be turning the wind turbine as well. So there is a one-way bearing set up in
a couple of these things. Which is basically a bearing that can only spin in one direction. So
if you try and spin it the other way, it kind of grips up. It's a little bit like a clutch. So when
the wind turbine turns look, it will turn this round. It turns the shaft, which turns the drum,
very nice, but it doesn't turn the motor look. So we're not driving the motor with the wind,
and then equally when the motor turns on its own, oh yeah! It turns the shaft but it ain't turning
the wind turbine round, that's good! But if the wind turbine wants to turn around it can turn
round. It can do what it likes! Right, nevermind talking about it, let's go and fit it on, power
it up and then it doesn't matter if i ain't got a windy day, because I can put this on, can't I!
Right I think it's ready for a test!
Now I've not been able to fully test this properly before uploading the video,
because ever since I've finished it we haven't actually had any wind but the solar panel does
charge the battery up easily, and it will power the fan and the motor for 24 hours,
no problems! But what is the drying time Furze?
Now it's November at the moment, so this is a pretty extreme time of year to test this honestly.
In the summer, it's obviously going to work a lot better. Now if you leave the clothes in here all
day, they do actually dry. But some of the thicker ones have still got little damp patches in. So,
I added another curtain to the front of it does it now what this does it kind of
makes this a bit more of a greenhouse, because you do get heat well up in here from the sun,
and basically this just kind of insulates a little bit more makes it stay hotter and that
was enough to get rid of all those damp patches in the clothes. Oh, very good Colin, very good!
Now, I know this is kind of a crazy idea but it does actually work,
you know I can use this. I don't need to use my power sapping tumble dryer anymore.
There's a couple of design tweaks it needs to do, because some reason, it seems to spit socks
out and I was looking at it thinking it kind of needs like a little curved bit round here,
a little bit like a tumble dryer or washing machine door! Which made me wonder if that's
why they are the shape they are! Rather than so we can just see what's going on inside,
it's probably to help cycle the clothes inside, so they always get shoved to the back
and turn around! Hey! the things you learn when you do these things, the things you learn!
Actually quite impressed with this as well, charges the batteries up pretty quick. I
could nearly have a secondary lighting circuit in my shed, you know low powered leds. Whole
thing could run off solar power, who would have thought this is potentially the future!
Hmmm! Carbon reduction fresh! There we are, a wind, solar powered clothes drying
machine! Now I know it's a little bit slower than a conventional one and you're clearly
not going to fit that in a kitchen or a utility room, but I have dried my clothes
all from renewable energy! That is a win! Now I've approached this in kind of a low-tech,
low-fi way, but if you want to see some proper high-tech stuff, go and watch the live pitches,
there's a link in the description, and of course if you're watching this after that's happened,
I'll put another link in the description where you can see everything that's been entered
into the competition. Thank you very much, see you all soon!
Hmmmm! Smells like renewable clothes drying to me!