We cover all aspects of renewable energy - wind power, solar power, solar water heating, hydro, biofuels, wave power and much more. http://www.reuk.co.uk In our article Automatic Hen House Door Closer/Opener we showed how to overcome the difficulty of getting a motor to turn one way to open a door and turn the opposite way to close a door. We offered programmable timer based and light detector based products for sale which used a microcontroller to d... http://www.reuk.co.uk/New-Simple-Hen-House-Door-Controller.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/New-Simple-Hen-House-Door-Controller.htm Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:45:34 GMT An automatic hen house door opener and closer is very useful for anyone who keeps hens and cannot guarantee they'll be able to manually open or close the door every day. Simple systems have a light detector and the door is opened at dawn and closed at dusk. More advanced systems have a programmable... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Automatic-Hen-House-Door-Closer-Opener.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Automatic-Hen-House-Door-Closer-Opener.htm Sat, 20 Apr 2013 11:40:01 GMT In our article Introduction to Ethanol we looked at how ethanol made from corn and other crop waste could be used as a renewable biofuel for ethanol powered vehicles, or mixed into petrol in relatively small quantities (5-10%) to reduce fossil fuel carbon emissions. Ethanol has its problems, the ma... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Butanol-vs-Ethanol-Fuel-of-the-Future.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Butanol-vs-Ethanol-Fuel-of-the-Future.htm Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:55:10 GMT In our article Hacked PIR Sensor we showed how a very cheap battery powered PIR motion sensing lamp could be used in place of a more expensive PIR motion sensors in a range of projects - primarily to switch a relay which can in turn switch lighting, appliances, and pretty much anything else. P... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Cheap-Pyroelectric-Infrared-PIR-Detector.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Cheap-Pyroelectric-Infrared-PIR-Detector.htm Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:33:42 GMT We have looked at ways to save electricity when it comes to clothes drying before - Save Electricity with a Spin Dryer, gas tumble dryers, and drying clothes indoors. Obviously in the ideal world we would all hang our washing outside to dry, but anyone living in the UK who has children knows that t... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Heat-Pump-Tumble-Dryer.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Heat-Pump-Tumble-Dryer.htm Thu, 03 Jan 2013 20:16:03 GMT It is recommended that all old style incandescent light bulbs are replaced with Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs or LED bulbs to reduce electricity consumption. A typical CFL has a lifetime many times that of an incandescent bulb, and consumes only 20% of the energy. This made them the o... http://www.reuk.co.uk/LED-Spotlights.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/LED-Spotlights.htm Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:17:47 GMT There are now many energy efficient lighting options available to replace old fashioned energy hungry incandescent light bulbs and halogen spotlights - primarily LED lighting, CFL (compact fluorescent lighting), and the latest CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent lighting). One major disadvantage of... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Dimmable-Energy-Saving-Lightbulbs.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Dimmable-Energy-Saving-Lightbulbs.htm Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:36:03 GMT In our article Dimmable Energy Saving Lightbulbs we discussed the recent introduction of CFL energy saving lightbulbs which can be used with standard dimmer switches. In order to look in more detail at these bulbs we have conducted in depth reviews of a couple of standard sized lightbulbs from the... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Review-of-Megaman-Energy-Saving-Lightbulbs.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Review-of-Megaman-Energy-Saving-Lightbulbs.htm Thu, 03 Jan 2013 14:08:44 GMT While LED bulb manufacturers are still struggling to make low energy bulbs which produce as much light as their incandescent and halogen equivalents, they have at least managed to make something completely original and fun - mains powered 16 colour change infrared remote controlled GU10 LED spotligh... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Colour-Change-Remote-Control-LED-Spotlights.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Colour-Change-Remote-Control-LED-Spotlights.htm Thu, 03 Jan 2013 10:05:08 GMT Every year electricity gets more and more expensive. Read on to find out how you can save electricity and money with this handy selection of energy saving tips. Electricity Usage Monitors The basic figures contained within a monthly or quarterly electricity bill do not give you much informatio... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Ways-to-Save-Electricity.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Ways-to-Save-Electricity.htm Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:43:27 GMT We are often asked if we can supply a timer to time how long a piece of equipment is on for or a wide range of other tests. While there are many commercial elapsed time timers available (such as the hours elapsed timer pictured above), they tend to be quite expensive as they are designed for use... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Elapsed-Time-Timer.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Elapsed-Time-Timer.htm Sat, 22 Dec 2012 13:38:30 GMT While most people have never heard of solar declination it is absolutely key to understanding PV solar generation and solar water heating potential over the course of a year. The Earth's Tilt and the Seasons The Earth rotates around the Sun like a spinning top. Each time the Earth spins on its own... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Declination.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Declination.htm Wed, 19 Dec 2012 10:24:37 GMT A fuel cell is a device which converts hydrogen gas and oxygen into water via a process which generates electricity. This electricity can then be used to power a car more efficiently than existing battery technology, or to power other motors, lighting, and so on - in fact anything that can use direc... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Fuel-Cells.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Fuel-Cells.htm Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:52:58 GMT In our article Ecofan Woodburner Fans we looked at a range of fans which can be placed on top of stoves to circulate warm air around the room, help to maintain the room at a comfortable temperature, and reduce fuel consumption. There are now quite a few different stove fans (click here for the lates... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Valiant-Heat-Powered-Stove-Fan-Testing.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Valiant-Heat-Powered-Stove-Fan-Testing.htm Mon, 17 Dec 2012 16:58:40 GMT In our article Solar Panel Mounting Angle we briefly touched on the effect of the atmosphere on the solar generation. As the Sun's rays pass through the atmosphere, the energy of some photons of light is absorbed and scattered by particles in the atmosphere. The lower the Sun is in the sky (closer t... http://www.reuk.co.uk/The-Effect-of-Air-Mass-on-Solar-Panels.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/The-Effect-of-Air-Mass-on-Solar-Panels.htm Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:18:59 GMT A photovoltaic solar panel will generate the most electricity when solar radiation hits it directly - i.e. the sun's rays are hitting the panel perpendicularly (i.e. at a 90 degree angle, face on). As the sun appears to move across the sky from east to west through the day, and it appears to move up... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Panel-Mounting-Angle.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Panel-Mounting-Angle.htm Wed, 12 Dec 2012 08:08:50 GMT For most people, the cheapest place to buy solar panels is eBay. Therefore this article describes some of the different types of PV solar panels available at this time (December 2012) in the United Kingdom. Prices per Watt of power are provided for comparison. December 2012 Update When we last upd... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Panels-on-eBay.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Solar-Panels-on-eBay.htm Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:00:05 GMT Domestic geothermal heating and cooling systems tend to be expensive - for example ground source heat pumps, and air source heat pumps. However, it is possible to make something yourself very inexpensively with the potential to make a significant reduction in your heating or cooling bills. In this a... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Geothermal-Air-Heating-and-Cooling.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Simple-Geothermal-Air-Heating-and-Cooling.htm Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:56:35 GMT A Shunt Regulator is a small electronic component that clamps a power supply voltage at a fixed level. Hundreds of times per second the shunt regulator checks the voltage, and if the voltage is over the limit then any extra voltage is dissipated as heat through a resistor or other dump load. If the... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Shunt-Regulator.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Shunt-Regulator.htm Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:16:19 GMT The majority of domestic renewable energy is generated to supplement an existing mains power supply - for example, an array of solar panels used to reduce the costs of powering a home. Unfortunately the cost of grid tie inverters with UK G83 approval (and professional installation) puts them w... http://www.reuk.co.uk/Switch-from-Inverter-to-Mains-Automatically.htm http://www.reuk.co.uk/Switch-from-Inverter-to-Mains-Automatically.htm Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:16:19 GMT