Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Starting a survey on windmill design. first is what do you consider the best sail blade design

The best is one that doesn’t rust

Star 37 Zephyr. The blades were tested in a wind tunnel for efficiency.
Believed to be the most efficient for power verses wind speed.
Kenneth

I thought the story goes it is Aermotor. Also proofed in a wind tunnel.

I think Kenneth may be correct. It was the most researched, and also patented design. However, keeping in mind that there are several that are very good..hard to say which is the 'best' due to it being mostly subjective. ALso, there are so many variables in windmill design and function , the question is even more difficult.

Plan on exploring other aspects of windmill design in future posts. Figure to run about a week then tally votes on best designs of sails, gearbox, etc if interest is given in the polls

So far star 37 2 votes, aermotor 1

Smax specifically asked on sail blade design which would be hard to determine individually. Many factors go in to a windmill's total efficiency. For example, the Dempster 15 blade 12A produced equal amounts of water as the 18 blade Aermotor. This study was done by a university but cant remember which one, maybe NMSU since they have windmill certification program? I have to think that timken bearings helped the dempster equal the aermotor because the surface area of 3 blades is a lot of difference.

Ron Stauffer
Montrose CO

The new forum has the same glitch as the old one. I was doing a reply when Smax posted and it bumped my post. I hadn't exited so 2 hits on the back button and I could then post what I had typed without losing it.

Ron

Sorry for the poorly worded start of this post. What i was hoping to accomplish was to get a discussion on what was the best sail. Understanding that a windmill is more than one part. My limited experience with windmills I have noticed some sails seem to be prone for certain types of failures and other not. Things like wheel arms,braces,sail clips etc.seem to factor in. thanks Kenneth, Wayne ,windy bob and Ron for your input