This Is The Most Effective Amish Wind Turbine In The World. Why Don't We Use It?

Main ideas / lessons conveyed

• The speaker argues that mainstream wind turbines—tall designs with “three long skinny blades”—are not the most efficient for the wind conditions typical near a home.
• The most effective “ordinary family” wind machine is described as:
  • Low to the ground
  • Slow-turning
  • Built using shape-based aerodynamics that increases wind power before it reaches the blades.
• The speaker attributes the decline of this knowledge to:
  • the rise of electric power lines
  • profit incentives for companies that benefit when customers pay ongoing utility bills.
• The design is presented as a home-scale invention that cannot be scaled up to giant corporate turbines due to physical/engineering constraints—so the “best” feature is said to remain out of corporate reach.
• The video emphasizes that wind power scales with the cube of wind speed: modest speed increases can produce very large power increases.

Key concepts explained

“Solidity” vs gaps

• Modern turbines have large gaps between thin blades, allowing wind to pass through; they require high wind speeds and fast spinning.
• Old farm windmills have many blades packed closely (high “solidity”), so wind pushes on more blade area and they can start turning in lighter breezes.

Many small blades provide more starting torque

• The speaker claims that more small blades outperform a few large blades in weaker, more variable wind near homes by providing better low-speed turning force.

Wind speed power law (cube law)

• Power ∝ (wind speed)³
• Doubling wind speed yields 8× power.

Wind concentrator / diffuser / shroud

• The “buried trick” is adding a funnel-like ring around the rotor:
  • A wide front mouth gathers slow wind
  • A narrower throat speeds the wind up
  • A flared rear section creates low pressure to pull more air through
• Claimed performance range: 2× to 5× improvement (described as “470% more power” as an overall target figure).

Stacking multiple shape tricks

• The strongest claims come from combining: 1) High-solidity multi-blade rotor 2) Shroud/concentrator speed-up + “pull” effect 3) A further detail: stationary guide vanes that pre-spin the air so it meets the rotor at the correct angle

Methodology / detailed build instructions (as presented)

A) Build the wind concentrator (shroud) in a weekend

Materials

• Galvanized sheet metal (e.g., roofing/valley material)
• Rivets + sealant for seams

Steps

1. Step 1: Make the first ring (wide front, narrow throat)
   • Roll galvanized sheet into a ring shaped like a short bullhorn / gramophone horn:
     • Front mouth wide
     • Back/throat narrower
2. Step 2: Add a second ring (rear flare)
   • Create another short ring behind it that flares outward.
3. Step 3: Join and finish
   • Rivet the rings together
   • Seal seams to maintain the airflow channel

B) Build the rotor (high-solidity, multi-blade wheel)

Goal

• Use many curved blades packed close together to fill most of the swept circle (high solidity), so it turns in very light wind.

Materials

• Galvanized sheet metal for blades

Steps (conceptual)

• Cut multiple curved blades from the sheet
• Shape them like scoops so each blade catches and turns the air efficiently

C) Mount where the wind already speeds up (important placement)

• The speaker advises not placing it on a tall stadium-sized tower (claimed: the shroud cannot scale to that).
• Instead, place it where your existing structures create wind acceleration, such as:
  • Roof edge / ridge line
  • Corner between buildings (e.g., barn-shed)
  • Gap between structures
  • Small rise / outdoor location where wind hits hardest

Practical guidance

• Walk the property on a breezy day and feel where wind hits your face hardest (typically roof edge/corner/gap/rise).

D) Add the “almost nobody knows” guide veins (final performance detail)

Purpose

• Pre-spin and steer airflow so it arrives on the blades already aligned with the rotor’s turning direction.
• Reduce wasted energy from air hitting at the wrong angle.

How it’s arranged

• Place a ring of fixed guide veins (stationary slats) inside the wide front mouth of the shroud, just ahead of the blades.
• Slats are:
  • angled
  • all leaning the same direction
  • fixed (not moving)

Expected effect (as described)

• As wind rushes through the throat, the guide veins impart swirl/spin.
• The rotor then receives airflow “pre-aimed,” improving how effectively wind transfers energy into rotation.

E) Complete the system (generator)

Generator options mentioned

• A small wind-kit generator
• Or a generator rebuilt from an automotive alternator mounted at the hub

No heavy industrial requirements

• The speaker claims no crane, special steel, or engineering sign-off is needed—just garage/barn-level construction and patience.

Claimed “why it works” performance chain (stacked effects)

• Gather wide: shroud mouth captures more wind area than the rotor alone
• Squeeze: throat speeds wind up (cube-law benefit)
• Pre-spin / aim: fixed guide veins reduce angle mismatch
• Pull through: flared shroud rear creates low pressure to draw extra airflow
• Result claimed: the same breeze becomes up to ~4–5× power (framed as “470% more power”)

Speakers / sources featured

• Primary speaker: Unnamed narrator (the video creator), speaking in first person (“I,” “my grandfather,” “my uncle,” etc.).
• Referenced sources / historical entities (not speaking directly):
  • Amish/farm families in the speaker’s described communities (Holmes County, Ohio; Lancaster County mentioned)
  • Old windmill catalogs (1880s)
  • Old windmill patent records/drawings (1850s–1930 era; specific references to the 1870s and ’80s)
  • “Engineers” (diffuser/shroud/wind concentrator terminology referenced, but no specific named engineer quoted)
  • Utility/power-line companies and the government (referenced as structural causes for the decline of home wind knowledge, but no specific company or official named)