COGENERATION TO NO GENERATION TINKERER'S WINDMILL STILLED AFTER COMPLAINT.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

GRANADA HILLS - George Horvath wants to uncrunch the energy crisis with his very own windmill.

Except the backyard invention that has powered Horvath's refrigerator since 1998 was broken up recently by order of Los Angeles building and safety inspectors, whom he says shrugged their shoulders at his quixotic plans five years ago.

``You bet I'm upset,'' said Horvath, 68, a born tinkerer with a back yard full of odds, ends and ongoing mechanical and horticultural projects. ``Right now, we're in the middle of an energy crisis - everyone's looking for a solution - and those Don Quixotes stopped me.

``They just can't stand it. If there is something new, they don't know what to do with it. So instead, they want to destroy it.''

It was December 1996 when, having collected an odd assortment of angle irons, car axles, generators, oil tanks and galvanized pipe scored for a buck at a local auction, Horvath approached Los Angeles building officials about erecting a windmill.

His idea, hatched during the gasoline crisis 25 years before, was simple: build a tower, hook up four large fan blades, then use a proprietary system of his own design to power a 12-volt battery pack originally intended to charge an electric car.

The reply from the city, according to Horvath, was just as basic: ``We don't know anything about windmills.''

So up went the windmill without any permit. In went the generator. Out went lines to his fridge and other gizmos via a 110-volt converter. And all went well until a neighbor, fearing for his life, complained to various city agencies.

``Dude, he built a windmill. One of the blades let loose, got caught in a power line, then let loose and almost flew in my bedroom window,'' said the man who filed the complaint and spoke on condition of anonymity. ``I had to put a board up.''

Other neighbors, however, said they liked Horvath's device.

``It's never been a problem,'' said Chandra Elkins, 25, who with her husband, Bill, enjoyed the large fan turning quaint shadows on their bathroom window.

``Actually, I kind of miss it,'' Bill Elkins said.

Ironically, Horvath's windmill remained grounded Tuesday even as the Los Angeles City Council voted to promote energy cogeneration from businesses throughout Los Angeles.

Tuesday's approval of a new rate structure for the Department of Water and Power is designed to give companies a greater incentive to sell excess power to the city.

The DWP also has a program to spur residents and small businesses to generate solar and wind power. Horvath's windmill is the only homegrown generator known to the city's Building and Safety Department.

Windmill generators have also become an issue for Los Angeles County planners now studying how to handle numerous permit requests from homeowners looking to harness the wind to lower costs.

But while some officials say the city should do all it can to promote windmill, solar and other co-generation, Horvath said building officials destroyed his windmill experiment June 16.

Los Angeles Building and Safety officials said Tuesday that they've done everything they can to help the Hungarian-born cabinetmaker obtain a permit for his 3-kilowatt generator that once soared 15 to 30 feet, depending on the observer, above his two-story home on Los Alimos Street in Granada Hills.

While Los Angeles has no code regarding windmills, it requires permits for towers higher than 15 feet - and claims in its order that Horvath's windmill rose between 24 and 30 feet. Horvath would also need a permit for its electrical component.

``The department has been forthcoming with him at the time and he chose not to file for a permit,'' said Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety spokesman Bob Steinbach. ``To say he's not gotten the cooperation of the department, I find that very difficult to believe.''

A revamped Building and Safety Code enforcement division handles 40,000 complaints a year about potential scofflaws, from room additions to stairwells, he said, of which roughly 70 percent are considered violations.

Staff Writer Harrison Sheppard contributed to this story.

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Photo:

(color) George Horvath holds a photo of the windmill he built in his back yard as his solution to the current energy crisis.

John Kennedy/Special to the Daily News