Anyone ever bought a wind turbine for their home?

Red223

i found these things on some web sites that are like windmills, small wind turbines that can generate enough free energy to cut your electric bill in half.

Cost of units, around $600 for one I found.

Heck usually during a storm when the wind is blowing your power goes out, with this you could still atleast have lights.

here's one site about them:
http://www.awea.org/faq/rsdntqa.html
http://www.bergey.com/
http://www.absak.com/catalog/default.php/cPath/32_93_94
http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/wind_turbine_use.html

16 States give out free money (grants) for people to buy these:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/electricity_restructuring/pdfs/stateincentivesforenergyeff.pdf

925

simple answer,if you have power lines don't mess with re(unless it's for fun).
if you have constant 14mph+ wind and no power lines it is one of the cheapest alternatives.

Red223

When I build my house I want it as self sufficient as possible.

Especially if the State will give me free money to get off the grid and keep money in my pocket.

schotzi1

Sounds kinda cool.

You stated "Heck usually during a storm when the wind is blowing your power goes out, with this you could still atleast have lights."
I agree. Think about it.....THE WIND IS BLOWING during these storms.

Every time our power has gone out there has been plenty of wind to run one of these.

I'll check it out!

"meet me in Margaritaville"

allen griggs

Red, you said cost of unit $600
Typo, right? The link says $6,000, up to $20,000
There is the rub. I was looking into 'em for my house, when I built it 8 years ago. I am on top of a mountain, real windy.
I figured it would take a long time to break even after I spent 6K up front. Plus it is a complicated rig, you need a bank of storage batteries etc.

plains scout

Save your money. The only thing the are good for is heating water for use later. The wind is too inconsistent and you need all kinds of special equipment to be sure you are not back feeding the grid endangering linemen who are working on the lines when they go down.

I really wanted one until I talked to an engineer and studied it myself. Want lights when the storm puts the power out? - Get some candles, kerosene lamps or propane lamps.

"A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercises, I
advise the gun. While this gives moderate exercise to the body, it gives
boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the
ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no
character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of
your walks." Thomas Jefferson

idsman75

My father sells generators for a manufacturer in the midwest. I asked him about the concept and he told me that it just isn't economically feasable and also raised some of the exact same issues that Plains Scout mentioned.

Red223

$465 for the cheapest:

http://www.absak.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/32_93_94/products_id/34

You wire it to a 12 volt battery array to charge it in the day and use an invertor to switch the 12 volts to 110ac at night.

Pretty simple really. Could use something like that on a cabin in the middle of nowhere's.

925

http://homepower.com/
http://www.solwest.org/
http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/yabb/forum.pl
http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/default.asp
http://www.motherearthnews.com/menarch/archive/index.html

I had a whisper 1000 up for a winter,long story,needs blades.
In IMO solar panels are a better buy for that price you can get an 8 amp 12v panel that will put out at least some power every day,my wind machine could sit for weeks with out making any usable power,the longest I've been with out sun is 4 days.lots of storage is the key I've got 500 watts of solar and 7kwh of storage and can go 8 months/year without a generator (lat 48), even in the winter I don't need to run the generator every day.I've been off grid for 4 years and love it.

njretcop

Yeah, I got one...................it's called Mrs njretcop!![:D][:D][:D]

njretcop@copmail.com



Charlie

allen griggs

925, that sounds great, off the grid with solar power. You could run ac all day and not feel guilty.
What did your system cost?

cowdoc

Florida Power and light put in 27 1.4 meg watt wind turbine right next to me....they produce elec over 85% of the time. draw back is they cost over 1.5 mill each.....hoping that they fill dads and my land up with some when they build more the royalties, if they put up more would a very nice source of income for me and dad........the wind does blow here yesterday was the first day that i could spread fertilizer on wheat for better than a week
PS a firend of mine told me that FPL says this is their most productive site they have in the USA [:)]

will270win

Red, Can you give me a holler on my yahoo account? I need a copy of an Air Force manual. An Unclass of course. Just throw my username here in front of yahoo.com please if you feel like helping me.

Thanks,

Chris

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~