Just wondering if anyone has/had any experience with any personal wind turbines for home use? Worth the cash?

http://store.sundancesolar.com/airxwitu.html

 

I helped a guy build a house up in Oregon and he was looking to get off the grid. He decided against this because IIRC he was told that for them to work, they had to be ~30ft higher than the closest thing in x-radius. He also looked into solar power shingles. Those seemed pretty cool.

I don't really know what works the best though. Sorry.

 

They work fine but to get the whole system installed is not cheap. You need them on a tall tower, it helps to live on a hill. And if you are not in a windy area, don't expect a quick payback. One will not get the average person off the grid but will take a chunk out of the bill.

I know someone who has two out on a farm and they make a little more than he uses each month but its really windy in his area.

If you want to be totally off the grid, you need a battery system to store and it gets expensive. Most utlilities can hook them up to your meter so when it is making more than you use your meter will spin backwards and you can get a credit on your bill, but then the meter spins forward when there is no wind and you use juice.

 

Most people underestimate the size and tower needed, and overestimate the wind. Get a 100usd recording ananometer and get some data first.

 

yeah i heard the cost of the tower/pole will be at least twice the cost of the turbine itself. thanks for the free advice everyone.

 

you might be able to contact your local university and ask about wind data. I think ours has done a study and has most of the state wind mapped so you might find free data as well.