Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Wind Turbine?????

That is pretty hard to believe! My father has solar panels that cover most of the back roof and he only covers 30% of his electric costs each month (via selling back to the grid). Also, he discovered after Hurricane Ike that when the electricity coming into the house is interrupted, the system does not work. I am not trying to discourage anyone from looking into alternative energy though as I believe that every little bit helps.

Hmm, maybe he was using dramatic hyperbole. Or maybe I remembered wrong and he didn't net a positive outflow, but I do remember more precisely him saying that the usage reader would reverse directions when he was outputting energy at the moment. I don't know if that's how it works, exactly, but I'd sure like to see my electric meter run backwards...

Too bad with your Dad's experience. You'd think that'd be enough panels to really make a bigger difference!

I haven't checked into it myself, but thought that a lot more than an $800 windmill would be needed... more along the lines of a $10K investment.

Otherwise, everybody would be doing it!

Agreed, those small generators are more of a hobby than a home power solution. They are a great idea for running an irrigation pump in a farmers field or other very specific uses.

A larger tower (it's foundations & guy wires) costs a lot more, a usefully sized generator costs significantly more and one must also factor in a very large battery bank & a rectifier to change your batteries DC power into usable AC power. I suspect Mark is not far off from the correct cost but, honestly, I a have not looked into newer, possibly more efficient, technologies.

Well I found a dealer just outside of Waterloo, Ontario. I gave them a call and left a message. I'll keep you posted on any info I get.

http://www.laminarenergy.com/index.aspx

paul

Sounds like your already past the general inquiry stage but for others, here is where I started looking for info a couple of years ago. Some good starting info here.

Small Wind Energy

When I built my house two years ago, I put in an Electric Boiler for heat as I was thinking wind or geothermal but I ran out of budget for the large startup cost for geothermal and wind just technology wasn't quiet ready for me yet. So far, I'd say my heating bills are just very slightly better than oil heat but I am very happy with it's tiny size, quiet running noise (biggest noise is the relay clicking on or off), no oil tank to be inspected risk leaks, no flu to get cleaned and most importantly, it ties in nicely with future plans for wind energy or is I'm set for a simple swap out for geothermal.

A neighbor who is trying to cash in on government incentive funds asked me to be a startup site for a tower so I know I have good wind potential but he was looking for a commercial size tower which was just going to be to big for my 1,&1/3 acre lot and my neighbors would have reallly hated me. for spoiling their water view.

I heard that some of them get pretty loud, too.

Not that you couldn't mask that with an EP-800.

As long as neither of them make the brown note.

Nope.
Just involves wind passing.

Remember Mark, when you go to the doctor That's not what he said when he exclaimed "I want to listen to your heart."