Can Home Made Wind Energy Power Your Entire House?
Can Home Made Wind Energy Power Your Entire House?
By Chris Steiner
Home made wind energy is one of the least expensive of all of the renewable energy options for homeowners today. It is also one of the easier ones for a do-it-yourselfer to build and install, making it a very popular choice. But do these systems generate enough energy to power your entire home?
The short answer to this question is yes. But to really answer that question for you and your home, we actually need to answer two other questions. How much energy do you use in your home? And, how much energy can a wind turbine or windmill produce?
The first question should be relatively easy for you to answer. Take a look at your recent electricity bill, and you should see on there the number of kilowatt hours (kWh) used for the month. Many utilities also show a graph of your usage for the past 12 months and/or an average usage. The average US home is said to use just under 800 kWh per month, so we will assume for the sake of this article that you are on the average.
The second question is a bit more complicated. To start, we need to know what the turbine is rated in kilowatts and the average wind speed in your area. If you purchase a commercial turbine, the rating will be supplied by the manufacturer. If you make your own, you can calculate your own rating by following the formula you can find at the American Wind Energy Association’s site at http://www.awea.org/faq/windpower.html.
While some say that you need to record the wind speed at the intended location for a year with an anemometer, for most residential installations this is not necessary. For information on the average wind speed information in the US, you can refer to the US Department of Energy’s site at http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/.
If you are going to make your own, it is probably a good idea to start out with a smaller installation to power a single area such as a garage or workshop before you try to create a device to power your entire home. Some additional ideas for great places to use a smaller turbine would be on a boat or RV, or even in a hunting or fishing cabin or camp site where electricity is not otherwise available.
Making your own wind energy power generator is an excellent do-it-yourself project and can even be done using all recycled parts and equipment if you are a little bit resourceful. Now wouldn’t that be a wonderful two part boost for the environment and your wallet?
If you are interested in getting started with your own project for wind energy power, visit our home made windmill site and let us help you get started.
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Can Home Made Wind Energy Power Your Entire House?
