What's Enough Wind To Buy Wind Turbine Power?

Wind turbine power for your home can be an investment that gives you FREE energy for life.

Maintenance is usually only a few hundred dollars a year.

The benefits of owning wind power at home are clear:

1. Offset electricity costs

2. Take yourself off the grid

3. Help Green the planet

However, at current prices for home wind turbines (up to $15,000 for a kit), it is wise to correctly analyze local wind conditions and adjust your expectations about how much energy you can really make before you get started.

The best way to "validate" your local wind is to start with the big picture and Google Earth down to your local community, and then to your backyard:

1. Look online at the "government's wind map"

The strongest steady wind occurs in the middle of the country. You can still produce power with wind turbines in other areas, as well. So, if it doesn't look strong enough at that level, keep looking As prices decline, as more are built, even areas with very low winds will be good areas to use windmills. But for now, you need to make sure there is enough wind to at least produce an average 9 mph.

2. Check your local community's weather service or a local tv station for seasonal and daily wind patterns

Does your community have patterns of wind that are 9 mph on average? Are winds seasonal or do their records indicate enough wind will be available year round to power your turbine. Check out statistics by month and make sure there is enough wind to harvest for the type of wind turbine you are considering.

3. Get an anemometer to check the wind at your house

If these first two items check out ok, then buying an anemometer to check winds at your house is the final step to validate a wind turbine for your home. Anemometers aren't that expensive - less than $50 and you can get them - old school analog and digital - at Amazon.

Track your wind over several days each week for a month. Does the information you are gathering concur with the records from your local wind/weather source?

It is great to want to get wind turbine power and it may be the perfect solution to power your home for FREE. Just take the time to take the pulse of your available resources and you will be on a firm foundation for proceeding with your windmill.


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Roger G. Brown has been an energy engineer for 20 years. Slash your utility bill Now, by checking out Roger's tips on how to save money AND how to get a Wind Tax Credit