Your Own Personal Wind Machine
Depending on whose looking at them they are either an eyesore or artistic but they’ve proven to be a financial savior for ranchers and rural communities. Now rural homeowners are getting on the band wagon and installing their own personal wind machine. I’m Susan Allen and when I return on today’s OpenRange, how to determine if a wind turbines are right for your property. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article about 10,000 US homes have converted to wind energy, five thousand in just the last three years. While initial cost seems staggering, over forty thousand dollars and much higher than even solar energy panels wind energy consultants say turbine should pay for themselves in ten years. not where I live, those folks must have some high energy bills. There are also federal tax credits, often up to thirty percent and some states provide rebates helping to bring costs down.So how do you know your rural property is a candidate? Obviously you need wind but most importantly a consistent source averaging around three miles and hour.While that isn’t an issue for most of the northwest a good source of information is the Energy Department website atwindpoweringamerica.gov who provides detailed geographic maps offering predicated wind speeds. The final step to becoming sustainable on wind is a good manufacture. Turbines aren’t maintenance free you need a company dedicated to the long haul. They are a far cry from the bucolic windmills of my youth but in certain situations wind turbines could be a solution.
