# Want to put up a wind turbine at the house. Some questions



## lmholmes11 (Nov 12, 2008)

Hello guys


I live in a very windy area (surrounded by open fields) and I have been wanting to put up a residential wind turbine up at the house, and I have heard that you can actually hook up the turbine to the house electricals and turn your electric meter backwards (or at the very least slow it down) saving you $ on your consumers bill. I am wondering if anyone here has one up or knows of anyone that has one at their house. Also, would solar pannels work better because they would be working all day everyday, because wind is not always guaranteed?


Thanks everyone


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## fishenrg (Jan 9, 2008)

lmholmes11 said:


> Hello guys
> 
> 
> I live in a very windy area (surrounded by open fields) and I have been wanting to put up a residential wind turbine up at the house, and I have heard that you can actually hook up the turbine to the house electricals and turn your electric meter backwards (or at the very least slow it down) saving you $ on your consumers bill. I am wondering if anyone here has one up or knows of anyone that has one at their house. Also, would solar pannels work better because they would be working all day everyday, because wind is not always guaranteed?
> ...


First of all, making your home as efficient as possible is always less expensive then going with renewables.

That said, yes, in a way you can make your meter go backwards. What you are talking about is a grid-intertied system. I'm no expert, but I've seen it work many times. The utility requirements for a system like this can be quite complicated so I recommend working with someone with experience in sizing your system and working with the utility on this.

I personally prefer solar panels for many reasons. Mine make power even on a cloudy day. They also have no moving parts and aren't up on top of a tower when things go wrong and maintenance is required.

Some people prefer a mixture of wind and solar.

That's about all I know, and I highly recommend working with a licensed installer who knows about working with the utilities on their requirements and how to install it correctly.


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## dead short (Sep 15, 2009)

Our house is essentially all electric since we have geothermal. We looked at a turbine since we live on a hill and the wind is always blowing but the price was ridiculous. Unless things have changed with rebates and residential tax credits it could be very expensive electric. We were quoted (by more than one company) somewhere in the neighborhood of $40,000 to be tied in with the grid and have power outage protection. It was a little more than half that for just the regular power production. Must cost a lot of money for the auto switch over panel, back-up batteries and the sort. Of course you finance that out, but it would take us nearly 20 years of no electric bill to break even. Considering that the turbines we looked at had 10 year warranties it was far cheaper to stick with DTE. If it went maintenance free for ten years and then took a dump our electric would have more than doubled. Unless the incentives have changed for residential.

Keep in mind too that this was for a system sized to fully operate the house (2100 sq foot) on a daily basis, not just supplement so I guess it could be done cheaper. 

Also we were told at the time by the turbine company that DTE would not buy your extra KWH's but would just credit your account if you produced more than you used. Never confirmed that though. Just didn't seem practical yet. 

Maybe for a shed separate from the house......


Posted from my iPhone.


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## WoW. (Aug 11, 2011)

Residential wind turbines are all over the place out west and back yard versions are not that big.

Union Township in Isabella County just installed three for their office.

As more and more developments arise with wind energy, the price will come down. 

Check it out and let us know what you come up with. I know my wife wants one but, we are too broke to come up with the initial investment so it doesn't much matter what the payback time is.


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## andy9086 (Jan 10, 2010)

If you go with one get a good contractor with referrals. I did work for a guy who spent 35K on one. The installer promised results... most days his doesn't even turn and the contractor will not return his calls.


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## Flyhack (Jul 12, 2009)

andy9086 said:


> If you go with one get a good contractor with referrals. I did work for a guy who spent 35K on one. The installer promised results... most days his doesn't even turn and the contractor will not return his calls.


Yeah. That guy should have done his homework. A contractor can't guarantee the wind. He can only guarantee a good install. The DOE has charts for high wind areas where you might break even eventually and maybe exist off of the grid with a wind turbine. Other areas wind energy is not practical and your ROI will be measured in decades. People that think they are going to stuff it to the man by making the utility buy their spare energy are prime for a fleecing.


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