A wind turbine generator for your home makes a lot of sense as electricity costs continue to rise. here’s some tips to make your selection easier.
Tips to Buying a Wind Turbine Generator for Your Home
By P M Johnson
Everyone is looking for savings on their monthly expenses, including on utility bills, and generating your own power at home is a perfect way to cut down on your electricity bill.
If the location of your home is suitable for a wind turbine, with a minimum wind speed of 7 mph, then a wind turbine generator may be the perfect solution for you, and there are several different models available on the market today with equally different prices. Not only can you feel good about saving on your energy bills and contributing to the local grid, but also the satisfaction from know that you are contributing to a greener world!
1. Price.
As with any project that you wish to undertake, the cost is of significant importance. In the case of power generation, you also need to add in the cost of any changes you may need to make at home to accommodate the wind turbine generator. The cost of a wind turbine designed for home use is significant and can easily set you back $15 000 for the turbine plus installation costs.
2. Location.
Some wind turbine generators are designed to be installed on the roof, whilst some are better as a stand alone unit in the back yard.
If you want to put yours on the roof, make sure that your roof is structurally strong enough to accommodate the equipment. If you would prefer back yard installation, make sure that there is room in your yard away from trees and other backyard paraphernalia.
The minimum wind speed required by most wind turbines for power generation is about 7 mph, so you will need to take this in to consideration when deciding on a location for the turbine.
Wind generating equipment also have maximum wind speeds for safe use, so if you live in an exceedingly windy area, you will need to make sure that winds do not frequently exceed the maximum for the equipment.
3. Installation.
Although most wind turbine generators are designed for the homeowner to install themselves, if you are not a do-it-yourselfer, you may feel more comfortable having a professional do the installation for you, so either get a recommendation from the manufacturer or find out who is available in your area and how much they are going to charge you for such an installation before you make your purchase as this could add significantly to the overall cost of the project.
4. Maintenance.
Although little maintenance is required after installation, make sure that either you are prepared and able to do it yourself, of find out ahead of time what a professional is going to charge for maintenance and servicing of the turbine.
5. Tax Credits.
Significant tax savings can be made, depending on where you live, to homeowners that install power generating equipment on their property, so although it may be costly to install the equipment initially, you may get all or most of it back quite quickly through tax savings.
(Since this article was written changes in Government incentives may have changed. You are strongly urged to enquire as to what rebates, if any, are now available before making any commitment)
With the above tips in hand and a bit of research, you are now well equipped to choose a wind turbine generator for your home.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/P_M_Johnson/1213040
Hopefully these tips have made it easier for you to select a wind turbine generator for your home and please visit our other pages for more tips. Note, wind turbine generator costs referred to in this article have tended to show a decrease as wind turbines become more popular so please shop around.