WHY BUILD A HOME WIND TURBINE?

As homeowners try to cope with steadily rising energy costs, renewable (or “green”) energy has been in the news a lot lately.  If you follow the news, you have no doubt seen pictures and news footage of solar cells built into home rooftops, or home wind turbines spinning away in back yards.  There has been a lot of debate, however, over how practical, cost-efficient, and effective these residential renewable energy installations really are.  Given how expensive these green energy systems are to install, many people are understandably hesitant to shell the money to install a system they are not even sure will work all that well. 

First of all, a lot of statistics batted around in the media are very misleading.  For example, critics of residential renewable energy sources, like home wind turbines, point out that renewable energy sources currently provides less than 1% of America’s energy needs.  This leads many people to mistakenly believe that green technology doesn’t really produce all that much energy.  In reality, the only reason green technology produces less than 1% of the nations energy is because so little renewable energy technology has actually been built.  There are tens of thousands of coal-fired power plants throughout the United States, but only a handful of wind farms, solar arrays, and geothermal heat pumps. 

America’s capacity to harness these energy sources, however, is rapidly growing, and the proportion of the nation’s energy produce by green technology is growing along with it.  For example, as more and more wind farms were have been built, the electricity generated by wind turbines rose over 250% in just five years!

Although it will take decades for the American power grid to switch over mostly green technology, homeowners can act now to build residential renewable energy systems that can power their homes.  Given the high initial expense, why should households invest in, say, home wind turbines?  There are many reasons, but they fall into three rough categories: Financial, Practical, and Ethical.

FINANCIAL
In these days of credit crunches and recession, the financial benefit of home wind turbines is the strongest argument.  On average, installing a home wind turbines can reduce your power bill by 80%, or even eliminate it completely.  If you generate more electricity than your home needs, power companies may even pay you to divert the extra energy onto the local power grid.  The money saved on powering a household can counterbalance the soaring cost of food and gas, allowing households to leave their savings untouched, or spend it on more important things. 

PRACTICAL
There are many practical reasons for households to install home wind turbines.  First of all, they are a good investment.  Although a home wind turbine is expensive to install (at least $3000, and prices only rise from there), they are renewable energy sources.  The money saved every month on power will pay for initial investment over the next few years.   Furthermore, installing an alternative power system increased the property value of your home.

ETHICAL
Over half of all electricity is generated in power plants by burning coal, which releases greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and is causing global warming.  The increasing demand for a shrinking supply of oil is driving the price steadily up and playing havoc with the global economy.  Installing a home wind turbine enables any household to contribute to solving these problems.  It is better for the environment, decreases demand on limited fossil fuels, and creates a better future for our children.