According to a CNN Money article, wind power is coming to your backyard to power your home.
According to the article:
Kruse raised $10 million in financing and teamed up with scientists at the National Renewable Energy Lab to create the Skystream 3.7, a sleek 33-foot turbine with 6-foot blades that can work at wind speeds as low as 9 mph (and provide as much as 80 percent of the average household’s electricity).
Skystreams cost up to $13,000 a pop, but Kruse shipped 150 of them during the first two months of production.
Right now, though, only wealthy homeowners on plots of 0.5 acres or more are targeted. And, I’m sure they don’t live in communities with Home Owner Associations (HOA). I doubt a 33-foot windmill would bring much of a property value increase. If they won’t let you put in a new azalea bush without getting it approved, I doubt you’ll have much luck with a wind turbine.
I applaud the effort though. I’d love to be “energy independent” for minimal up-front cost, but my budget is stretched enough without spending $13,000 plus installation costs right now.
Would you switch to wind power? Do you live in a community where it would be approved?
That’s not a bad price.
Thank goodness we don’t have an HOA. 😉
If I lived in the right place I would definitely go for a wind turbine. A company in my city recently installed 2 80 metre turbines and they’ve actually been well received.
Michelin
I don’t think my wife would be cool with that. I’ll opt for solar panels on the roof instead.
I wish they were the pretty old-style ones, instead of the new-fangled slim, modern ones. My current house would be perfect for a windmill (log cabin on 6 acres of land – it would look cool it if were one of the old-style ones, too), but we’ll soon be moving, and probably to a place with HOA, so… oh well. I probably won’t have one once I live in Los Angeles, either! 😉