- 1). Determine the size of the system you want to build. Before you go to the effort and expense of building it, your property should be at least 1 acre with a fairly steady wind. Furthermore, you should be comfortable making a substantial financial commitment. Finally, be sure that your local zoning laws allow for systems like these.
- 2). Recognize that this project will involve five elements: a generator, blades, a device that will keep the blades turned toward the wind, a tower to elevate the blades, and storage batteries with an electronic control system.
- 3). Start with a wind-power generator. A generator has many parts, and it converts the energy from the wind into usable electricity in the house. You can pay a lot of money for a generator, or you can find one used for as little as $200 depending on the system you are building.
- 4). Consider your alternatives as you add blades to your system. You can find blades, new and used, and the cost is a function of the size of your system. They will run about $300 and up. But you can also buy a combination of the wind-power generator, blades, directional device, and the tower you'll need to elevate the blades, in a single unit. If you opt for this choice, you will spend about $500 and up, once again depending on the size of your needs. This option is strongly endorsed.
- 5). If you buy each element of the system individually, you'll now need to choose a tower to elevate the blades. Typically, blades need to be at least 15 feet off the ground before they begin taking advantage of the wind. Larger systems call for considerably more height. You can build this yourself, and its cost will be under $100 for a unit that is at least 25 feet high. A tower will be considerably more expensive if you have one made or buy it off the shelf.
- 6). Recognize that you will not be able to afford to totally eliminate your electric bill if your house uses average amounts of energy and is more than 3,000 square feet. A system of that size will cost upwards of $100,000 and cannot be economically justified. In that case, you can try to offset a portion of your energy cost, not all.
- 7). Build your own wind generator system using the plans found at the website under Resources below.
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