Wind Power as Sustainable Home Energy

When it comes to green home energy, wind power is a natural, renewable source that can be generated for daily home use. This is more environmentally friendly and can save more costs than just purchasing green energy from a utility company.

Most wind power is mass produced on wind farms comprising a number of giant turbines with very long arms. When the wind hits the turbines, it turns the arms, which generates electricity that can be gathered and transferred to consumers. The next best thing to creating your own self sustaining green power is purchasing it. Contact your local utilities to find out what kind of green renewable energy sources there are in your area and if wind power can be transferred and purchased for home use.

It is also possible to be energy independent by setting up a mini wind turbine for personal use on your property. This way there is no need to purchase anything from a company. A residential scale turbine is much smaller, but is powerful enough to provide at least some of a home’s total energy needs, if not all. The arms are still shaped like propellers, but are only around 15 feet in diameter. Elevated up to 100 feet above the ground, they can generate ample power. The energy generated by wind turbines is completely clean and free of greenhouse gases, and can be used on site to power homes, small businesses, or farms.

Whether you use wind power generated by a wind farm and pay the utility company or generate wind power on your own land for personal use, wind power offers some flexible benefits. You can combine off grid and on grid usage to cover periods of time when there isn’t enough wind to meet home energy requirements. You still use much less electricity and save money on energy bills, because you only purchase supplemental power from the utility company when you need it. When wind is strong, only wind energy is used. Areas that are particularly windy might rarely use the power grid even though it is available.

Another benefit of wind energy supplemented with a grid connection is the potential to make a profit with excess energy. Many utility companies allow consumers with wind energy and a grid connection to sell extra back to them if more is produced than is needed.

If you are thinking about purchasing a mini wind turbine for residential use, there are a few things to consider. Does the wind blow often enough to generate a lot of power? Does your land contain open space to allow wind to hit your turbine at full speed? If your answer to both of these questions is no, there are even smaller turbines that can power small farms or power accessories for boats. These come with backup battery power so that power can be produced even when wind is minimal.

Wind power is definitely becoming more popular, and has become widespread in the past decade. People everywhere are getting used to wind farms with giant turbines dotting the landscape. It will continue to grow and expand as long as the trend to go green continues, because it is 100% clean, renewable, and abundant enough that we will never run out.

Wind Power: Could it Work for You?

Did you know that the wind that blows away your garbage cans can be put to good use to run your home? And that using wind power in place of traditional fossil fuels can decrease your energy bills by as much as 95%? Wind power, harnessed through turbines, provides a clean source of energy that is inexpensive as well as safe for the environment. Wind power is renewable, since there is no danger of running out. Any electricity generated by a wind turbine and not through wasteful fossil fuels is a boon to all of us.

A wind turbine is simply a hollow pole or metal tower featuring three sizeable blades on top. As the wind moves the blades, electricity is created. If you’ve ever considered installing a turbine for your home energy use, you should keep in mind that they are tall, noticeable, and not always aesthetically pleasing, so if you have close neighbors and not a lot of land, it might not be a good option. But if you have plenty of space and live far from populated neighborhoods, turbines might be worth considering. If you’re worried about them making too much noise, you can rest assured. The blades constantly spin, but the noise isn’t substantial. A wind turbine makes about the same amount of noise as a clothes washing machine.

Residential wind power users clearly need to live where there is wind all year long. This includes close to 17 million homes in the United States, according to a recent census. Also, the average wind speed needs to be at least 9 miles per hour in order for your turbine to be worth the investment. Wind maps are actually available for purchase that can reveal whether or not your home is located in a spot where wind power turbines are feasible.

Normally, residential wind turbine users need to have both the wind turbine and the utility company hooked up for energy coverage when there isn’t enough wind. Whereas with a solar energy system there are batteries to store extra electricity to use later, wind power turbines don’t have batteries to hold excess. However, when it’s very windy and more electricity is produced by the turbine than needed, excess can be purchased back by the electric company. It all adds up to environmental and economical savings.

Aside from harnessing wind power for personal residential use, it can be used on a much grander scale, to power entire cities, towns, or even countries. Usage of this magnitude requires the creation of wind farms, comprising several turbines over open flat areas and connected to a grid in order to produce electricity for multiple homes. Wind farms can be relatively small, with only a few turbines, or very large with more than 900. Most turbines are 80 feet tall at a minimum, well above anything that could get in the way of the blades. Hawaii boasts the largest turbine, which is 20 stories tall and has blades that are as large as football fields.

Whether for residential or municipal use, wind power provides a clean, renewable energy source. Converting wind power into energy is a great way to be kind to the environment and save money on energy bills.