Building Your Own Wind Power Generator

by John Ashbury

There are many components that are required for a home wind power system to work properly. These components include the rotor blades, generator, tower, yaw mechanism, and much more.

Using the power of the wind as a means of lowering your expenses due to the use of power is an awesome solution. You can save money while not contributing to the air pollution that generates in this modern world. Many homeowners with wind power generators are very happy with their alternative energy solution because it does save them money on a monthly basis. With this easy to install system, you can save money while absorbing the costs throughout the years.

When you build a wind-powered solution at home, you will need a generator. Wind power does not depend upon grid power, as does a solar source of alternative energy. Using the alternator of a car is the best means of having a generator for your home solution of wind power. However, there are disadvantages to this type of generator. They include the need to drive at high speeds to get the best output of energy.

When there is low wind speed it may not put off enough power also. If you don't want to use a car alternator then you should consider using a permanent magnet generator. This is usually the most successful form of generator you can use.

When you build your own wind turbine system for alternative energy, you can make your own blades. You may carve them from wood like many others if you like. However, there are place that will sell you the blades you need that are ready to go. Keep in mind however, that blades will spin at top speeds at time and you should always consider the safety factor. Consider anything that may happen as well as protection from harm.

Most importantly, you need to consider your wind factor while building your alternative energy source. When you live in areas that do not provide sufficient winds your system will not work properly. In order to generate and store energy you need more than 6 miles per hour winds, which are common at ground level. If you do not have enough wind power, you will generate very little useable electricity.

A tower is another thing that you need when you install a wind turbine system at your home for alternative energy sources. If you live in a home owner's association neighborhood then this may be out of the question, no matter how big your lot is. A tower should be up to 80 feet high to capture the highest wind speeds and to be the most effective. This may be too much of an eye sore for an HOA to allow you to put in your neighborhood.

There are many factors to consider when you are planning to build a wind alternative energy source at home. For instance, you need to ensure that you do get the type of wind speed required for building your own turbine system at home. You can also find what you need by shopping with local retailers.

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May 20 2009 | Home Improvement | No Comments »

Are Wind Turbines Affordable?

by Arnold Thomas

We all do the same thing once a month; we write that check or make an online payment to our local electrical supplier to keep the energy we need flowing into our homes. Your bill is typically based on the amount of energy used, making this one of the few bills which we can directly lower through our actions.

Your electricity bill can be one of the largest parts of your household budget, depending on how many appliances you need to run in your home. Of course, electricity costs aren't your only concern - there's plenty of other bills to be paid, so anywhere you can cut costs is very helpful to keeping your budget under control.

A common solution to this issue is to take on the many tricks of electricity conservation to reduce electricity costs and ensure better environmental safety. These are all good practices, but they are difficult to maintain especially if you are living with other people in the house and strive to keep your living environment convenient and productive.

One solution is to use alternative energy sources to reduce your energy costs. You're probably already aware of solar energy and wind power, but what can you do if there are no nearby solar or wind energy providers to buy energy from?

Actually, you don't need those big facilities to power your home with alternative energy. All you need are home devices that take advantage of the sun or wind and convert it to energy. But the real question is, which of the energy alternatives is affordable?

To take advantage of the sun, you need solar panels and getting solar panels can be tough to find. There are plenty being sold on the internet, but they are very delicate to ship and their overall cost could be way out of your budget. Plus you need a lot of solar panels to provide enough power to benefit you.

Wind power, by contrast can be gotten up and running for a low cost. You can even make your own wind turbines using cheap and widely available parts. You can find everything you need online or at your friendly neighborhood junkyard for a low cost. All you need is some rotors, a structure to support them and a generator to handle converting the wind energy into electricity.

Since the steps in making a wind turbine is fairly simple, you can make numerous wind turbines to provide more amounts of electricity to power your devices while reducing the dependence of your main supply of electricity. Plus you get added benefits of them working 24 hours a day as long as there is wind.

Especially if you live in a rural area, you can generate a lot of power using your wind turbines. Placing your turbines as high off the ground as possible will give you the best results; on your rooftop is usually the best place. Even those who live in large cities can take advantage of the benefits of wind power to lower their electricity bills - all it takes is a roof and a little DIY know-how.

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April 29 2009 | Home Improvement | No Comments »