wind for heat

[tbb42]

With the high cost of heat going up each year Ive been trying to keep up in lowering my heating cost. 4 years ago I got a corn stove, this saved me alot in the begining 4 dollars for 100 pounds or $60 a month to heat. now its $180 a month. Ive looking for other ways to cut my heating cost, and was looking at maybe buying a wind turbine to help cut cost. the avg wind speed here is 10mph and was thinking about buying 2kw Wind Turbine/Generator form redriven.net. can this help drive down the cost or do i need to look for something else.

[Flux]

Yes it will help. but bear in mind that the average power of a decent 2kW turbine will only be a few hundred watts. If that turbine is rated as some are then perhaps you may see an average of only a hundred watts.

This may prove to be some use for water heating but for real room heating I think you are going to freeze except during storms. I find that running a fan heater of less than 2kW does very little to make life bearable even in a small room.

To be much use you are looking at something rated nearer 10kW.

Flux

[paNewbie]

I am certainly no expert, but on a cold day the 1.5 kw space heater in my upstairs bathroom has a very hard time increasing the temperature in my bathroom 10 degrees or so in an hour. and that's just in a 100 sq ft space.

i got a lot of bang for my buck out of thicker insulation and a good siding job. it just seems to make more sense to hold onto the heat you already make rather than trying to make more.

...but take it this post with a grain of salt. i am an extreme "newbie".

 

[DanB]

'...but take it this post with a grain of salt. i am an extreme "newbie".'

Not at all I think you're dead right.  Conservation is always the best bang for the buck.  Insulation is #1 when it comes to saving energy almost no matter where you live.  

[mikeyny]

  I have been in the cellulose insulation biz for many yrs now. The money you save after insulating and weather proofing you home is phenomenal at todays prices. Insulate and put away the savings for a few yrs and buy (or build) some RE stuff with the dough you stole from the oil guy. Here is one of my favorite sales pitches. If you buy a new car you pay for it for 5 yrs then throw it away. When you buy insulation you pay for it and then it pays YOU every month of every yr there after, forever. You cant go wrong. Insulation and weather proofing your home should be the first thing you do.

                                       Mike

[scottsAI]

Hello tbb42,

You came to the right place for wind.

The 2kw wind turbine at $1,6xx is a nice price, needs a tower. Depending on your location can cost more than the wind turbine. Should think it over, take a look at:

http://www.builditsolar.com/

The half program on the front page covers low cost conservation projects.

Other pages cover very low cost solar heating methods. Might be a better choice for your $.

Have fun,

Scott.

[tbb42]

the  10 kw turbine cost $8600 I have a 70 foot old silo that I plan on putting the turbine on. I just started looking into this and as you can see i dont know much. Here are the spec for that unit and would this do the job.

 Start up wind speed is 2 m/s (4.4 mph)

Rated wind speed (to generate 10000 watts) is 10 m/s (22.3 mph)

Maximum power is 12200 watts

3 blades measuring 8.0 meters (26.2 feet) in diameter

Recommended tower height is 12 meters (39.3 feet)

449 kg (987 lb) generator body weight

Aluminum Alloy Case

Decibel level at 7 meter (22.4 Feet) is 67 dBl

[scottsAI]

OK tbb42,

I could not talk you into Solar heating:-)

The most important thing I would like to talk you into is to study first!

Please DO NOT go buy the first new shiny toy or good deal.

Many here have done that, after they learn about things they wished they had waited.

$8600 is the cheapest 10kw wind turbine I have seen. Been a couple years since I looked.

I wonder why two graphs of the 10k-l and -h what are they? The -h is not 10kw at 10m/s.

The higher the tower, the more power you will get, check a wind map with speed at various heights. An important factor to consider is 26% higher wind speed will result in twice the power! (cubic function)

Have fun,

Scott.