| By :
Roger Brown
With windmills for home power you need to fully understand the total cash outlay on the front end. One thing for sure though - the first cost of the turbine itself is not the total cost you will pay. There are other associated costs. Checking out the costs associated with any large purchase requires a good bit of due diligence on your part. The manufacturers are selling and that means they will package their product in the way they think is most advantageous to them. Sometimes they leave key parts out and put that in the small print. Lifecycle costing is a good way to look at windmill power at home. Why? Because it forces you to understand ALL the costs associated with the product over time, not just the ones that hit you in the face when you first buy it. In order to do a total lifecycle cost analysis you need to collect the following information: 1. First cost of the windmill - usually includes the wind turbine, mounting and commissioning. 2. Parts that have to be replaced on a regular basis - turbine blades are a perfect example of this - really any wear surface falls into this category. 3. Repair and maintenance expenses - windmills need to be checked at least once a year whether there is anything going wrong with them at the moment or not. Also, include some money for the periodic part failure that won't be covered by the warranty. By a long shot, you will have to have more than comes with the wind turbine kit to make power and make this work for you. The tower is one thing in particular that never comes with the kit - unless it is a very small roof-mounted wind turbine. You will have to price that separately. Blades are something that tend to wear out and a good set of blades and keeping them new, will pay off in terms of power production later on. The blades come in a variety of different materials with different aerodynamic properties. Blades are a science all by themselves. As well, you need to make sure you are including a healthy amount for routine and unexpected maintenance in your lifecycle analysis. At least 10% of the cost of the unit for fixes that aren't included in the warranty. Windmills for the home are a perfect cost cutting strategy for cutting costs now. Your electricity month will literally be lower the first month you get the turbine up and running. It is wise though to make sure you are putting all your options on an equal footing by doing a full lifecycle analysis on each product choice you have before you pull the trigger and buy.
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