| By :
Roger Brown
Residential wind turbines can slash your power bills by taking advantage of the free wind energy that is covering your house every day. Here are 3 ways to make sure you get the right one: 1. How much wind do I have available? 2. Will local authorities allow me to put one up on my property? 3. Should I get a vertical or a horizontal turbine? To get the most out of your wind turbine, you must first really endeavor to understand the wind resources on your land or roof. It is very tempting to bypass this step in our zeal to go green. You can get a pretty good idea of your potential by going to WeatherUnderground.com. This site will let you input your zip code to get historical wind patterns where you live. Once you've established there's at least an average 9 mph you can move forward and learn about the specific wind around your property. The best way to understand your wind is to take some data at different points around your home. The best device to use to take in that information is a simple anemometer. An anemometer is like a small hand held wind turbine. You can mount it at different places where you might like to install your actual turbine. Collect the data for a week and verify the information that you found at Weather Underground. Also, check out with your local government if there are any restrictions about what kind of windmill you can put up on your property. Larger wind turbines can be loud and be a danger to local bird populations and that reputation has incorrectly been applied to small wind systems, too, so you may encounter some bias amongst local authorities. Best to know that first. It may not be a bias against the concept of windmills - rather, just be a permitting issue where you have to purchase a permit to do the work. Finally, you need to decide if you prefer "brains or looks" in the wind turbine you choose to actually buy. Horizontal wind turbines are very efficient but take up a ton of space and look kind of geeky. Vertical wind turbines on the other hand are a lot more aesthetically pleasing and will be more accepted in an urban setting. In conclusion, residential turbines can almost eliminate your personal energy crisis. You have to be careful though and do your due diligence before lighting out to buy your windmill.
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