Are they Worthwhile?
Home wind turbines have had a rough press recently, but they are still worth investigating before you rule it out for your property.
To find out whether it's worth the investment or how much you stand to save, we recommend that you get your home or intended turbine site assessed by a professional.
One alternative is that someone with a reasonable knowledge of DIY and engineering should be able to build a small test turbine to record wind speeds at your intended turbine site. By doing this for a long enough sample period you should get a reliable assessment of how much energy your turbine could produce.
This test-turbine approach would also be useful for fine-tuning the location and aspect of a turbine for optimum windspeed, with the potential to sample wind-speeds throughout the year, to account for any seasonal variation in wind direction or velocity (plus any corresponding interference from surrounding objects).
We are not yet aware of any companies who offer this service, but if you know otherwise please let us know!
If you don't have the wind speed or the space, there are plenty of other ways to generate renewable energy at home. If you haven't already, you should also review your home's energy consumption in order to save energy, money and help the environment.
More information:
American Wind Energy AssociationBritish Wind Energy Association
Wind Power at Wikipedia