Alternative Energy Sources for the Home

Very cool albit the 58K for the 100 ft tower cuts into the wallet a wee to deep for me!

There was a 350ft tower 100ft from my shop for celphone and such and I frequently watched the guys work on it. each of the 3 legs sat on a 10ft dia 90ft deep(to the bedrock) foundation. I saw lightning hit it many times and it was just awsome.
I frequently do mast work @ 60ft or so and I agree it is great hanging up there although not quite stable in rough water

You can make your own personal windmill: here's the plans for free (or you can send me $200 if you want). Take the electric motor out of a treadmill, hook it up to a ceiling fan. Mount it on your roof or a flagpole. Now you have a basic wind generator for basically free if you scrounge up all the parts from the dump. The biggest problem with a windmill is the power goes out when the wind stops blowing so you'll need to grid tie or add a battery or something.

Homepower magazine has been in the alternative energy business/testing/development for decades,the owner/editor Perez has a couple degrees and thousands of hours of hands on experience with design and trial and error testing of simple systems that can be used in third world countries to supply basics such as water,electric and heat,rammed earth,underground, and straw bale housing etc.,he covers the full spectrum and all of his highly technical articles and mathmatics and laymans translations are on cd and can be purchased for far less than 200 bucks. http://www.homepower.com I bought his cd's once years ago,worth the money,the technical articles have diagrams,schematics,math,pictures,excellent,and will open your mind to a world of expertise most of us aren't aware of.Have fun. RichB

tugcapt wrote:Thanks for all the help.I asked the same questions on two wind related sites and didn't get back a fraction of the help I got back from this site.Love this site lol.I may never need another site for all my technical needs.Now all I need is a site that can help manage my finances lol
I think I have something coming up that a lot on here will enjoy.For the past week I have been lightering a coal ship in the Dlaware river and I know how much we all like pics. so I have been taking many.What catogory would they fit best?Gotta run time to sail
Keith

First place you ought to look is at the wind maps for your area. They're published online and are accurate enough to determine whether wind is a viable option for you at a reasonable height. Like Freddy, many folks get into wind and soon determine that they don't have the wind to drive the turbine enough to get the ROI under 20 years. Getting the thing up high enough to ensure good wind can often cost well more than you'd believe.

Many states offer as much as 50% rebate, but they require you to use a licensed contractor, which puts the kibash on the rebate actually helping you. I had a lengthy discussion with the people in NYS that offer the alternative energy rebates and explained that I was more than capable of doing the install from A to Z which would save me and NYS about $20,000. They could not have cared less. I didn't pursue wind after that.