Wind turbines - anyone here got one?

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I’m curious about wind turbines, the smaller and cheaper domestic type. I’m seeing more and more kits of Amazon etc. Where is the domestic wind turbine market at now? Has the technology moved on much, and is it a viable option some people yet? If someone already has solar, could it be a good option for charging a battery etc?

Anyone here with much experience or knowledge?
 
I got one for my campervan and its OK...if you get a good steady wind so got a couple of 100w solar panels and they keep the leisure batteries charged OK.

Are you looking at charging a car battery or something like a power bank?
 
I’m also curious about domestic wind tech. Would be good to have another energy source, plus something else to play with I guess!
 
I got one for my campervan and its OK...if you get a good steady wind so got a couple of 100w solar panels and they keep the leisure batteries charged OK.

Are you looking at charging a car battery or something like a power bank?

Looking for something for home, to augment my solar panels. Live in a rural location, but assume planning would be required, but was wondering if we had yet got to the stage where there was something viable that could be attached to the end of my garage etc.
 
Wind generally has its problems that its either blowing too much or too little in this country as right now I'm at my late mums house and if the winds blowing I could probably run half a town given the wind down the driveway but at the moment.....

You could just attach a few blades to some old car alternators and get yourself a bit of free power and it really only becomes a major issue when you feed back into the grid anyway.

There was a show called rocket city rednecks which covered the ways of getting power for virtually nothing.
 
It’s obviously very much an intermittent supply of wind power, but isn’t that what power banks are good for? In fact it could be windy at night and nothing is being used, so battery can be charged and used in the morning when the solar power is limited but electric usage is high.

Not really that interested in building my own solution using old car parts, looking to see if any more low maintenance and higher efficiency solutions had hit the market yet.
 
You need “clean” non-turbulent air flow for a turbine to run effectively, so that precludes using turbines attached closely to buildings, or close to other obstructions. So that means locating them at height and in lots of space. Otherwise the loss of efficiency really harms the turbine output and effectiveness.
 
What sort of power rating are you interest in ?

There are some reviews here,

Some more info about turbines and planning permission,

Note even though the starting speeds are low most smaller unit aren't producing enough power to make a difference until 15 to 20 mph.
 
Its down to location; most turbines won't turn in anything much less than around a 7 mph wind and need more than that to be productive. I'd say stick to solar and add extra panels to his/her existing setup. I live in rural Wales but don't get consistent wind enough to convince me to use a fixed one at home. We use ground sourced heating for the house.
 
Its down to location; most turbines won't turn in anything much less than around a 7 mph wind and need more than that to be productive. I'd say stick to solar and add extra panels to his/her existing setup. I live in rural Wales but don't get consistent wind enough to convince me to use a fixed one at home. We use ground sourced heating for the house.
One of data centre presentations I saw said about 15mph for a small turbine to be useful. That was a lot bigger than anything you would see domestically but still a good guide. People are surprised we don't get that much wind in urban areas.
 
Wind turbines (the large ones) are a money con IMO. Not only do they only produce less than 1% energy, they are also an eyesore on the landscape and have caused the countless deaths of many protected species of birds and also marine and sea life. In theory the companies should've been prosecuted for this, but of course nothing happens.
 
Wind turbines (the large ones) are a money con IMO. Not only do they only produce less than 1% energy, they are also an eyesore on the landscape and have caused the countless deaths of many protected species of birds and also marine and sea life. In theory the companies should've been prosecuted for this, but of course nothing happens.

Not sure I entirely agree with you there. The risk to birds has been massively exaggerated IMO. I also don’t think they look bad, although they shouldn’t just be put anywhere, but that’s subjective. As for prosecuting, under what law? Should you be prosecuted if you accidentally hit an animal while driving?
 
Wind turbines (the large ones) are a money con IMO. Not only do they only produce less than 1% energy, they are also an eyesore on the landscape and have caused the countless deaths of many protected species of birds and also marine and sea life. In theory the companies should've been prosecuted for this, but of course nothing happens.
Not quite sure where you are getting your information but I'm fairly sure wind accounted for about 25% of our electricity generation in 2020.


And I'm pretty sure the burning of fossil fuels are more harmful to the environment overall.
 
Wind turbines (the large ones) are a money con IMO. Not only do they only produce less than 1% energy, they are also an eyesore on the landscape and have caused the countless deaths of many protected species of birds and also marine and sea life. In theory the companies should've been prosecuted for this, but of course nothing happens.
That is complete nonsense and simply a pack of lies; don’t know where you read up that lot from, but easy to find recent facts on renewable production: like the 25% stated above.

And do some proper research; how many birds are killed in the UK due to the household Cat vs wind turbines.

All energy production has an impact on our environment; the key question is, which is the best overall when taking ALL the impacts into account.
 
An obvious criticism is the amount of forests that sometimes have to be cleared in order to build wind farms.
 
An obvious criticism is the amount of forests that sometimes have to be cleared in order to build wind farms.

Really? In the UK? Wasn’t obvious to me, I’ve not known that. Most are off shore, but the many in wales and England have seen have not involved any forests being felled, and definitely none of the smaller private ones.
 
I too am interested in the deforestation for wind farms, instead of for palm oil or cattle. Where is this happening exactly?
 
There is an awful lot of misinformation out there that keeps popping up.

Given how many are offshore and all the ones around me are all sitting in the middle of a farmers field, with crops happily growing around them, I'm not sure where the deforestation is happening.

There's going to be a hell of a lot of offshore wind installed over the next decade.

Not quite sure why people seem to be so against stopping burning gas or coal for energy, with gas and nuclear just providing baseload when there's no wind or sun.

I understand people may not like what they look like, personally I think they look great, quite majestic.
 
There is an awful lot of misinformation out there that keeps popping up.

Given how many are offshore and all the ones around me are all sitting in the middle of a farmers field, with crops happily growing around them, I'm not sure where the deforestation is happening.

There's going to be a hell of a lot of offshore wind installed over the next decade.

Not quite sure why people seem to be so against stopping burning gas or coal for energy, with gas and nuclear just providing baseload when there's no wind or sun.

I understand people may not like what they look like, personally I think they look great, quite majestic.
I'm assuming the misinformation is coming from the fossil fuel industry. They have most to lose from renewable power generation. They also have a lot of money to spend on PR, lobbyists, troll-farms, etc.
 
I'm assuming the misinformation is coming from the fossil fuel industry. They have most to lose from renewable power generation. They also have a lot of money to spend on PR, lobbyists, troll-farms, etc.
Oh I'm sure there is a massive lobby going on right now sponsored by the oil and gas industries.

It's the usual, people not accepting change, luddites and Bert from down the pub spreading complete rubbish cos he read it in the Sun 15 years ago and wants to put his twopenneth in.
 
Oh I'm sure there is a massive lobby going on right now sponsored by the oil and gas industries.

It's the usual, people not accepting change, luddites and Bert from down the pub spreading complete rubbish cos he read it in the Sun 15 years ago and wants to put his twopenneth in.
Those stories didn't appear in The Sun by accident.
 
The problem with wind turbines is that power output scales with blade sweep area size in a square law. They really need to be big to make economic sense.

So small household turbines are not very efficient in the way solar panels are.
 
This is a really fascinating video, from a guy who makes really interesting videos. It’s well worth a watch for anyone with even a passing interest in wind power generation. Some of the smaller and newer designs make it seem like actually it will be a much more viable and common way to generate power in future, even in places you would not expect now.

 

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