I Want One Of These
I was looking for something mindless on TV a couple of nights ago and came across Living with Ed, a program about Ed Begley Jr., who is a bit of a nut on environmental issues.
In the show, they installed a wind turbine on his house. Now I want one. I don't know if it would actually be cost efficient. I suspect that at almost $3,000 before installation, it would take a long time to pay it off. But damn. A wind turbine! Feeding electricity into my house and maybe, on a good day, back into the grid!
Who wouldn't want one!
posted by Maureen McHugh at 3:11 PM
7 Comments:
This one is probably not as efficient but it's a hell of a lot cheaper:
Link
Probably not by the time I bought all the tools and learned how to build it. But then, I've never actually tried to build much.
Maureen,
The one from Mag-Wind is more efficient and cooler looking too.
Stuart
Stuart, do you have one?!?
The wind turbines in downtown Cleveland look like 23rd century windmills, or like pinwheels for Godzilla's children. My own children (teenagers both, really) are frightened of them, but unable to articulate why they find them creepy. My friend Ann thinks they're serenly beautiful. I think they look like pinwheels for Godzilla's children - which is neither bad nor good, since I reckon even Godzilla's children need toys.
Maureen,
I've got to finish the house first. The rain hit me again this afternoon!
The Mag-Wind is something I would like to add in the future. It certainly looks more likely to make economic sense than solar panels. The location, the nature of the terrain around our house site, and the orientation of the house in relation to the prevailing winds are optimum for this kind of wind generator.
The nearest windbreak to the south of my house is more than half a mile away. The ground rises toward my house causing an increase in the wind speed as it approaches the house.
Since you are in Austin you are eligible for a subsidy on solar panels. They make more sense in the environment you are in. You live in a residential neighborhood which serves as a pretty effective windbreak.
Stuart
My idea is to harness the power of puppy dog tails, all wagging furiously, powering up cities somehow (I'm a little unclear on the technology) while hapless children (or low-paid illegals) keep the dogs amused and waggy.
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