Home Depot offers electricity producing "windmills"

Alright guys, why would it be a bad idea to get one of these? Too expensive, not enough power for the money?

I have a home on the windward side of the Big Island of Hawaii just north of Hilo.

Average wind speed is over 20 mph.

Thanks!

400 kWh/month for 15,000 dollars with a 5 year warranty? Electricity in Hawaii is about 36 cents per kWh according to a quick search. That works out to about $1700 dollars a year if you have an average windspeed of at least 12 mph. This is a payback period of about 9 years. If the wind blows more, it will payback much faster.

Of course this assumes you simply sell the power to the energy company at full cost if you don’t use it.

I believe the 400 kWh/month is a best-case scenario, but that’s still not bad. These little home turbines make a whole lot more sense in Hawaii than they do in the lower 48, though. I won’t torture the OP by telling him what my rate is, but my best-case payback period with this generator would be about 40 years. :slight_smile:

Skystream manufacturer website

http://www.windenergy.com/

compare with what local vendors and installers might sell. they will also give you much information, you might hire them to do a test at your site.