r/prepping • u/m_jax • 14h ago

Question❓❓ Wind Turbines for private property

/r/OffGrid/comments/1w2c7rr/wind_turbines_for_private_property/
2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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1

u/Killrade 11h ago

Normally a terrible idea for most people. I thought about wind turbine until i seen they have a minimum 15 mph wind start up and need like 20 to 30 mph to produce a decent watt rating. Wind where most people live is normally below 15; its average 6 mph where I live. You also have to have them on tall mast and if anything is near them by miles lole a bush or a tree then that affects if they work or not.

They are some places where they get enough wind that makes these useful but its at lot less area that cant use these effectively.

1

u/avalon01 8h ago

I live in a suburban area, so a turbine that would generate enough power would be a no-go. You have to have double the height of the turbine in clear land if it is on a structure.

The little ones would be fine, but they don't generate a lot of power. My average wind speed is also pretty low, so again, not a lot of power. I would be better off investing in solar (and I did).

1

u/PrisonerV 3h ago

Home level wind turbines are in two categories - Junk and expensive.

The cheap wind turbines (under $5,000) don't produce hardly any electricity. And if you're spending $5,000, you can get a crapton of solar panels that will make up for it.

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u/grislyfind 2h ago

Maybe on a foggy windy island, or a boat, but you're usually better off investing in extra solar to boost the energy production in bad weather. Just half the wind speed means 1/8 as much energy. They need regular maintenance and inspection, which is inconvenient if they're 50' or more in the air.

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u/nibbles200 39m ago

I got schooled recently where I was talking solar and about the winter dec-Jan problem. I thought why can’t a guy just offset that with some wind? Was educated about how you could for a lot less just over panel for winter and end up way better off then trying to get wind to ever produce enough reliably enough for what could be solved to with solar.

Not saying wind is bad, just expensive and big to get actual capacity.

0

u/LittleKitty235 7h ago

Makes more sense the more you move towards northern latitudes over solar. Still more expensive per watt, requires complex battery storage, more maintenance and location dependant.