Home wind turbine

bigred

Registered User
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Hi ABM community,
I am considering installing a wind turbine to contribute toward powering our home and lower our energy bills. We have a large elevated site are are not overlooked so I expect we will have 'good wind'. The idea would be to install a reasonably big unit e.g. ~4kw hooked up to a battery pack that is smart integrated into powering our home. We use quite a lot of electricity - est. 20k KWH p.a. and I expect this will increase over time as we switch to electric cars. I also heard that it may be an option to sell an excess power generated back to the grid in the future?

Greatly appreciate any insights on from anyone who has a similar setup around costs, recommended suppliers / fitters, grants and anything else that I should take into account?
 
Get a planning exemption declaration in writing from your LA before ordering any kit. Shouldn't be a problem if you adhere to the guidelines detailed here.
 
Do you have solar already?
no and I'm not against solar but its just that we'd need so many to make a meaningful dent in our overall electricity usage that I reckon it they would be all over the house - hence the preference for the wind option if viable.
 
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Hi ABM community,
I am considering installing a wind turbine to contribute toward powering our home and lower our energy bills. We have a large elevated site are are not overlooked so I expect we will have 'good wind'. The idea would be to install a reasonably big unit e.g. ~4kw hooked up to a battery pack that is smart integrated into powering our home. We use quite a lot of electricity - est. 20k KWH p.a. and I expect this will increase over time as we switch to electric cars. I also heard that it may be an option to sell an excess power generated back to the grid in the future?

Greatly appreciate any insights on from anyone who has a similar setup around costs, recommended suppliers / fitters, grants and anything else that I should take into account?
Sorry, no help to your question but 20,000 kWhr/yr is a LOT of power. Mind telling us what it's being used on, genuinely interested.
 
A turbine will require annual servicing. Solar PV is fit and forget. Zero maintenance.

Solar PV is also less controversial with neighbours.

20,000 kwh is many times the average household. I presume this also covers your heating. Have you looked at behavior around electricity usage. LED lighting, night rate electricity, turning off lights when not using the room, switching off appliances instead of leaving on standby and switching supplier each year.

I have 4.2kw of solar PV on my roof. Don't even notice it is up there most days and you definitely don't see them at night
 
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Sorry, no help to your question but 20,000 kWhr/yr is a LOT of power. Mind telling us what it's being used on, genuinely interested.
Mostly on a 16kwh ground source heat pump and 2 MVHR units. Its a big house and I could probably do with turning down the temperature but while working from home we have it set to 23c 24/7
 
A turbine will require annual servicing. Solar PV is fit and forget. Zero maintenance.

Solar PV is also less controversial with neighbours.

20,000 kwh is many times the average household. I presume this also covers your heating. Have you looked at behavior around electricity usage. LED lighting, night rate electricity, turning off lights when not using the room, switching off appliances instead of leaving on standby and switching supplier each year.

I have 4.2kw of solar PV on my roof. Don't even notice it is up there most days and you definitely don't see them at night
yes heating and ventilation included. We do have LEDs throughout, also have a night rate and switch ever year. Undoubtedly there's more we could do around the edges but looking long term I can see us having 2 electric cars so really looking for a solution to generate a significant amount of energy and I just don't think solar will do that.
 
no and I'm not against solar but its just that we'd need so many to make a meaningful dent in our overall electricity usage that I reckon it they would be all over the house - hence the preference for the wind option if viable.
If this is a financial decision then solar is likely to make sense sooner than a turbine. Do you have a breakdown of your usage at day and night rates?

23C is very warm - surely 20 with a jumper would be comfortable? Do you heat the whole house all the time? Could you have a look at a smart heating system to give individual room control?
 
@bigred

Have you priced a wind turbine (incl installation costs)? These, from what I can remember when a neighbour of mine was looking into it, are not cheap. Again, just from what I rememver - a 5 metre high domestic turbine was in around €15K for a 5 kw.

Looking at some of the pay back details given [broken link removed]:

WIND TURBINE (WT) energy costs​

Assuming that:
  • your wind turbine will survive 25 years
  • you have paid 10 000 euro* for 4kW wind turbine
  • that wind turbine will produce 8 MWh of energy per year**

RESULT: in 25 years your wind turbine will make 200 MWh that means 1kWh (unit of energy) will cost you 10 000e /200 000 kWh = 5cents !!!
*that price can be achieved if you do installation yourself
** in good windy location with average wind speed of 6m/s and low roughness that production can be achieved by good quality 4kW turbine (4kW means power at wind speed equals 11m/s)
 
BTW, is this your “forever home”?
Often personal additions like a wind turbine or a greenhouse add zero value to a house, (whereas an extension does).
 
@bigred



WIND TURBINE (WT) energy costs​

Assuming that:
  • your wind turbine will survive 25 years
  • you have paid 10 000 euro* for 4kW wind turbine
  • that wind turbine will produce 8 MWh of energy per year**

RESULT: in 25 years your wind turbine will make 200 MWh that means 1kWh (unit of energy) will cost you 10 000e /200 000 kWh = 5cents !!!
*that price can be achieved if you do installation yourself
** in good windy location with average wind speed of 6m/s and low roughness that production can be achieved by good quality 4kW turbine (4kW means power at wind speed equals 11m/s)
Interesting figures if those are still valid.

I put in a 5kW solar PV system which cost €8k, it generated 1.2MWh in 2020, not sure the expected lifetime but I think 25 years would be extremely optimistic. A turbine for €10k that would generate six times the energy and last longer sounds pretty good compared to solar PV.

It would be interesting to see when a turbine generates that power; solar PV has the pesky habit of only generating when the sun is shining which it fairly reliably doesn't for 12 hours a day and 24 hours a day for much of our winter :).
 
so I expect we will have 'good wind'
I would check how good your wind is on this map, it will give you a good idea of what is typical for your location. This is vitally important as many domestic turbines are not very tall so average wind speeds are lower closer to the ground. The turbines might be capable of generating power at low wind speeds but you can see from @Jazz01 's [broken link removed] that the power curves (as an example) drop off significantly below 4m/s. If you can't achieve a wind speed of at least 4m/s then you should rule out installing the turbine, I don't believe you would ever reach a payback point.

toward powering our home and lower our energy bills
Mostly on a 16kwh ground source heat pump and 2 MVHR units. Its a big house and I could probably do with turning down the temperature but while working from home we have it set to 23c 24/7
If your goal is to lower your energy bills, you should really look at how you operate your heating system. I'm assuming your home is a relatively new build with GSHP and MVHR so I am amazed that your usage is that high even for a large 250-300sqm house (out of curiosity, it would be good to know the sqm). You should comfortably be able to knock several thousand units off your usage by making some very simple changes. You really need to:
  • Turn down your stats - 23 degrees is very high by anyone's standards. 18/19 for bedrooms and 21 for everywhere else should still feel comfortable.
  • Correctly set flow temperatures and exit temperatures of water - Over heating and unnecessary heating of water is a major drain on heat pumps. If the water coming out of your taps is too hot to touch, then you need to reduce the water temp by 5-10 degrees.
  • Install better heating controls - If WFH is why you have increased the temp to 23, then surely you need a separate stat in your office only. Failing that, a simple electric/oil heater would give that one room the slight boost it needs for you to be comfortable

And as for the future planning aspect of electric cars, you currently have night rate electricity which is very cheap, most of the charging will be overnight so it doesn't make sense to use solar PV or wind to charge a battery to then charge your car at night

solar PV has the pesky habit of only generating when the sun is shining which it fairly reliably doesn't for 12 hours a day and 24 hours a day for much of our winter
This is also something that is often overlooked and why it shouldn't (IMO) be combined with a heat pump. Solar PV works best in summer when your heat pump should have little or no demand for electricity. During winter, the PV is generating very little that would make a worthwhile contribution to the heat pump demands. Also any excess electricity from PV in summer will normally be diverted to heating water. Direct heating of water is not very efficient especially when GSHP can do this very efficiently with COP's generally above 4 and very cheaply if done predominantly at night rates.

There may be an overall 'greener' energy benefit if you install a wind turbine but it is unlikely to lower your bills when all installation and maintenance costs are factored in. Much easier to change your habits and reduce usage first
 
If this is a financial decision then solar is likely to make sense sooner than a turbine. Do you have a breakdown of your usage at day and night rates?

23C is very warm - surely 20 with a jumper would be comfortable? Do you heat the whole house all the time? Could you have a look at a smart heating system to give individual room control?
not entirely a financial decision - I understand the payback period can make for questionable financial common sense and I'm ok with that.

We do heat the whole home and have zoned control so tend to have the bedrooms cooler for example.

Day / night breakdown is about 60:40
 
@bigred

Have you priced a wind turbine (incl installation costs)? These, from what I can remember when a neighbour of mine was looking into it, are not cheap. Again, just from what I rememver - a 5 metre high domestic turbine was in around €15K for a 5 kw.

Looking at some of the pay back details given [broken link removed]:

WIND TURBINE (WT) energy costs​

Assuming that:
  • your wind turbine will survive 25 years
  • you have paid 10 000 euro* for 4kW wind turbine
  • that wind turbine will produce 8 MWh of energy per year**

RESULT: in 25 years your wind turbine will make 200 MWh that means 1kWh (unit of energy) will cost you 10 000e /200 000 kWh = 5cents !!!
*that price can be achieved if you do installation yourself
** in good windy location with average wind speed of 6m/s and low roughness that production can be achieved by good quality 4kW turbine (4kW means power at wind speed equals 11m/

Not priced anything yet - that's some of the guidance I was hoping to garner from the AAM community as I can't even find a company to provide a quote. Seems there are endless firms in the residential solar space but not so many in offering residential wind installations.
 
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I would check how good your wind is on this map, it will give you a good idea of what is typical for your location. This is vitally important as many domestic turbines are not very tall so average wind speeds are lower closer to the ground. The turbines might be capable of generating power at low wind speeds but you can see from @Jazz01 's [broken link removed] that the power curves (as an example) drop off significantly below 4m/s. If you can't achieve a wind speed of at least 4m/s then you should rule out installing the turbine, I don't believe you would ever reach a payback point.



If your goal is to lower your energy bills, you should really look at how you operate your heating system. I'm assuming your home is a relatively new build with GSHP and MVHR so I am amazed that your usage is that high even for a large 250-300sqm house (out of curiosity, it would be good to know the sqm). You should comfortably be able to knock several thousand units off your usage by making some very simple changes. You really need to:
  • Turn down your stats - 23 degrees is very high by anyone's standards. 18/19 for bedrooms and 21 for everywhere else should still feel comfortable.
  • Correctly set flow temperatures and exit temperatures of water - Over heating and unnecessary heating of water is a major drain on heat pumps. If the water coming out of your taps is too hot to touch, then you need to reduce the water temp by 5-10 degrees.
  • Install better heating controls - If WFH is why you have increased the temp to 23, then surely you need a separate stat in your office only. Failing that, a simple electric/oil heater would give that one room the slight boost it needs for you to be comfortable

And as for the future planning aspect of electric cars, you currently have night rate electricity which is very cheap, most of the charging will be overnight so it doesn't make sense to use solar PV or wind to charge a battery to then charge your car at night


This is also something that is often overlooked and why it shouldn't (IMO) be combined with a heat pump. Solar PV works best in summer when your heat pump should have little or no demand for electricity. During winter, the PV is generating very little that would make a worthwhile contribution to the heat pump demands. Also any excess electricity from PV in summer will normally be diverted to heating water. Direct heating of water is not very efficient especially when GSHP can do this very efficiently with COP's generally above 4 and very cheaply if done predominantly at night rates.

There may be an overall 'greener' energy benefit if you install a wind turbine but it is unlikely to lower your bills when all installation and maintenance costs are factored in. Much easier to change your habits and reduce usage first

I would check how good your wind is on this map, it will give you a good idea of what is typical for your location. This is vitally important as many domestic turbines are not very tall so average wind speeds are lower closer to the ground. The turbines might be capable of generating power at low wind speeds but you can see from @Jazz01 's [broken link removed] that the power curves (as an example) drop off significantly below 4m/s. If you can't achieve a wind speed of at least 4m/s then you should rule out installing the turbine, I don't believe you would ever reach a payback point.



If your goal is to lower your energy bills, you should really look at how you operate your heating system. I'm assuming your home is a relatively new build with GSHP and MVHR so I am amazed that your usage is that high even for a large 250-300sqm house (out of curiosity, it would be good to know the sqm). You should comfortably be able to knock several thousand units off your usage by making some very simple changes. You really need to:
  • Turn down your stats - 23 degrees is very high by anyone's standards. 18/19 for bedrooms and 21 for everywhere else should still feel comfortable.
  • Correctly set flow temperatures and exit temperatures of water - Over heating and unnecessary heating of water is a major drain on heat pumps. If the water coming out of your taps is too hot to touch, then you need to reduce the water temp by 5-10 degrees.
  • Install better heating controls - If WFH is why you have increased the temp to 23, then surely you need a separate stat in your office only. Failing that, a simple electric/oil heater would give that one room the slight boost it needs for you to be comfortable

And as for the future planning aspect of electric cars, you currently have night rate electricity which is very cheap, most of the charging will be overnight so it doesn't make sense to use solar PV or wind to charge a battery to then charge your car at night


This is also something that is often overlooked and why it shouldn't (IMO) be combined with a heat pump. Solar PV works best in summer when your heat pump should have little or no demand for electricity. During winter, the PV is generating very little that would make a worthwhile contribution to the heat pump demands. Also any excess electricity from PV in summer will normally be diverted to heating water. Direct heating of water is not very efficient especially when GSHP can do this very efficiently with COP's generally above 4 and very cheaply if done predominantly at night rates.

There may be an overall 'greener' energy benefit if you install a wind turbine but it is unlikely to lower your bills when all installation and maintenance costs are factored in. Much easier to change your habits and reduce usage first
great map - if I am reading it correctly the windspeed for our location is 5m/s at 20m.

Fair points on other ways to reduce energy usage generally. We'll make an effort to do more but my sole motivation is not necessarily to lower costs - its partly just out of a desire to be more energy independent

House is 500sqm
 
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