What You Need To Know When Installing A Wind Power System
July 2nd, 2009 | by How To |When looking for a way to generate electricity for their home most people think of solar power. While this is a good solution, home wind turbines are also a very reasonable alternative for most homeowners. Home wind turbines are quieter, efficient and more reliable than ever and will do a great job of generating power for your home.
Generating your own power with a wind power system will give you many advantages. Unlike solar power that needs the sun to be shining in order to generate electricity, home wind turbines can operate day and night as long as the wind is blowing.
When choosing a turbine system you will have to consider the elevation and size of your lot. The single biggest factor for good electrical production from these home wind turbines is access to a consistent wind for as much of the day as possible. You might have to install the unit on a higher tower to get access to the required wind, or locate it in an area of your lot that is not blocked by the trees.
When selecting a home wind turbine you really have a choice between two different styles. There is the traditional horizontal style turbine and the newer vertical wind turbine.
The horizontal home wind turbine uses a rotor assembly with a number of blades that spin when the wind blows. This rotor assembly is connected to a generator by a shaft assembly and this generator is what generates the electricity when it spins.
There are a few drawbacks to this design and you need to know about these before making a decision. Firstly, the turbine blades are larger, which means it takes a stronger wind to get them to turn. Despite being able to generate electricity with a slower wind, a smaller turbine would not be able to produce as much energy as a larger turbine.
The next issue is that the horizontal models have to face the wind and the wind’s direction is always changing. The turbine will not generate electricity until the wind turns it into proper orientation.
The turbines that are vertical are designed differently than the horizontal kind. They don’t use blades to get to shaft to spin, and they sit on the shaft vertically. They use a modified cup or scoop mounted to the shaft to rotate.
This is an advantage since it is less obvious than the larger blades of a standard horizontal home wind turbine.As well, because the shaft that rotates is vertical, the heavy generator can be installed close to the ground.
Another major advantage is that since the shaft is vertical, this type of turbine can catch the breeze no matter what direction it is blowing and never needs to adjust its position. It will also rotate with a gentle breeze which will help you achieve better efficiency when compared to a horizontal turbine.
The drawback of a vertical turbine is that they don’t generate as much power as the horizontal turbines do. This is help slightly by the fact that these turbines can still generate energy in winds that are too weak to turn a horizontal turbine, but overall they still don’t gererate as much power.
You can see that both designs offer advantages and whichever one you choose, it can really help you lower your electricity bill by providing quite a bit of power. You will find the one that best suits your requirements if you spend some time comparing both models.
To learn more about home wind turbine sysytems please visit http://www.residentialrenewableenergy.com/home-wind-turbines.php






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