Midpack
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
The economics are highly questionable, it will take a long time but it will pay off. Sort of like buying a Prius, it takes forever to breakeven on total ownership costs, but it could if the car lasts long enough (10-15 years). I feel an obligation to conserve, so I am buying a Prius for that reason, not because the economics work.
Interestingly, if a few of us have personal wind turbines it could save those owners some money. But if all of us have personal wind turbines it will actually cost us more due to the intermittant nature of wind power unless we're all willing to do without power (seems highly unlikely) when wind power isn't generating. That's the big fallacy with wind and solar, they can never be more than a % of our total power generation (most of what I have seen suggests about 10% max) - we must have substantial non-intermittant sources. clifp's thread on Sustainable Energy explains yet again why this is inescapable.
Interestingly, if a few of us have personal wind turbines it could save those owners some money. But if all of us have personal wind turbines it will actually cost us more due to the intermittant nature of wind power unless we're all willing to do without power (seems highly unlikely) when wind power isn't generating. That's the big fallacy with wind and solar, they can never be more than a % of our total power generation (most of what I have seen suggests about 10% max) - we must have substantial non-intermittant sources. clifp's thread on Sustainable Energy explains yet again why this is inescapable.