Thursday, October 08, 2009
Got Wind? We Do
We can't remember exactly when it was that we decided to purchase a wind turbine. It wasn't until we received payment from insurance for the basement fiasco a year ago that a windmill became more of a reality for us. Our neighbor had just become a dealer of the Skystream 3.7 for residential and small businesses and that made it easier too.
By next year our electric company will be removing all caps and electricity is said to increase by 40%, maybe less, maybe more...they aren't sure yet. That's nothing new. We have an all-electric home so what we are facing is very scary. Who wants to put out more money for something that is already beyond belief?
Here's a little background on the Skystream 3.7:
It provides 40-90% of energy needs for a home or small business. Any extra energy is automatically fed into the electric meter causing it to spin backward, and ours has done this on very windy days. The towers start at 33 ft. and it depends on how high you need it to be in order to catch the wind. The turbine produces usable energy with as little as 8 mph winds and can withstand speeds up to 140 mph. It is supposed to pay for itself within 7 years, which is something we weren't too concerned about because we wanted the here and now of it and weren't concerned with the up-front outlay. There is a federal credit of 30% but it can only be gotten by filing for it (either $4000 or $4500 is the limit) and you only get back the amount of tax you owe. It's not a refund, just a credit toward income taxes owed. Bummer, I know...I thought it was a refund myself. Pennsylvania is working on another 15% credit which was supposed to be finalized by June or July 1st and I was told it has just been passed. Heck, they haven't even settled on their budget which was due July 1st. One year it was Christmas before they finalized the state budget, so I can't expect them to move quickly on a tax credit.
Once we got our permit from the township and our neighbor ordered the necessary pieces, we sat back and anxiously awaited its arrival. An electrician came out and checked to see if we were equipped to handle the installation and we were OK. We were given an install date of May 27th unless it rained that day. We didn't have rain but it was a very cloudy and dismal day. Two workers took about 4 hours from start to finish and by noon we were in business. My excitement was building. It took until the following afternoon to see it in action simply because there wasn't enough wind until then. Let me tell you...that was one beautiful sight watching those blades turn with the wind. The turbine itself also turns, not just the blades.
Another inspection by the electrician the following day and everything was complete.
Here is where we decided was the best place for it, right where that stake is:+of+windmill1.jpg)
They brought the equipment in and already my excitement could not be contained:
The hole was dug for the base along with the trench where the wires in conduit were laid. The base was then dropped into the hole, staked, and stabilized so cement could be poured into the hole. The concrete had to cure at least 4 weeks.
Let me tell you, those 4 weeks were pure agony. It was like a little kid waiting for Christmas.
A month later and our baby arrived:
It doesn't look like much from this angle, but once they started hoisting it upright it was an amazing sight.
Almost there:
Voila! All done.
I am guessing that it will take a full year before we can really compare and see changes in our bills. We are and always have been on a budget amount, meaning we pay the same thing every month no matter how much electricity we use. When we use more than what we paid for, the overage is added onto our bills at the end of the year spread out over a few months.
By April and May of this year we were back to our normal budget amount. Remember, the turbine started spinning May 28th. Our bills for June and July dropped by $20 and by August it dropped another $14. We just received our bill for September and it is the same as last month, which we knew a month ago as projected by the electric company. Our budget amount for next month, however, will also stay the same regardless of the fact that we are ahead and not behind. That's a good thing.
At this time last year before we had the turbine our budget amount was behind $75.00, another year it was behind $115. This year for the same time period it was only behind $6.60 and as of now we are ahead by $56.35. So we won't be playing catch up this year. That amount is actually a credit in our account. That's such a good feeling. We are actually using more electricity and paying less. And that's all we could hope for.
posted by Cheyenne at 12:05 AM comment(s) made:
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