by Francis Jock

Created on: July 22, 2008   Last Updated: August 02, 2008

Winter's surely going to arrive soon, and most of us are worried about the cost of heating our homes over the coming months. No matter how you heat your home, it's going to cost more this year and possibly for years to come. However, if you are a little bit handy, you may be able to assemble a wind generator system that just might help to save you money and lower the cost of heating your home. Here's what I'm doing to reduce the cost of heating my home before the iceman cometh.

I've decided that I should build my own wind turbine and ride the wind in my backyard. I've researched it and I have the expertise and some of the parts it's going to take. The most important part, naturally, is a generator. Just so happens that I've been storing an old electric lawn mower motor for nearly thirty years. I hooked a voltmeter to the motor, gave it a spin, and Voila! 12VDC!

Next step is to build the propeller blades, the mount, the inverter, the battery bank and the electrical controller. I'm going to pay a visit to the local junk yards for most of this stuff. The most difficult thing I can think of is getting the assembly elevated higher that the peak of my house. But, I sure that will be accomplished with a little help, of course. Once it's up, it's play time!

What do I mean by that? Well, here's an idea. The system, which includes the wind generator, the controller, the battery bank and the inverter, plus a few safety devices, can power a number of low frequency of use devices and low power devices. There are plenty of them in most households. For example, there are the so-called "vampire" devices that constantly consume small amounts of electricity. These small amounts add up over time. Some vampires in my house are the doorbell and the electric garage door openers. One big vampire is the dehumidifier. Other low frequency of use energy suckers includes the sump pumps, the water softener, the motion sensing lighting, and the water pump.

Naturally, I'll calculate the electrical load of each of these and make sure that my system can handle the demand. There are probably many more vampires that I haven't thought of. Take an inventory of all things electrical in your home and see how many energy vampires you discover. And don't forget to include those low voltage transformers powering all your electronic devices.

I have one thought that I could really use some help on, though. In the basement I have a stripped-down 220V water heater. The outer case and insulation have been removed,

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