Facts

The word is out! Domestic wind power is becoming cheaper and easier to set up every day. The main disadvantage of windmills for homes has always been the cost, but now that this wind turbine cost is now at an all-time low, putting together your own DIY wind turbine is becoming too appealing to ignore.

Along with domestic solar panels, homemade wind power is the preferable choice for many Americans because of the low maintenance and clean energy production. Once you’ve got your unit set up, it virtually runs on autopilot, making little or no noise and not producing any harmful by-products.

Cost

Let me say first off that the days of expensive contractors coming into your home and trying to sell you a unit for tens of thousands of dollars are long gone!

Yes, they still exist and do still prey on the uninformed consumers, however you should be aware that you can get your own DIY wind turbine for a mere few hundred bucks. Now, I’m not talking about some piece of crap budget unit either.

The same parts that the big companies are selling are now being manufactured and sold direct to the public. It’s amazing to see how much these parts are being sold for now that there is an open and competitive market. It just goes to show how much people were being ripped off before.

You’ve basically got two options; you can either buy a kitset unit. These types of units sell for about $1000 all up (see recommendations on this page, right). Or, what we recommend is that you simply buy the parts and put it together yourself. If done this way you can get a complete unit set up for under $200 ($300 – $400 if you buy all new parts).

You can buy new and used parts through Amazon but you’ll need a good guide to tell you how to put it all together and install it. There’s a few things you need to know about placement, state regulations and technical aspects which a good guide will tell you.

The best guides are listed in our monthly Top 10 list (above right), so you’d be best advised to start there first as most of them also tell you where you can source cheaper parts.

For Sale

If you’re looking for a complete unit, but don’t want to do the DIY thing then kitset wind generators for home use are the best way to go because they come with a warranty and are shipped door-to-door.

The best brands in terms of quality for price are Windmax, Windtura and Sunforce.

You can pick up a brand new unit for under a grand. A bit of basic assembly and installation is necessary but they usually come with just enough instructions for you to get it done.

These units are sold as either a free standing windmill (usually more expensive) or as a roof mounted unit. Many homeowners are installing rooftop units because their property doesn’t have enough space for a tower unit, or sometimes they just want it to be a little  more inconspicuous.