The other day I was looking out my window and I saw something that wasn't there the day before: two of my neighbors had installed their own wind turbines, one on a rood, and one in the yard. I had thought about using wind energy myself before that, but that really got me thinking.
I decided to do a little research on the subject, here's a little of what I found out:
I don't pretend to fully understand how it all works, but basically a wind turbine will convert the energy from the wind into electricity. That electricity can be used immediately or stored for later use in inexpensive batteries.
To build a small household wind turbine should only take a day or so and will cost a few hundred dollars. Most of the supplies can be bought right at my hardware store or online. There are manuals available that can walk me through the whole process with step by step directions.
One turbine won't generate enough electricity to completely run my home but it will generate enough to help me save quite a bit on my utility bill. Many people are saving around 80% off their electric costs.
If you have a lot of land you could build several, larger turbines and actually generate more electricity than you would need and then sell that electricity back to the utility companies. They would actually pay you for electricity!
Combining a wind turbine and some solar panels would really boost the amount of electricity you can generate all on your own.
The technology for storing and converting electricity is constantly improving and it won't be long until we can get even more electricity from our one wind turbine.
This is a little of what I've learned about using wind energy. I hope it helps you decide whether or not using the wind to save on your utility bill is the right option for you.