Can these be used domestically

[Andrew Ferguson]

I think I may be going mad, but I'm positive I've read or seen somewhere that you can get smaller wind turbines for domestic use?  Am I right or have I just gone barking.
I'm guessing planning permission would be required to instal this on my property somewhere, but would it actually generate enough power to be worth the outlay?

[Robyn Wahl]

You are not barking Andrew, you can indeed get small wind turbines for domestic use. 

We have a small domestic one on our property, wouldn't be without it.  I'm a big fan of renewable energy and think in fact there should be more wind turbines

[simon ferris]

Erm! What!

Why would you want one of these eyesores on your own property!
What a way to reduce the value of your home!

[GemmaRowlands]

You can - and on the contrary, I'm not sure whether they would decrease the value of your home or not, because of the additional income that they could bring. Any house that is moving towards being self sufficient is going to be worth more, surely, because of the fact that they're not going to cost as much for the upkeep. If you think about it, buying a house with a domestic wind turbine would save you money in energy costs, and this could mean that you would be able to pay a little more for the house in the first place.

[Mark Haslam]

[quote author=GemmaRowlands link=topic=16.msg77#msg77 date=1412067348]
You can - and on the contrary, I'm not sure whether they would decrease the value of your home or not, because of the additional income that they could bring. Any house that is moving towards being self sufficient is going to be worth more, surely, because of the fact that they're not going to cost as much for the upkeep. If you think about it, buying a house with a domestic wind turbine would save you money in energy costs, and this could mean that you would be able to pay a little more for the house in the first place.
[/quote]

It's interesting that you think it could raise the value of a property. I mean, okay, so you may find some people who wouldn't mind it being there, but I imagine it would be quite a niche market. Whereas if you dropped the price to accommodate for it, your home would be likely to sell much more quickly. If you're not really interested in selling your home though, and you know you're planning to stay in it for a long time, you may not be too bothered about the value of it.

[Luke Bainbridge]

You're not going mad, it's true. We have insulation, we have solar panels, and yes, we can too have domestic turbines in our homes. I'm not entirely sure of just how much money you'd be able to save by putting them in, as I've never been all that concerned with the statistics. But I do think it would be worth looking into.

[misternick]

Anybody out there?
Having a full (4kw) solar array, what are the possibilities for hooking up a wind turbine?
The inverter is under used from september to May, and these are the windiest months. If we are serious about reducing emissions arrangements should be made available to invest in such alternatives. Possession of the inverter and hook up to the grid changes the economics favourably