I think it all depends on where you live. Here in NYC, I pay about 32 cents per KWH for both generation and delivery. Delivery alone from Con Edison, NYC's local power company, is about 8-9cents per KWH in my last few bills. For someone here, it would be a much more cost effective option. Of course I could not put one of those on top of my apartment building, but, many of my friends and family who live in the area, but outside the city limits, could. They pay almost as much for their electricity as I do, and the NY metropolitan area has good wind potential.
So, my point is that I think wind makes "cents" where it makes sense. That case being here where electricity is not cheap. For the record, I pay roughly $80 - 130 a month, depending on the season, for my electricity.
Fair enough. I used $.11, which was the average as of April 2008.
Even so--32 cents is almost an eight-year return, assuming no equipment degradation. While that's better, I'd also question if NYC would allow a three-story wind turbine to be installed in your yard, assuming you're fortunate enough to even have a yard. For an area as dense as NYC, I'd think nuclear power would be the best option.
It's a step in the right direction but still very much a niche technology, like solar power. It has reach some level of practicality (cost, size, efficiency) before it'll be adopted by the masses.
That would be a rather pointless exercise with all the unknowns involved. Maybe alternative energy takes off and we end up paying a nickel...or it goes the way of the oil companies and we're paying a buck. Will the dollar be worth more or less?
Who knows? I can't take into account variables that have no reasonable predictable values.
Nice math, Shark. A little too much mango in your salsa this weekend?
$220/yr in savings implies an $73.33 monthly electric bill on which you'd save 25%. Not sure you're the intended target of this behemoth?
Also, I'm guessing if that's all you use, then you'll be supplying BACK to the grid when it's working, meaning you'll likely profit or have zero cost were you nutty enough to shell out $5k to eliminate a $73 monthly expense. In this case, you would recover your cost in just under 6 years. If you buy the 1-year extended blade tip-to-blade tip warranty, you'll be covered for the full recovery period.
Assuming a monthly bill of $300 and a $75 monthly savings in an average house, you're talking about 66 months recovery.
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$5,000 to save $220/year in electric bills?
That's a 22-year return on investment. I'm all for the green thing, but this just isn't practical in any sense of the word.
I think it all depends on where you live. Here in NYC, I pay about 32 cents per KWH for both generation and delivery. Delivery alone from Con Edison, NYC's local power company, is about 8-9cents per KWH in my last few bills. For someone here, it would be a much more cost effective option. Of course I could not put one of those on top of my apartment building, but, many of my friends and family who live in the area, but outside the city limits, could. They pay almost as much for their electricity as I do, and the NY metropolitan area has good wind potential.
So, my point is that I think wind makes "cents" where it makes sense. That case being here where electricity is not cheap. For the record, I pay roughly $80 - 130 a month, depending on the season, for my electricity.
Fair enough. I used $.11, which was the average as of April 2008.
Even so--32 cents is almost an eight-year return, assuming no equipment degradation. While that's better, I'd also question if NYC would allow a three-story wind turbine to be installed in your yard, assuming you're fortunate enough to even have a yard. For an area as dense as NYC, I'd think nuclear power would be the best option.
It's a step in the right direction but still very much a niche technology, like solar power. It has reach some level of practicality (cost, size, efficiency) before it'll be adopted by the masses.
It would actually be closer to 23 years and in fact you also haven't taken into account the time value of money.
That would be a rather pointless exercise with all the unknowns involved. Maybe alternative energy takes off and we end up paying a nickel...or it goes the way of the oil companies and we're paying a buck. Will the dollar be worth more or less?
Who knows? I can't take into account variables that have no reasonable predictable values.
Nice math, Shark. A little too much mango in your salsa this weekend?
$220/yr in savings implies an $73.33 monthly electric bill on which you'd save 25%. Not sure you're the intended target of this behemoth?
Also, I'm guessing if that's all you use, then you'll be supplying BACK to the grid when it's working, meaning you'll likely profit or have zero cost were you nutty enough to shell out $5k to eliminate a $73 monthly expense. In this case, you would recover your cost in just under 6 years. If you buy the 1-year extended blade tip-to-blade tip warranty, you'll be covered for the full recovery period.
Assuming a monthly bill of $300 and a $75 monthly savings in an average house, you're talking about 66 months recovery.