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Domestic wind turbines

Alan_W · 2021-11-14T19:15:07Z

I'm looking for some information on the pros & cons and costs for small scale (domestic scale) wind turbines, particularly wrt other forms of renewable electricity such as PV. I live in a rural area within South Devon, and have two fields adjacent to the house that could be suitable for PV cells and/or a small wind turbine. There's a lot of info available about PV, the costs and the benefits are well established. The main downside is obviously the lack of winter sun, so generation is lowest at precisely the time of year when most electricity of probably consumed. On the face of it, a small wind turbine would provide a more even production profile over the year, but there's a dearth of information on them online (I haven't been able to find much, at any rate).

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Mars

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12/03/2022 8:42 pm

Came across two small turbines. Will contact the respective manufacturers for more details and what additional kit is required. Not cheap though:

https://www.truenorthsailing.co.uk/wind/1710-6475-silent-wind-400-pro-wind-generator.html#

https://futurenergy.co.uk/feshop/airforce-1-wind-turbines/

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Ken Bone

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13/03/2022 6:34 pm

Found out CAT in Wales does a domestic wind turbine day training. I'll let you know if it's interesting in a couple of weeks.

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Mars

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13/03/2022 9:18 pm

@ken, CAT, as in Caterpillar?

Look forward to hearing more.

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Jeff

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14/03/2022 6:20 am

@editor

https://cat.org.uk/events/build-a-small-wind-turbine/

https://cat.org.uk/events/renewables-for-households-wind-turbines/

They do a variety of courses on different subjects.

Interesting place to visit and chat to people generally

This post was modified 4 years ago 2 times by Jeff

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Mars

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14/03/2022 8:11 am

@jeff, sounds amazing. It says all materials provided. Does that mean you’ll walk out of there with a turbine? That would be tremendous value. 😀

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Jeff

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14/03/2022 8:25 am

Posted by: @editor

@jeff, sounds amazing. It says all materials provided. Does that mean you’ll walk out of there with a turbine? That would be tremendous value. 😀

It is a two day residential group course where you get to make and build a turbine on site as a group including food and accommodation.

Everyone on the course doesn't walk out with a turbine unless i missed something.

Still good value to learn about these things.

Am sure you would pickup really practical real world info on domestic solutions in general.

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Mars

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14/03/2022 8:34 am

@jeff, I was joking about walking out with a turbine. 😀

It does genuinely sound like a very interesting course. Hands on training like that is amazing.

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Ken Bone

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14/03/2022 8:43 am

Hadn't even seen that one! I found the one day course:-

https://cat.org.uk/events/renewables-for-households-wind-turbines/

Figured it'll be a good start to see what the training is like there.

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batalto

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16/04/2022 1:59 pm

Just seen a group in Bristol has privately financed a £4m turbine.

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Mars

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24/02/2026 10:10 pm

I wanted to kick-start this topic again.

A quick sweep online (somewhat remarkably) suggests there are still virtually no credible small-scale domestic wind turbines on the market beyond Tesup.

Has anyone come across anything genuinely interesting or technically robust in the sub-5 kW domestic space?

@transparent, this is firmly your territory and you’re undoubtedly the genius in this domain. If ever there was a gap in the market for a properly engineered product, this feels like it. Perhaps we should be raising capital and making one!

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JamesPa

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24/02/2026 10:17 pm

Posted by: @editor

↑

I wanted to kick-start this topic again.

A quick sweep online (somewhat remarkably) suggests there are still virtually no credible small-scale domestic wind turbines on the market beyond Tesup.

Has anyone come across anything genuinely interesting or technically robust in the sub-5 kW domestic space?

@transparent, this is firmly your territory and you’re undoubtedly the genius in this domain. If ever there was a gap in the market for a properly engineered product, this feels like it. Perhaps we should be raising capital and making one!

For a couple of years b&q sold one, but then stopped I presume because no demand. They are quite popular for narrowboats see eg https://www.ecopowershop.com/collections/marine-boat-wind-turbines

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Old_Scientist

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25/02/2026 12:32 am

Posted by: @editor

↑

I wanted to kick-start this topic again.

A quick sweep online (somewhat remarkably) suggests there are still virtually no credible small-scale domestic wind turbines on the market beyond Tesup.

Has anyone come across anything genuinely interesting or technically robust in the sub-5 kW domestic space?

@transparent, this is firmly your territory and you’re undoubtedly the genius in this domain. If ever there was a gap in the market for a properly engineered product, this feels like it. Perhaps we should be raising capital and making one!

My limited understanding is that small scale domestic wind is simply not practical. The size of the turbine (blades) and mounting height above roof/tree lines required to make it viable means that unless you have a farm or small field, wind is probably not the answer.

For example, take a look at SD Wind's 3kW and 6kW turbines:

https://www.windandsun.co.uk/pages/sd-wind-energy-turbines

The 3kW unit has a 3.9m diameter, and at a wind speed of 12m/s (25mph) it is rated to generate 2.5kW. Google AI tells me I'd need to mount it at 30m or higher (I had initially estimated 10m above roof/treelines), particularly in areas with buildings or trees, to achieve wind speeds of 12m/s. Simply not practical for most domestic properties?

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