yeah its fucking annoying. i really need to investigate what is drawing all that power besides the hot tub and A/C.
I think you answered your own question.
How old is the house?
Old. '40’s i think. Electric is a shitty 50 amp service with 4 seperate small breaker boxes. :roflpicard:
Between the hot tub and A/C, neither of which are probably that energy efficient because they’re not that new, I think you can call off the investigation.
I used like 140 a month in electric last winter when I didn’t have the hot tub and the AC was off. A/C is a ~5 yo Rheem high-efficiency unit. There’s something more there.
price also went up like 400% …look at what kwh cost was last year to this year on the bill
I was right about 105 a month for months I wasn’t running A/C. Gas hot water heater, gas stove, electric oven, quite a few electronics, one 600 watt PS server running 24/7 and electric dryer. Mix of CFL and traditional bulbs throughout the house (traditional in places I want dimmers or have down facing bulbs).
I switched to a gas dryer and last month’s electric fell to 85.
Zoning laws generally aren’t what you would look at with an issue like this. It would be more of a private nuisance/public nuisance issue if the noise was a problem. All you would need to build it though is a basic building construction permit (maybe).
http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/pdfs/workshops/2008/sw_zoning_overview.pdf
Lots of good info there.
The cliffs notes:
Zoning approval for wind turbines may be difficult or impossible to get for urban and suburban locations
It all comes down to zoning. The amount of noise allowed comes down to what zone you’re in, and since it’s your home I can pretty much guarantee it’s residential which will have the lowest allowance for noise.
I wouldn’t even ask for “permission”.
As far as noise goes, all of my neighbors have dogs that make more noise than a windmill.
Good plan. Nothing better than spending 20k on a wind turbine only to have it taken down a week later when a neighbor complains it’s making noise 24/7/365.
^Yeah, if they don’t like free power.
Anything big enough for my neighbors to hear would have to be HUGE.
Have any of you bitching about noise had any personal experience with the newer residential windmills?
In person no, but I watched something on the discovery channel recently that was showing the personal ones, and not only were they not silent they created a pretty annoying whirring sound.
the noise factor is an issue and they have come a long way in reducing it. Depending on MPH it does not make any more noise than a large Flag pole on a windy day in my experience.
You can listen to quite a few here:
http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndsu/klemen/Audio_and_Video.htm
I’d burn my neighbors house down if I had to listen to that all the time.
i am trying to find the DB rating on a unit that I have had the chance to see operate in person in low and High wind situations but I can not find it.
Here is a quote from the manufactures site. From seeing it operate I think it is pretty close to accurate, but IMO it is quieter than they make it out to be.
Does Skystream create anY sound or interfere with TV reception?
Skystream is extremely quiet and makes a small amount of operating sound similar to the level of a small office. It generally cannot be heard over typical background noise such as the sound of the wind. Skystream does not interfere with TV reception.
Here is the site, if you want to look it over.
http://www.skystreamenergy.com/
you will run into a zoning issue with the height of the tower before anything else.
The other problem you will run into (this happens in all wind power situations) the people who do not want it are the ones that will not benefit from it. This happens no matter what the project is, residential or commercial the one who are always against it are the ones that are not getting paid or the ones who will not get the power.
in general people fucking suck.
I am not a fan of commercial wind but I really think residential wind is a great thing.
UB already had a reactor on south campus! You should just bring an extension cord!
Its a stupid idea to do in most climate zone, there are very few places that this will have a low time frame for the payback period, get a really high pole with a vertical windmill and call it a day
Bump for a new product my boss got to see in action.
Roof mounted residential wind turbine. $4500 installed before incentives.
http://www.earthtronics.com/honeywell.aspx
In some cases after incentives the darn thing comes out to be free…