All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to get
even a tenth of a kilowatt.

"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Or Norfolk ...

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:
"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.


Or Norfolk ...

Mary

The two turbines at Swaffham were criticised recently for only producing
30% of the expected output.

"PJ" wrote in message ...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.


Or Norfolk ...

Mary

The two turbines at Swaffham were criticised recently for only producing
30% of the expected output.


That was the Scroby Sands windfarm, the media reported that they had only
produced 30% of expected output but that wasn't apparently true. Though in
this muddled bull**** world of eco energy production I doubt any single
quoted figure by any interested party is true.

This is the BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4786647.stm

Maybe the 30 % figure of the detractors comes from comparing the operators
"bigging it up" hyped maximum output (a la B&Q) compared with the actual 90%
of truly expected yearly output.

H

On Sun, 5 Nov 2006 00:39:55 -0000 someone who may be "HLAH"
wrote this:-

That was the Scroby Sands windfarm, the media reported that they had only
produced 30% of expected output but that wasn't apparently true. [snip]

This is the BBC report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4786647.stm

No apparently, according to the BBC report you quoted.

Maybe the 30 % figure of the detractors comes from comparing the operators
"bigging it up" hyped maximum output (a la B&Q) compared with the actual 90%
of truly expected yearly output.

I imagine that the detractors simply used one of their usual
soundbites, the one about wind farms only producing 30% of their
output. I accept that some of the detractors may only be ignorant
about what capacity factor is, but I doubt if they all are only
ignorant.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

"mrcheerful ." wrote in message
.uk...

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the sea,
and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's time I
invested in one of these things.

-- JJ

On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 01:33:11 GMT, "Jason"
wrote:



unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the sea,
and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's time I
invested in one of these things.


Nah, Get a proper one.

DG

"Derek ^" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 05 Nov 2006 01:33:11 GMT, "Jason"
wrote:



unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the sea,
and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's time I
invested in one of these things.


Nah, Get a proper one.

DG

What, in My Back Yard?

Oh, go on then :-)

"Jason" wrote in message
. uk...


unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the sea,
and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's time I
invested in one of these things.

In your situation I would.

Mary

-- JJ

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Jason" wrote in message
. uk...


unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the sea,
and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's time I
invested in one of these things.

In your situation I would.

We certainly have no shortage of wind here, and at rooftop level, there is a
clear view out to sea for a 200 degree sweep, which should help keep the
turbulence down.

I've been following the Windsave products for a couple of years, and so far
have found a lack of evidence to back up the claims they make. They may be
valid, they may not, but until I've seen evidence either way (other than the
usual polarised views of "look at the savings - go for it" and "what a load
of rubbish"), then it is a lot of money to gamble with. I need to understand
the basis for the claims, and relate those claims to my situation. Windsave
are publishing a little more information, but it is still lacking.

The original price for these generators was to be £1000 (including
installation). Now B&Q are the distributers, the price is suddenly £1500. So
although you can get £500 back through grants (for this year at least) it
just turns out to be a B&Q grant. That has kind of annoyed me, perhaps
unjustifiably, perhaps not.

Also, knowing how B&Q work, they would have clamped down on the
manufacturers so much that short-cuts will have been taken, and the quality
will suffer. I found that out after writing to MK about the reliability of
some of their dimmer switches (always burning out when an MK bulb blows).
After giving them the manufacturer code, they informed me that they were the
'special B&Q designed versions'. After comparing the same unit bought from
an independant retailer, it was obvious why: the B&Q version had less in it.
It lacked the surge suppressors of the independant version, and the heatsink
was smaller, and the Triac was just pop-rivetted on rather than screwed on.

So in short, I need to see more evidence, for my own personal benefit, and
even then, I would not touch something like this from B&Q.

-- JJ

"Jason" wrote in message
o.uk...

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
. net...

"Jason" wrote in message
. uk...


unless you live on a cliff top you are not going to have enough wind to
get even a tenth of a kilowatt.

Whay-hey - I live at the top of a cliff, with an end wall facing the
sea, and a good Siberian wind blowing most of the time. Perhaps it's
time I invested in one of these things.

In your situation I would.

We certainly have no shortage of wind here, and at rooftop level, there is
a clear view out to sea for a 200 degree sweep, which should help keep the
turbulence down.

I've been following the Windsave products for a couple of years, and so
far have found a lack of evidence to back up the claims they make. They
may be valid, they may not, but until I've seen evidence either way (other
than the usual polarised views of "look at the savings - go for it" and
"what a load of rubbish"), then it is a lot of money to gamble with. I
need to understand the basis for the claims, and relate those claims to my
situation. Windsave are publishing a little more information, but it is
still lacking.

The original price for these generators was to be £1000 (including
installation). Now B&Q are the distributers, the price is suddenly £1500.
So although you can get £500 back through grants (for this year at least)
it just turns out to be a B&Q grant. That has kind of annoyed me, perhaps
unjustifiably, perhaps not.

Also, knowing how B&Q work, they would have clamped down on the
manufacturers so much that short-cuts will have been taken, and the
quality will suffer. I found that out after writing to MK about the
reliability of some of their dimmer switches (always burning out when an
MK bulb blows). After giving them the manufacturer code, they informed me
that they were the 'special B&Q designed versions'. After comparing the
same unit bought from an independant retailer, it was obvious why: the B&Q
version had less in it. It lacked the surge suppressors of the independant
version, and the heatsink was smaller, and the Triac was just pop-rivetted
on rather than screwed on.

So in short, I need to see more evidence, for my own personal benefit, and
even then, I would not touch something like this from B&Q.

I wouldn't buy one from B&Q, I'm sorry if I gave that impression.

Mary

-- JJ

The message
from Zoinks contains these words:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

You'd have to be amazingly gullible to expect item 2 to happen. Unless
you live on a beach.

--
Skipweasel
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.


Great, one of the first of many ill-conceived green band wagon commercial
money spinners, preying on those with less than adequate IQs. Net effect:
further degradation of the aesthetics of our island and bugger all
contribution to our carbon foot print. So long as it makes a buck and
alleviates the guilt of your average 4x4 driver then that's okay then...

--
Mike W

visionset wrote:

Great, one of the first of many ill-conceived green band wagon commercial
money spinners, preying on those with less than adequate IQs. Net effect:
further degradation of the aesthetics of our island and bugger all
contribution to our carbon foot print. So long as it makes a buck and
alleviates the guilt of your average 4x4 driver then that's okay then...

Better that the more poluting Prius owners install them, they're more
likely to be the target anyway...
http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/

On 2006-11-04 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks said:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

Yes. Take a look through the archives for this group and you will
discover that this subject was done to death about 2 weeks ago, with
the conclusion that you would be better off spending the £1500 on
Lottery tickets.

Alternatively you can send it to me via Paypal where I promise that it
will be put to better use than B&Q could make of it. Your return on
investment would be the same in both cases.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On 2006-11-04 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks said:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

Yes. Take a look through the archives for this group and you will
discover that this subject was done to death about 2 weeks ago, with the
conclusion that you would be better off spending the £1500 on Lottery
tickets.

Alternatively you can send it to me via Paypal where I promise that it
will be put to better use than B&Q could make of it. Your return on
investment would be the same in both cases.


Does he need to send you regular cheques for maintenance costs too?

On 2006-11-04 15:41:22 +0000, "dennis@home"
said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message ...
On 2006-11-04 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks said:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

Yes. Take a look through the archives for this group and you will
discover that this subject was done to death about 2 weeks ago, with
the conclusion that you would be better off spending the £1500 on
Lottery tickets.

Alternatively you can send it to me via Paypal where I promise that it
will be put to better use than B&Q could make of it. Your return on
investment would be the same in both cases.


Does he need to send you regular cheques for maintenance costs too?

Oh no. BACS would be fine. I hate dealing with paper cheques -
waste of time.

Maintenance business on this kind of product would be a nice earner
because there's no way to tell if it's working or not.

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks
wrote:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

This topic has been done to death earlier.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

It will in winds that we get for about 5 days a year. It will generate
about enough to make a torch bulb occasionally glow in usual
circumstances. Work out what 12 meters a second is. And it does not
decrease in a linear manner so 6 meters a second is not 0.5Kw, but
just a few watts.


2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill

This claim is patently fraudulent.

3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

Very doubtful and will probably cost £200 to get, if they allow it.

4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

The thing has a stated life of about 10 years. It will generate about
£60 a year if it's unusually windy.

Any thoughts?

Z.

As above

"EricP" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks
wrote:

The thing has a stated life of about 10 years. It will generate about
£60 a year if it's unusually windy.


The bumpf also says (from memory) and not my emphasis...

* STATED LIFE IS NOT GUARANTEED LIFE.

draw your own conclusions about the effect on return.

Jim A

"Zoinks" wrote in message
...
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

6) How to cope with neighbours complaining about the noise?
Don

In message , Donwill
wrote

6) How to cope with neighbours complaining about the noise?

I wonder how terrestrial digital TV will cope with the rotating blades
on the same chimney as the TV aerial - let alone interference from
badly maintained (or shoddily made) electrical generators.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

"Alan" wrote:
I wonder how terrestrial digital TV will cope with the rotating blades on
the same chimney as the TV aerial - let alone interference from badly
maintained (or shoddily made) electrical generators.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

My understanding is that the Windsave has to be mounted on the gable end of
a property.

In message , Codswallop wrote
"Alan" wrote:
I wonder how terrestrial digital TV will cope with the rotating blades on
the same chimney as the TV aerial - let alone interference from badly
maintained (or shoddily made) electrical generators.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

My understanding is that the Windsave has to be mounted on the gable end of
a property.


So it only buggers up your neighbours TV

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:21:22 UTC, Zoinks
wrote:

Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

You're quite a few days behind us...

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

Economy with the truth, unless you live on an exposed hill/island it
will be a fraction of that.

2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill

Do the arithmetic.

3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

But it might shake the house a bit.

4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.

I'd like to see that in writing.

5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

I think it has a projected life of 10 years.
--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:21:22 UTC, Zoinks
wrote:

Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

You're quite a few days behind us...

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

Economy with the truth, unless you live on an exposed hill/island it
will be a fraction of that.

No - UP TO ...


3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

It's not here.

But it might shake the house a bit.

You don't have to have it on the house.

4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.

I'd like to see that in writing.

I think that's something to do with Blue Skies grants. I think they're being
discontinued ... but are very restrictive.

5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

I think it has a projected life of 10 years.

I suspect there's a bit in small print about terms and conditions applying
....

What, me? Sceptical?

Yes.

Mary

On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 17:50:29 UTC, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:21:22 UTC, Zoinks
wrote:

Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

You're quite a few days behind us...

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

Economy with the truth, unless you live on an exposed hill/island it
will be a fraction of that.

No - UP TO ...

That's why I used the word ECONOMY - it's not the whole truth...it's
misleading, whatever the greenies of this world might say...

3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

It's not here.

But it might shake the house a bit.

You don't have to have it on the house.

Most of the target customer base have no other option, if they want it
to turn at all. Of course, many of the greenies will want it just to
show they have one, and turning is not essential.

4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.

I'd like to see that in writing.

I think that's something to do with Blue Skies grants. I think they're being
discontinued ... but are very restrictive.

Exactly - misleading again.

5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

I think it has a projected life of 10 years.

I suspect there's a bit in small print about terms and conditions applying

Apparently it says somewhere that 10 years is not guaranteed...

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

On 2006-11-04 18:06:47 +0000, "Bob Eager" said:

On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 17:50:29 UTC, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 14:21:22 UTC, Zoinks
wrote:

Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

You're quite a few days behind us...

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

Economy with the truth, unless you live on an exposed hill/island it
will be a fraction of that.

No - UP TO ...

That's why I used the word ECONOMY - it's not the whole truth...it's
misleading, whatever the greenies of this world might say...

Then it is economy. Economy with the truth....



3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

It's not here.

But it might shake the house a bit.

You don't have to have it on the house.

Most of the target customer base have no other option, if they want it
to turn at all. Of course, many of the greenies will want it just to
show they have one, and turning is not essential.

I'm sure that there is a knob in the controller which randomly applies
some electricity to the windmill to turn it - scaled from dark to
bright green.




4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.

I'd like to see that in writing.

I think that's something to do with Blue Skies grants. I think they're
being discontinued ... but are very restrictive.

Exactly - misleading again.

Blue Skies...... very appropriate name.


5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

I think it has a projected life of 10 years.

I suspect there's a bit in small print about terms and conditions applying

Apparently it says somewhere that 10 years is not guaranteed...

Details, details... This is all about greeny feel good, don't confuse
it with facts.

On Sat, 4 Nov 2006 18:18:36 +0000, Andy Hall wrote:

I'm sure that there is a knob in the controller which randomly applies
some electricity to the windmill to turn it - scaled from dark to
bright green.

AH, so that's how they get the 1kw and 30% saving on your power bill. All
the other turbines up the street blow air at yours!

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

"Bob Eager" wrote in message
...


But it might shake the house a bit.

You don't have to have it on the house.

Most of the target customer base have no other option, if they want it
to turn at all. Of course, many of the greenies will want it just to
show they have one, and turning is not essential.

You seemed to assume that it WOULD be on the house. We souldn't have one on
the house, we have a very sturdy (home built) garage which would accommodate
one. If there were enough wind here, which there isn't, we've been told by a
supplier.



5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

I think it has a projected life of 10 years.

I suspect there's a bit in small print about terms and conditions
applying

Apparently it says somewhere that 10 years is not guaranteed...

Why am I not surprised?

I wouldn't believe anythinig from that source.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote

.. We souldn't have one on
the house, we have a very sturdy (home built) garage which would
accommodate one. If there were enough wind here, which there isn't, we've
been told by a supplier.


You should try B&Q, I'm sure they could find a system that they will tell
you would do just fine for you ;-) As I'm sure they will for most of their
potential suckers - sorry I meant to say customers.

H

"Mary Fisher" wrote:
You seemed to assume that it WOULD be on the house. We souldn't have one
on the house, we have a very sturdy (home built) garage which would
accommodate one. If there were enough wind here, which there isn't, we've
been told by a supplier.

It would need to be a two storey garage as the Windsave comes with a 6ft
pole and the blades have to be at least 30ft from ground level. The Windsave
is only suitable for two-storey properties.

Zoinks wrote:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have
started doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

Erm I think we did this a couple of weeks back!

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW

Indeed it might - but fat chance of it doing so in the vast majority of
urban environments.

2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill

Translated it will save less than 31% - no risk in that statement then.

3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.

Not if you stick it on top of a 30m tall tower, which is probably what
would be required to get anywhere near to the claims in 1)

4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.

Aha! and there we have the whole reason for its existance!

5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Yeah, right.

Any thoughts?


--
Cheers,

John.

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"Zoinks" wrote:
All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

As far as I can tell, you don't save anything. The estimated time taken to
recoup the installation costs is between 8 and 11 years. But the lifespan of
these windmills is about ten years, less in coastal areas due to salt
corrosion. So it would just about have paid for itself and then need to be
replaced, effectively cancelling out any savings. Only certain properties
are suitable. The B & Q Windsave is mounted on a 6ft pole which needs to be
attached to the gable end of the property so that the blades are at least
30ft high. The blades also need to be out of the wind shadow of any tall
buildings. The Windsave stars to generate electricity at 9mph, but the
average wind speed across the UK is 12.5mph at 33ft above the ground, enough
to power two 40watt bulbs. So apart from on very windy days the amount of
electricity generated will be limited, and none at all when the wind speed
falls below 9mph.When the wind speed is 28mph the Windsave will generate 1
kilowatt of power, enough to run a TV, DVD player, computer, fridge freezer
and several lights. B & Q expects to sell between 20,000 and 50,000 a year
and believes they will be a common feature of the skyline within 5 years. It
reminds me of Sir Clive Sinclair's C5. Planning permission is needed at the
moment, which costs at least £200.

"Codswallop" wrote in message
...

.. Planning permission is needed at the
moment, which costs at least £200.

?

Planning permission isn't needed here (I asked the planners) and if it were
it wouldn't cost.

Mary

"Mary Fisher" wrote:
Planning permission isn't needed here (I asked the planners) and if it
were it wouldn't cost.

It is needed here and our council does **** all for free except to supply
mouse and rat poison to domestic properties only, which actually isn't free
as it is covered by the community charge.

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks
wrote:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

The thing uses 6W in standby mode. I can't wait for the day a weather
forecaster announces that there will be no appreciable wind over most
of the UK for the next week, so you might as well unplug all your wind
turbines and save us all a few MWh of power.



--
Regards, Paul Herber, Sandrila Ltd. http://www.pherber.com/
Electronics for Visio http://www.electronics.sandrila.co.uk/

On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks
wrote:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

This has been covered extensively before with some useful facts and
figers see
http://tinyurl.com/y9locd
best to start from about post 60
but to sum up
the advertising blurb from Windsave is wildly optimistic and possibly
even deceitful.
you would need to average over 6ms windspeed for most of the year for
this to be even remotely financially worthwhile.

Only extremely exposed coastal or hill top sites would be able to
achieve this, fine if like me you live in a ex lighthouse-radar
station overlooking the north sea

, but on the side of a urban house below ridge height as in the
Windsave picture it would never even repay its purchase price over 12
years.

Dan

DJT wrote:
On Sat, 04 Nov 2006 14:21:22 +0000, Zoinks
wrote:

All,
Wandering around the local shed today I notice that they have started
doing wind turbines for £1500 inc. installation and VAT.

The bumf says the following:

1) The turbine generates (up to) 1kW
2) It will save me (up to) 30% of my electricity bill
3) Planning permission is (probably) not needed - it equates it with a
satellite dish.
4) The UK Government will (probably) stump up 30% of the cost.
5) It will pay for itself in (around) 7-12 years.

Any thoughts?

Z.

This has been covered extensively before with some useful facts and
figers see
http://tinyurl.com/y9locd
best to start from about post 60
but to sum up
the advertising blurb from Windsave is wildly optimistic and possibly
even deceitful.
you would need to average over 6ms windspeed for most of the year for
this to be even remotely financially worthwhile.

Only extremely exposed coastal or hill top sites would be able to
achieve this, fine if like me you live in a ex lighthouse-radar
station overlooking the north sea

, but on the side of a urban house below ridge height as in the
Windsave picture it would never even repay its purchase price over 12
years.

Dan


Just rang them about the cost of pole and brackets - they are included
in the cost, the leaflet says the weight excludes it. Must read more
carefully!

However they did tell me that BS24 in Somerset has an average speed of
3.8m/s and it needs 4.5m/s, so no use here. I asked why B&W sell it
round here and they suggested I ask them!

wrote in message
oups.com...

....

However they did tell me that BS24 in Somerset has an average speed of
3.8m/s and it needs 4.5m/s, so no use here. I asked why B&W sell it
round here and they suggested I ask them!

Well, no other company would know. Ask B&Q and tell us what they say :-)

Mary