The other day, a friend told me about something called a WindSpire wind turbine for home installation. The turbine generates about 1 kilowatt hour of energy a day - that is about 1/3 to 1/4 of the electricity we use daily. Also, it includes an inverter that will allow us to reverse the flow back to ComEd when it is generating energy we aren't using (like when we are not at home).

It's basically a cylindar that's 3 feet tall, 2 feet wide, and 30 feet tall. Now, that may sound very tall, but on our lot, I think it could work. The company we contacted is called Mariah Power in Nevada. They will be starting to install these systems this fall.


(This is NOT our property! This is from the company's website.)

Our property slopes to the back, so the garage is in the basement. Also, the house is tall - not large, but tall. Two stories with an attic that you can stand up in. We also have several old, tall trees on the parcel, so I think we could get away with a tall pole-like thing. The units are quiet - about 25 decibels at 5 feet away.

The pay-back on energy savings is 20 years (they cost about $4,000 and another $1,000 to install). I'm going to research the tax credits that go along with it. Also, I'll look into the City codes to make sure we can get a permit.