We were lucky enough to find our Green Builder Media booth at IBS parked next to the demo model of this new wind turbine from Honeywell. Like the crowd of people standing around gawking at the thing, we had to find out more. And we like what we’re hearing. First of all, this unit is designed for small-scale, residential use, mounted on a roof or pole—not a tower. That means it takes into account the problems of noise-sensitive neighbors, height ordinances, and partially obstructed wind patterns. In other words, it’s quiet (less than 35 decibels), and begins to produce power at very low wind speeds. It’s not a whole-house power solution, at least not for the typical energy wasting home, which uses 11,000 kWh/year. In a typical application, in an area of Class 3 winds, it will provide about 18% of annual power needs. It comes with a five-year warranty and has an expected lifespan of 20 years.
www.windtronics.com