The power of the power company (solar power, LED, refrigerator, wind turbines)

[saltine]

what would be wrong with converting a home to 12volt? and having affordable mini wind turbines on each home? Perhaps those solar yard lights could be utilized indoors with a remote panal. Should renewable energy cost so much? If this were really feasable would it be allowed to occur? Remember back in the 70's the government said wind power wasnt really feasable, meanwhile there have been some very large wind farms built.

[recycled]

12 volt can work for small power consuming devices like lights or LED clocks, but larger power consuming devices need higher voltage. Home lighting, especially if incandesant bulbs are replaced with CFLs, is a small fraction of typical home power usage. Refrigerator, washer, dryer, air conditioning, toasters, kitchen range/oven, home entertainment, these are the items that use up 90 percent of power in most homes. You can't run high power consuming items with low voltages, because then the current (amperage) running through the wires in the home would be way too high and the wires could not handle the current. Too high of current in wires causes wires to overheat or even to catch fire. Higher voltage (110 or 220 v AC) is needed to run any larger appliances in homes.

[texdav]

Really wind power depends on the part of the country you live in. Then there is the hughe investment and maintenance.Solar power can help but again it is expensive and may not be wroth unless you have the cash and not financing at all.There are was of conserving alot of other expense that make more sense really.

[Noahma]

Originally Posted by saltine

what would be wrong with converting a home to 12volt? and having affordable mini wind turbines on each home? Perhaps those solar yard lights could be utilized indoors with a remote panal. Should renewable energy cost so much? If this were really feasable would it be allowed to occur? Remember back in the 70's the government said wind power wasnt really feasable, meanwhile there have been some very large wind farms built.

we just had a meeting the other day concerning the new building requirements here in Boulder Colorado. Wind is nice if you have a constant MPH wind 30'-50' above all existing structures. This has to be a consistent wind, gusts do not count as they are erratic. This is one of the cheapest alternatives in terms of upfront costs. The towers need to be 30' minimum above all structures within 300', they do have noise associated with them although it is said to not be much. The installers recommend an 80'-120' tower just to make sure you are in non turbulence wind.

Solar power is a GREAT alternative if you have a power companies that offers rebates. Xcell energy in Colorado offers a 55% rebate on solar arrays!!!!
You must have a good amount of sun to take advantage of them, trees, poles, chimneys can all have a very large negative effect on the use.

Geo-thermal is a GREAT way to keep home temps consistent, but they are expensive.

The wind farms you see dotting the Midwest and west are unique situations. They are several hundred feet tall, have Massive generators and are in areas where wind studies have taken place over a very long time. They were deemed good with enough wind to keep the blades turning. They are GREAT and I think more should be done with these. Southeast Colorado has a MASSIVE wind farm, it stretches on for miles and miles and miles, and the turbines are placed several hundred feet on all sides of each other.