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Great for the right site.

Customer Rating:
Looking at the power graph, in the Amazon product description, lets be moderately optimistic and expect 40 kWh per month. Where I live we are charged about 20 cent per kWh.
This generator will produce energy that I can buy for $8 a month. That cannot "significantly lower my electrical bill". At $500 it will take more than 5 years to recover the money.
Also I will save money if I had the need to charge batteries, or if I had appliances that use 12 volts, but I have none. To be able to get 120 volts I need a converter: [...] (http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-CPI-1575-Power-Inverter/dp/B00126IDDC/ref=pd_sim_auto_5). But that won't work with some appliances, so I would buy a real converter: [...] (http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-11240-1000-Watt-Inverter-Control/dp/B000WGNNUQ/ref=pd_sim_auto_6)

Also, this wind generator has to be mounted on top of something. I do not have a very solid flag pole, so it is probably a good idea to buy the $476.88 tower kit.

The significant savings will now save the total cost in more than 10 years.

To be fair: If you are in a location where there is no electricity, like a hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere, and you like to charge the batteries for your fishing boat, or for you camcorder, laptop, cell phone etc, then it could be a nice investment. Expensive, but convenient.

Pole cost, noise and regulations...

Customer Rating:
The device itself is nice and as others commented you will need a quite substantial wind if you want to produce significant amount of energy. That said, there are a couple of additional issues:
- to get good amount of winds, the turbine needs to be high and a 30' to 45' pole costs much more than the wind generator itself
- you might need an authorization from the town if you want to install such a big pole (some might not even allow it)
- keep in mind that when spinning the turbine generates a significant amount of noise and vibrations (increase with wind speed). We tried to install one on top of a building at work and the ceiling of the last floor was vibrating at a point that lights were shaking. So you definitely don't want to try that on your roof at home.

Note that this thing generates DC current and if you install it far from your house, you will need expensive cables if you don't want to lose too much by the time it reaches the inverter.

You can check [...]for the numbers of a live production of 1 solar panel and 1 wind turbine (this particular Sunforce model) in western MA.

These things are JUNK

Customer Rating:
6 years ago, I bought my first Air-X ( that's the model with the Southwest Windpower brand on it, this is their product) which ran for 2 years, then had a minor failure, fixed under warranty. It then lasted about a year, and the circuit board failed yet again. Again, it was warranted. The next failure, however, was not. So, I bought a kit from SWWP to "update" the turbine to the new "Air Breeze". That lasted 2 months, and it utterly melted down inside. It was a toxic swamp of caustic material from the insulation and other materials inside, which had gotten hot.

That was fixed under warranty and lasted ... a month. Then, I bought one of these. It was installed temporarily for about 4 months, and then moved to replace the dead Air Breeze (failed yet again, 3rd time). It lasted a month, and it too, melted down inside. Yes, the same location, the same load, the same everything the original one made 3 years without major issue, has now been through 4 rebuilds in a year and a half. In fact, I have had no significant use ANY of the generators since the original Air Breeze conversion. They have either sent me parts, or replacement generators (takes up to 2 months to get warranty fixes) and every one of them has failed the first time any significant weather system has come through. The Sunforce branded model worked through 4 months in a semi-sheltered area, and weathered ONE storm. It was taken down, stored for 2 months, and reinstalled in the original location for my first Air-x, and it died when the first rainstorm came through, as it melted down and the insulation or whatever it is, is literally dripping out the bottom of the unit, which is still on the tower. I'm not taking it down until I figure out what to do with it.

Basically, the maker started out with a decent product, somewhere along the lines, they have 're-engineered" it, and now it's garbage. Sad to say. The original was excellent and would still be in place if several years of running hadn't just simply worn out the front casting where the bearings ride. Each of my conversations with tech support has been a matter of just flat out insult, as they continue to claim they have no idea what's wrong, or that it's "my location". The original Air-X not only survived, but continued to work through a once-a-century windstorm that made national news. Nothing since it has been able to survive a single storm with 30-40 mph gusting.

Wind Generator - Works Good

Customer Rating:
This wind generator makes a nice addition to a solar panel system with a small battery bank (my bank is 12vdc with 500 amp hours). The wind generator averages anywhere from 2 to 10 amps on most occasions here in northern Indiana. I have seen the wind generator put out as much as 25 amps during heavy wind conditions (i.e. storms). If you plan to run a large battery bank system then you may want to look into some of the larger KW wind generators or build a solar panel system. I do love the sound of this thing. I would not call it whisper, but it has a nice whirl sound to it when it is charging that puts me to sleep at night. By the way, know your math and do things right. You will find yourself installing some heavy gauge wiring to lower voltage drops that can be a bear to work with.

Needs steady wind to produce any power

Customer Rating:
I mounted this turbine in my back yard on the recommended schedule 40 galvanized pipe at about 20' high. My location does not get consistent wind from one direction which is the only way this turbine will spin. Even in gusty conditions of 15-20 mph the turbine rarely spins more than a few revolutions and has not produced any measurable power after a month. If you don't have a steady wind from one direction this turbine will not produce any power at all. You would be better off with a vertical turbine or one with larger blade surface area. The specs say 8 mph start up, that means a consistent 8 mph wind from a single direction. For the money you would be better off with a single 80 watt solar panel.