Wind power in New England: Is it a good renovation option?
(Read article summary)For a green home renovation in New England, wind power looks like a good option. But it's not easy to find out if that's true.
The foam insulators are still going great guns – spray guns, that is – at Sheep Dog Hollow, our green renovation experiment.
And as I mentioned in my most recent post, it’s a sign that the renovation is winding down. Once the insulation is done, then it’s on to sheet-rocking, painting, trimming, and getting all of the bathroom, kitchen, and lighting fixtures installed.
It’s almost done!
OK, OK, maybe may not quite “almost done” but we’re further along than I expected. So, I’m looking to the future – the electrical future.
Since we’ve installed a geothermal system, we plan on using it for a year or so to get a sense of how many kilowatts we’ll use on a regular basis. Then we’ll decide on what kind of green supplemental electrical power we’ll use.
I’ve looked into solar as a viable alternative and am now exploring wind.
What has become quite evident is that anyone serious about wind in New England needs to be a self-starter – more so than if one lived in, say, Iowa or Texas.
That’s because wind energy and its state of development is dependent, like almost every other green technology, on the weather, geography, and mindset of a region.
