If you’re thinking about joining the green revolution and utilizing wind power to power your house, you’re not alone. These days, many people, who several years ago wouldn’t have dreamed of going “off the grid,” are installing both wind turbines and solar systems in record numbers.

Getting started is a cinch if you buy a prefabricated wind turbine – one that needs only easy assembly and mounting.

A wind power generator that can power you whole house can run from $5000- $20000. This would give you a payoff of ten, maybe even fifteen years, given average power expenses. Obviously, the specifics can vary greatly with the size of your home, number of family members (electricity usage), the average amount of wind in your area and other factors.

This return on your investment is tolerable, but to get the most bang for your dollar, the best option is to go the do-it-yourself route and build your own wind turbine. Some people also opt for a smaller, cheaper wind turbine, and maybe add another at a later date.

Done properly, and with a good plan and materials, you can produce a quality, long-lasting wind turbine for a fraction of the cost, maybe even as low as $200.

Just as a general guide, the items list below should give you a good ideal of what is needed to build your own wind turbine. With just reasonable skills, common tools and these items, nearly anyone can produce a wind power generator in just a weekend. After you build the first one it becomes even faster and easier.

* 1 DC Power Motor

* Sheets of metal (to assemble the body and tail)

* ABS or PVC pipe (for turbine blades)

* A hub to attach the motor and blades

* Tower (holds the entire turbine assembly)

* Deep-Cycle Battery or Batteries (energy storage)

* Charge Controller (keeps battery at optimum charge and prevents battery failure)

* Dump load (for excess power)

* An AC Inverter to power your AC appliances

* Nuts and bolts (connects blades, hubs, and other pieces)

* Tools

Building your own wind turbine isn’t quite as easy as building your own solar panel, due to the fact that the wind turbine is more mechanically complex.

Even though you are putting in additional work, you’ll be rewarded with a wind turbine that produces far more power than a single solar panel. The actual power generated your own windmill, if everything is assembled correctly, will be dependent on the available wind, but will be a big step forward in obtaining your energy independence. With that kind of power generation, those electricity bills will be much easier to accept every month.

Before you purchase anything, be sure that your home is in an area where there is sufficient wind to justify a wind turbine. For best results, the wind should be about 10mph for a small wind turbine. If you live near the ocean, in a mountainous region, or on open plains, you should have plenty of wind. If you are in an area with lots of trees and at low elevation, you may find less success. The best thing to do is to have a look at the information on the American Wind Energy Association site to see if the wind is adequate in your area to operate the wind turbine that you have in mind.

Just remember, even if you don’t have the wind available for a wind turbine, you can most likely benefit greatly from building your own solar panels. They’re both easy and cheap to build.

If you do decide to build your own wind turbine (or solar panels), we can recommend no better source of information that the Earth4Energy product. It is not only a detailed manual, but there are also bonus sections and excellent videos included. It tells, in detail, exactly what you’ll need as far as parts, and the best places to obtain what you need.

If you think the DIY method isn’t for you, Southwest Windpower makes an excellent smaller, very light (13 lbs.) wind turbine called the ‘Air Breeze.’ It’s a fantastic deal at just over $600.