How to Make Your Own Windmill at Home

A reason that often stops people from setting up a windmill at home is the initial costs. However, if your location is suitable it can be very profitable on the long run, since you produce your own electricity. And as we all know, electricity from the grid isn’t free.

Ideally, you should pick a location to set up your windmill that has an average speed of wind of 11 miles per hour. But with modern equipment available, a slightly lower average will still give a decent yield. Just keep in mind that if there really is no wind, you windmill won’t run. (Duh!)

An easy way to find out the average speed of wind in your area is to go to wolframalpha.com and do a search on speed of wind Oklahoma, where you replace Oklahoma with your own region or city. Above the history graph, change the time span to ‘Last 5 years’ and you’ll get a good image of the average speed of wind on your location.

As said, the initial costs of setting up a windmill is something that stops people from doing it. However, with the right guide and materials at hand one can set up a windmill at a much less price.

Considerations

One should keep certain things in mind:

• Find a good plan that gives clear instructions on how to set up your windmill. 
• To build a decent windmill, pick sturdy components. You do not want your windmill to get damaged by strong winds.
• Compare the prices of the components you need. Doing a quick search on the Internet might bring up a much cheaper price for the same component as sold in the nearest store. Maybe needless to say but pick equipment that suits your budget and your site. If you have a small garden you might not want a huge fan in it

Which guide to pick

When picking a DIY windmill plan, check the following features:

• Go for a guide that has decent illustrations. A guide with clear pictures in it works way easier that a text-only guide. It will make the construction of your windmill much easier. 
• Pick a guide with easy language. Avoid guides with a lot of technical descriptions or jargon in it, unless you are familiar with it of course. For the average person an easy to understand guide is a must.
• Maybe the most important point your plan should have: it should contain abundant detailed visual and textual descriptions of the components you need to use. This eases the task of buying the needed parts a lot, especially if you didn’t built a windmill before. Ideally it should also provide information on which type of components work best in your situation.
• In addition to the previous point: your plan must give you information about the best available equipment in your region. So make sure the plan uses component you actually can get.

Guides to set up your own windmill at home are available on the Internet. Both free and paid ones. If you are really serious about setting up a working windmill I suggest you spend a few bucks extra on a paid guide. These guides often bring some extras like after purchase costumer care or a free copy of windmill analysing software. Good guides can be found at earth4energy.com, poormanguides or makepowerathome.com.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article and I wish you good luck and a rewarding result with the construction of your windmill. If you know of any other good guides, especially free ones, feel free to post a link in the comments below.