In the United States wind energy is the second biggest source of new energy outpaced only by natural gas. At the end of 2007 wind turbines were producing over 16000 megawatts of electric power and nearly one third of that capacity was installed in 2007. In 2008 about 1% of the united States electric power will be supplied by wind energy. Most of this of course is from large commercial wind turbines but an ever increasing amount is coming from small wind turbines installed by individuals. The home wind turbine is definitely coming into its own as more and more people realise that something must be done to decrease our dependence on electric power supplied by fossil fuel burning generating stations. Gas and coal powered electric power production has increased dramatically over the years and emissions from the fuels burnt in these facilities is a major source of atmospheric pollution.
Wind power by comparision is absolutely clean and the only objectiion to it,voiced by some people,is visual pollution from the arrays of wind turbines necessary for large scale power production. However the residential wind turbine poses no such problems. Small scale wind power generation is acheived with small and unobtrusive home wind turbines. A combination of home solar panels-wind turbines can produce much of the power required by the average home. Small wind powered turbines are manufactured by a number of companies and can be readily set up either as a rooftop wind turbine or mounted on its own small tower. A tower height of 30 feet is often recommended. These will pay for themselves in time but are quite expensive.
If you know how to build a wind turbine your home wind turbine will cost much less and fortunately this is fairly easy to do. Plans and instructions showing how to build your own wind turbine are readily available and thousands of people have built their own home made wind turbine. You will often be told that strong winds are needed for wind power generation. This is absolutely not so. Even gentle breezes will produce power which is stored in batteries till needed.
If you live far from electric power lines you either get by with no electric power or generate your own. Gasoline powered generators will do the job but they are expensive to run and heavy polluters. You may be fortunate enough to have a stream which can generate power for you using a water power system but these are usually difficult to build and expensive. In most situations a wind turbine is the best answer. You can in fact build your own wind turbine for much less than the price of a commercial model. You could have plenty of power for all needs if you install two or three of them. Building your own home wind turbine is a fairly simple project which the average home workshopper can easily manage. Wind power reduces atmospheric pollution and will save you money.It is the coming thing for the immediate future. Why not try it?
Build Your Own Home Server
It seems like a question that is becoming more popular as more people hear success stories from choosing this form of new home construction. There are several reasons why modular homes are becoming more popular and increasingly taking over a larger segment of the new housing market. Here are the key reasons.
Higher quality - Modular homes are not manufactured homes or mobile homes. Modular homes are constructed with the exact same materials as site-built homes and by the same building code standards. However, because these homes are transported from the factory to your building site, extra measures to improve durability and strength are added. As a result, this makes modular homes actually superior to site-built homes in quality.
Less expensive - Modular homes are built in a factory setting away from the weather and in a setting where construction efficiently moves forward at a rapid pace. As a result, the time to build a modular home is less than half the time required to build a site-built home. This save tremendous time in construction costs for both the manufacturer and consumer. In addition, there is less waste and better use of materials. In the end, modular homes cost about 20 percent less than site-built.
Design savvy - You may think design options are limited for modular homes, but any design you want can be made by modular home building techniques. Any architectural plan can be accommodated by most manufacturers. Consumers expect a degree of design options and styles, and this has been the focus of the modular industry. Even home designers and architects alike have embraced modular technology.
Better investment - Combining high quality with less expensive costs clearly makes for a better home investment. In today's climate of rising foreclosures and looming recession, modular homes are making more sense than ever before.
Time efficient - In a rush for that new home? Want to cut your construction loan time in half and get out of the temporary rental? Then modular is the way to go. In one study, identically designed homes were built on site and in the modular factory. The end result demonstrated that it took 10 months from start to finish for a modular home (including design, financing and construction) to be completed, but 21 months for a site-built home. Time is of the essence!
"Greener" - With less waste and an ability to attend to greater recycling efforts from the factory setting, the modular home industry focuses on the environment to a much greater extent than site-built homes. In addition, architectural designs are continually creating better modular features to augment energy efficiency. Solar panels, reduced "non-livable' space, and better airflow patterns are just some recent features added that show this industry's attention to being "green".
There are several other reasons as well, but the above highlight the major aspects of how modular homes are rising above other options for new homes. The best part is that unless you see a modular home assembled, you would never be able to tell the difference from a site-built home. The fact is many of your neighbor's homes are likely modular, and you never even knew it.
Both John Mowatt & Mike Zenga are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mike Zenga has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Businesses, Family and Health. Michael Zenga founded ZN Custom Building in 2002 which specializes in building Modular Housing in the Boston, MA area. Known as the Modular. Mike Zenga's top article generates over 14800 views. Bookmark Mike Zenga to your Favourites.
Compare Web Design Software If you think users dislike scrolling, then you have to understand that they dislike waiting for new pages to load even more if your site needs them to wait for more than a few seconds between pages,...