on Oct 29th, 2006
B&Q start selling domestic wind turbines
In a move which perhaps marks the start of mainstream acceptance of alternative energy production (perhaps we’ll be able to drop the word ‘alternative’ when referring to solar and wind power generation shortly?), DIY superstore B&Q have started to heavily promote both a wind turbine and solar water heating systems.
Of course the cynics would say that this is more a greenwashing exercise by B&Q, to try to get people to think of them as an environmentally friendly company, but credit where it’s due I say.
To quote their website, “The Windsave wind turbine delivers up to 1KW of supplementary energy synchronised and adjusted to supply directly into your household power circuits, using Windsaves unique technology the appliances in the house will absorb all the energy from the turbine before using grid voltage. This will contribute to the average home a saving of approximately 30% (based on average wind speeds and suitable locations) of the average electricity bill whilst reducing the household CO2 emissions.”
Most wind-based systems to date have been used to charge batteries to store the electricity for future use, although this tends to be more appropriate to dwellings that use less electricity or have low-load appliances. By directly feeding the wind-generated electricity into the mains supply for the house, installation and maintenace costs are reduced considerably. Of course, it also means that at night, the system may be producing electricity that is above and beyond the demand, and this is wasted (the system doesn’t appear to have any options to sell excess power back to the National Grid).
It’s also not cheap at £1500 including installation, but as mentioned above, it does signal acceptance of non-fossil fuel or nuclear power generation and puts the responsibility on the householder. Maybe they won’t be selling these in the tens of thousands, but I do hope that cheaper and alternative systems become more widely available.
B&Q have also started selling small power consumption meters which fit into a regular 13amp plug socket (an appliance is then plugged into the meter) which tells you exactly how much electricity a device is using and what that will cost you.
B&Q website : www.diy.com
Unfortunately, I think this is a bad thing. The roof-mounted turbines are completely financially and energetically useless for the vast majority of people. A brick house could even be damaged if such a turbine got the wind needed to make them worthwhile. This move might just give wind power a bad name.
Interesting comments Amanda. I agree that financially the product does not present a good case, and that the majority of houses are probably not optimally sited for efficient wind-power generation, but I do believe (if only psychologically) this is a good move as it is showing people that they need to take more responsibility over environmental issues.
My understanding is that solar is much less visually (and audibly) intrusive than wind, but the cost and payback time is even worse than wind (although solar water heating is pretty good).
What would be your suggestions for people who are looking to ‘do the right thing’ for the environment, assuming they live in an ‘average’ house?