solar/wind energy for a homestead

Hee hee, Fire-Man. Not really, you have an economies of scale as you go up in usage. Adding a bit more batteries or wind to an existing solar system isn't that much more to do. But 3SistersFarm is right - different areas have different pricing (thanks to the Internet, that is equalizing somewhat). I could have done my system better for a lot less $$ if we had not been screwed by the local shop/"installer". We went to court. The judge agreed with us but we didn't get any money back, just didn't have to shell out any more. Ridiculous and if I had known then that this guy wasn't a licensed contractor so that I could have brought that up to the judge, I'm sure we would have come out even better. He's still got a big biz in Anchorage but I would NEVER recommend him - he's one of those people that claims to know everything & live by it but when push comes to shove he hasn't a clue and has excuse after excuse why the design isn't working and that we have to spend MORE money to "fix" it!

As we budget for changes, we'll be working to upgrade the batteries & the gennie then hopefully add the wind power to the top of the house - if we can figure a simple, cost-effective, and safe way to do that that isn't too noisy!

Jim-mi, I have a 2-year-old Kenmore french-door unit with bottom freezer. Does just fine on my system. I also have a 1-year-old 21cf or 25cf chest freezer in my crawlspace and it does fine too. My biggest energy hogs are my dishwasher & clothes washer but they aren't meant to run 24/7.

Hmmm...I think I know a "horse trainer" like that.

Hummmm. I'm north of the border - Minnesota - of you, but shouldn't be all that different. We pay $10 a month, plus some taxes, for a base fee of less than $20 a month. I run a farm with cattle for about 50 bucks a month.

There has to be more to this story. Are you on some industrial charge plan, or you have 3 walk-in freezers in your basement, or what?

I don't have an all-night yard light, hate the things, but I doubt that is saving me $100 a month.

The power was through a co-op, and yes, it WAS, right now I had it disonnected so we're 'off the grid' at least temporarily.

The solar yard lights are a really good idea, and I think I'll check into cost. We're hoping to go down this next weekend too for one more heavy work weekend before winter, and maybe can install one. How I lucked out and found a guy who actually seems to think this is semi-fun and charming, I am not sure. Though he's not too hip on potentially moving there (though he's referring to it as 'our' house now..)

So, I'm going to try to find an old electric bill, and figure out how many KWH this house was burning. It's an old 1919 farmhouse, but it's fairly tight. I was surprised how warm it was in there today with just all the windows newly fixed up and the doors worked on.

I did get given a small woodburning stove, and hope to install that as an alternative fuel, and we're seriously thinking about a cornfed stove for major heating. I think I'm going into information overload

__________________
Procrastination is just another way to get an adrenaline rush - and much safer and cheaper than bungee jumping!

"A friend will help you move, a true friend will help you move a body"

Oh you NAUGHTY girl!

If you are technically and mechanically capable a good place to check out is:

http://www.fieldlines.com

It contains alot of useful information and answers to building your own wind turbines.