4 ms·

Wouldn't a small wind turbine make more sense in the Netherlands?

• nextlevelwizard 4y ago
  On a random balcony in a city? I don't know how efficient turbines are, but that doesn't sound very promising.
• joshuanapoli 4y ago
  I think that wind turbines are harder for DIY because they need to be mounted well above the roof height to get non-turbulent airflow.
• detaro 4y ago
  really small wind turbines are almost never worth it
• jacquesm 4y ago
  No, it wouldn't. The capacity factor for a small, unidirectional turbine in non-laminar flow is going to be somewhere between 0 and 15% depending on how lucky you are with the prevailing wind direction. Small turbines also tend to be quite noisy. There was a small unit that was sold by a Canadian solar/wind installer that was named the 'Whisper', but we privately called it the screamer (and it was one of the main reasons we ended up building our own turbine, all of the ones that were on the market were small, loud and inefficient because they were all fixed pitch).
  • dredmorbius 4y ago
    There's also the problems of mounting on a structure, let alone on an apartment building with limited exterior access (as with this case). Turbines vibrate, and over time can cause joints to weaken as nails are loosened. That's even without considering the disruption to laminar flow (e.g., full wind efficiency) caused by diverting wind-flow over a structure. Upshot is that if you do want a wind turbine and have a viable use-case, you'll still want a free-standing tower well clear of structures, trees, etc.
    • jacquesm 4y ago
      All agreed, definitely never mount a windmill on a structure that wasn't designed with that purpose in mind. You'll definitely live to regret it. Assuming the windmill doesn't kill you...