Households using oil to heat their homes could reduce energy bills by 50% with a small wind turbine.
Many residents in rural locations across the UK are not connected to mains gas so have to rely on domestic heating oil – costs of which have increased by 66% over the last three years (i). By installing a small wind turbine, a growing number of these households and businesses are benefiting from substantial energy savings.
One such household, situated in a rural part of Aberdeenshire, decided to investigate what would be the best renewable energy system for them to install.A survey confirmed the site had an average wind speed of 6.7metres per second so installing a small wind turbine to turn this green energy into electricity would make a large contribution to running the household. It would also mean that the family would no longer be held to ransom by rising oil costs.
“With the rising price of energy we decided to invest in renewable energy so we were not reliant on oil, which is now so expensive and deliveries unreliable. I researched all small wind turbines and the R9000 seemed miles ahead of the others,” commented Danny Shepherd.
“Our aim is for the Evance turbine to run a new electric central heating boiler and with the projected power generation we expect to reduce our energy bill by 50%. The installation of the Evance turbine has been a successful project for us and we look forward to years of green energy production,” concluded Shepherd.
By reducing use of fossil fuel and harnessing wind power the Shepherds will be saving in the region of 6.5 tonnes (ii) of CO2 a year.
Notes:
(i)Quarterly Energy Prices, DECC – House of Commons Heating Oil standard note, 29 December 2011
(ii)Based on carbon savings of 0.43kg CO2 per kWh (DEFRA)