Caual_Hero:

The family once owned an island cottage. Electrical power was not available, and we ran most things off propane or 12v DC deep cycle batteries. Humping batteries back home to charge was not particularly fun.

I looked into a variety of options. I considered both solar and wind generating systems. There is a lot of decent information available on the internet (and a lot of bogus bull too).

I ruled out solar as a viable option for my area. We simply do not have sufficient sunshine to make the solar systems particularly viable here. A websearch and a little time online shouls provide you with some basic information regarding expected number of days of sunshine in your area. If you are one of those lucky few in Arizona or some such place, have at it!

Wind was a more realistic option for me. Although I live in a margin area for wind generation (average wind speed of about 8.5 miles per hour), the cottage was located on teh windward side of an exposed island. It was ALWAYS blowing there. I never actually installed a system, since I tired of the continual maintenance demands of the cottage and gave it to my brother. Now HE mows and paints, and I show up on Sundays to drink HIS beer.....

In any case, your very specific geographic location will likely determine the wind turbine effectiveness. Are you on a hill top? Down in a valley, surrounded by trees?

The information I found indicated that wind systems generate ever increasing amounts of power as windspeeds increase. I could be wrong about this , but around here the line power usually kicks out during storms. Storms are accompanied by wind, so I'd assume the wind sets would be doing quite nicely.

Search for an AIR 403. I know Lehmans has the,, but they are about 30% more expensive than the same unit elsewhere. I have no experience with these, but they looked appropriate for your intended use.

Don't forget: In addition to a $500+ turbine, you need a tower.

Frozenny