We know that our estimated total energy required for heating and cooling and to power all appliances in our home is estimated to be 8230 kWh/year.
A realistic goal is to have our wind turbine produce 75% of the required energy, which means we need the wind turbine to produce 6173 kWh/year.
We also need to take into account the efficiency of the turbine and Betz limit. A good quality small wind turbine is roughly 60% efficient. This efficiency is multiplied the Betz limit (59.3%) to get an overall efficiency of roughly 35%.
The approximate air density in Iowa City is 1.207 kg/m^3 and the average annual wind velocity we used is 12.2 mph or 5.47 m/s.
Now we have all the necessary values to find our swept area.
A turbine this size has an estimated cost of $20,000. The total cost can be reduced by 30% from a Federal Tax Credit and an additional $920 from Iowa's Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit. This results in an estimated net cost of $13,080
Assuming it costs $.10/kWh with an average annual utility inflation rate of 4%, you could break even after 11 years and 2 months.
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