Honeywell wind turbine hits hardware stores nationwide

[Zero Sum 305]

And then we won't need big oil anymore either.

Think about it - in the very near future, for $20,000 or so you can hang some sh!t on your roof, balcony, etc., and power your whole home, your car(s) and never need to buy electricity from the grid or gasoline from the gas stations.

Our society could be radically different.

There could be some uses for oil other than transportation. This kind of market diversification would be a far departure from such a rich dependence on petroleum. It can actually be a great thing for capitalism.

They will get you on batteries. You got to replace those every two to three years, if there is no grid to bank the excess generated power. That is one of the drawbacks of hybrid/electric cars. Ask anyone that owned an electric golf cart how much that can be. Lead is a commodity, and is going up in price rapidly.

You're not thinking of lithium then.

So you are saying that you can drop $20K no problem next week to energy efficient your home? Must be nice to be a 5 percenter at the top of the economic chain. Good luck w/that.

Since I didn't say any of that, I'll let you continue with your imaginary reading.

Lead may be going up in price but batteries are still relatively cheap compared to purchasing electric every day.

What Gary's talking about is going to be possible for almost all homes in the near future. Maybe not from hydro, but from wind or sun. Who knows, maybe hydrogen power will finally be online!

And subterranean heat pump systems to add. Geothermal has its merits and the systems will continue to become cheaper year by year.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

You're not thinking of lithium then.

Highly reactive, and more expensive. I suppose you are actually talking about lithium ion batteries.

A Standard (Cobalt) Li-Ion cell that is full most of the time at 25 °C (77 °F) irreversibly loses approximately 20% capacity per year. Poor ventilation may increase temperatures, further shortening battery life. Loss rates vary by temperature: 6% loss at 0 °C (32 °F), 20% at 25 °C (77 °F), and 35% at 40 °C (104 °F).

[slim 1,525]

Batteries aside, couldn't you direct-power your appliances?