Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence [Paperback]

Dan Chiras (Author), Mick Sagrillo (Author), Ian Woofenden (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 086571620X | ISBN-13: 978-0865716209 | Publication Date: April 1, 2009

“Authors Dan Chiras, Mick Sagrillo, and Ian Woofenden have addressed the needs of people seeking a clearly written, comprehensive guide to the small-scale wind arena.” Backhome Magazine

"Read no further than Power From the Wind by prolific writer and sustainable living practitioner Dan Chiras, with contributions by Mick Sagrillo and Ian Woofenden. This book helps you assess your energy needs, your site's wind energy potential, and sort out every aspect of the design, purchase and installation of a small-scale, or residential wind system. Amazingly, it does so without demanding that you be  some technical tinkerer or electrical engineer.  - John Ivanko, Sustainablog 

"What can the wind do for the world's power problems? Power From The Wind discusses how people can use wind power to power their own homes on a small scale, reducing power consumption bills. Wind is cheap and renewable; to not harvest it for use is wasteful. Outlining how to get started harvesting wind power, author Dan Chiras answers many of the most commonly asked questions. Power From the Wind belongs in any collection for the environmentally thoughtful." - James. A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review

Faced with frequent power outages, skyrocketing energy costs, and constant reminders of the impacts of conventional energy sources, homeowners and businesses are beginning to explore ways to use energy more efficiently and to generate their own electricity to reduce fuel bills and their carbon footprint and to achieve greater independence.

Power From the Wind is an easy-to-understand guide for individuals and businesses interested in installing small wind energy systems and includes information on the following:

• Ways to assess wind resources at your site
• Wind turbines, towers, inverters, and batteries
• Installation, maintenance, and costs

This book is designed to help readers make the smartest, most economical choices. Readers will gain the knowledge they need to make wise decisions during the design, purchase, and installation of small wind energy systems and to communicate effectively with wind system installers.

Dan Chiras is an internationally acclaimed author who has published over twenty-four books, including The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy. He is a certified wind site assessor and has installed several residential wind systems. Dan lives in a passive solar home in Evergreen, Colorado. Mick Sagrillo is the wind technology specialist for Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy. Ian Woofenden is a wind electricity editor, writer, workshop coordinator, instructor, and user in Washington’s San Juan Islands.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dan Chiras is an internationally acclaimed author who has published over 24 books, including The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy. He is a certified wind site assessor and has installed several residential wind systems. Dan lives in a passive solar home in Evergreen, Colorado. Mick Sagrillo is the wind technology specialist for Wisconsin's Focus on Energy. Ian Woofenden is a wind electricity editor, writer, workshop coordinator, instructor, and user in Washington's San Juan Islands.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 086571620X
• ISBN-13: 978-0865716209
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Chiras paid his last electric bill in June of 1996. It is not that he has disavowed the use
of electricity and modern conveniences, but rather that he has turned to the sun and wind
to meet his family's needs.

In 1995, Dan, a former full-time college professor with years of experience in sustainable
development, built a state-of-the-art rammed earth tire and straw bale home in
Evergreen, Colorado. He installed solar electric panels on the roof; a year or so later he
installed a small wind generator. Since that time, he has met nearly all of his electrical
needs for his home and office from these clean, renewable sources.

Dan also heats his home in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains 8000-feet above sea level
with energy from the sun thanks to passive solar design. For backup heat on those cold
winter nights, he burns a cord of wood a year, gathered free from his community. His
annual gas bill, mostly for showers and cooking, runs about $120 a year - about $2 to $3
per month for natural gas and $10 per month to read the meter!

Dan has spent much of the past 30 years studying sustainability and applying what he has
learned in solar energy, natural building, and green building to his residences, and most of
the last ten years sharing the practical knowledge he has gained through writing, lectures,
slide shows, and workshops.

Dan has published 21 books to date including several college and high school textbooks:
Environmental Science: Creating a Sustainable Future, Natural Resource Conservation,
Human Biology, and Biology: The Web of Life. His high school environmental
science text, Environmental Science, was selected as the official book of the U.S.
Academic Decathlon's 1991 competition.

In the early 1990s, Dan published two trade books on environmental issues and
sustainability for a general audience: Beyond the Fray: Reshaping America's
Response and Lessons from Nature: Learning to Live Sustainably on the
Earth.

Since 1995, Dan has focused most of his attention on residential green building. He
has written extensively on the subject. His is books include: The Natural House: A
Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy Efficient, Environmental Homes; The Natural Plaster
Book; The Solar House: Passive Heating and Cooling; Superbia! 31 Ways to Create
Sustainable Suburbs; and The New Ecological Home.

His newest book, EcoKids: Raising Kids Who Care for the Earth will be
published in the Spring of 2005 by New Society Publishers.

Dan also writes extensively for magazines, journals, newsletters, and newspapers. He
has published nearly 250 articles on environmental issues, sustainability, natural building,
natural plaster, green building, and passive solar heating and cooling. His articles appear
regularly in Home Power, Mother Earth News, Natural Home, and The Last
Straw.

Dan also writes frequently for World Book Encyclopedia (Science Year) and
Encyclopedia Americana. He authored a 12-page article on the environment for
Encyclopedia Americana. Dan has written environmental pollution section for
World Book Encyclopedia's annual publication, Science Year, since 1993.
In 1997, he wrote an extensive piece for World Book on population growth and its
many implications. Dan also wrote the ecology and air pollution sections for
Encyclopedia Americana.

In addition to his writing, Dan has served as an adjunct professor at the University of
Colorado in Denver and the University of Colorado at Denver. He has been a visiting
professor at the University of Washington, where he taught a course on environmental
science. He currently is a Melon Visiting Professor at Colorado College where he teaches
courses on renewable energy, ecological design, and sustainable development.

Through his writing and teaching in the 1980s and early 1990s, Dan played a leading
role in promoting critical thinking, an understanding of the root causes of environmental
issues, systemic solutions to environmental problems, sustainable development. He
pioneered a systems approach to sustainable development and has played a lead role in
articulating the principles, policies, and practices of sustainable development which seeks
ways that business and society can prosper within a healthy environment. He is currently
focusing most of his research and writing on sustainable building and sustainable
communities.

Dan's free time is spent mountain biking, canoeing, playing music, and gardening.


For more information visit danchiras.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 17, 2009

By 

David Stebbins - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence (Paperback)

If you're considering using the wind to generate electricity for your home, this book is probably the best you'll find to help you choose the right machine. More importantly, it may help you decide wind energy is not a viable option.
The author, Dan Chiras, has a gift. It's not in being inventive, or doing original work. Rather, it's his ability to distill and organize massive amounts of information and make it understandable.
He covers the pros and cons of wind energy. His co-authors, Mick Sagrillo and Ian Woofenden, are truly small scale wind energy icons. They use wind energy to power their own homes, and have written extensively about the subject, primarily in Home Power magazine. Sagrillo's article, "Apples & Oranges, Choosing a Home Sized Wind Generator" (Home Power #90, Aug/Sept 2002) is arguably the best 16 pages ever written about small scale wind. However, because all three authors love wind energy, the pros generally outweigh the cons when it comes to choosing wind as an energy source.
The book is divided into 9 parts:
Understanding Wind and Wind Energy, covering friction and turbulence, and the concept of wind as cube: double the wind speed, and get eight times the energy.
Wind Energy Systems. Grid-tie versus off-grid.
Wind Site Assessment. Besides determining the wind potential of your site, a lot of emphasis, correctly, is on home energy conservation.
A Primer on Wind Generators includes the importance of "swept area" as being the most reliable indicator of generator output.
Towers and Tower Installation. There are three kinds of towers. A towers cost may exceed that of the generator.
Understanding Batteries. This has nothing to do with wind generators, but for those considering living off-grid, this chapter is important.
Inverters. If you're going to be tied to the grid you've got to have one. Covers the various types.
Maintaining a Wind-Electric System. Not for the faint of heart. You may decide wind is not for you after reading this chapter.
Final Considerations: Zoning, Permits, Covenants, Utility Companies, Insurance and Buying a System.
I've lived off-grid with a hybrid wind/solar system for nine years. I'm on my second wind generator. I wish this book had been available when I was building my system. The only comparable book available on small scale wind is Paul Gipe's, "Wind Power." It is also excellent, but is more technical, and for me, was less accessible.
For anyone interested in small scale wind energy, "Power From the Wind" is probably the best single source of information you'll find.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative, April 14, 2009

By 

Tyler Anderson "Iowa Wind and Solar" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. I have taken many of Mick Sagrillos workshops (there are actually a few pictures in the book of workshops I have taken) and he is just great so if you ever have a chance to take one of his workshops, do it. But as far as the book goes, it really covers about everything you need to know as a purchaser. As an installer myself, I found a lot of the charts and graphs in the book useful and used them to help explain different things to my customers. I also have to add that Dan Chiras is a very good writer and the book makes you want to keep reading. You really cant go wrong with any of his books; I think I have about all of them. I do want to add that if you want specific info about turbines I would probably go with the Paul Gipe book thats like fifty dollars or so but that does take some time to read. A combination of the two would be good for very specific info on site assessing, turbine design, etc. Hope this helps.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommend this Book!!!, January 26, 2011

By 

sdechris "sdechris" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Power From the Wind: Achieving Energy Independence (Paperback)

I am a 50 year old female who has no background in construction. I just bought acreage in Arizona and plan to build my retirement home. I want to live "off the grid" so have begun to research the various options available to me. I can't recommend this book highly enough! It is so interestingly written that I actually don't want to put it down....and I understand all of the issues and concepts that Dan Chiras discusses. What a wealth of knowledge he is, and he truly does have the gift of papering his expertise so that an average person can read and understand. Thank you Mr. Chiras!