The windmill

Our windmill today

As Neil told us when he came to look at our windmill--  it's non functioning.  The problem seems to be that the generator mechanism is melted.

I asked Geo to make me a diagram of how the windmill used to work.  Here is his diagram:

Being married to an engineer means you learn things:)

In the Spring, we will be able to replace our windmill.  The number one source of power usage in our home right now is our heating system.  The house uses forced air propane heating.

The prior owners of our home did not install wood heat.  Hopefully soon our wood stove will be installed.  This means that even though we won't be able to generate power with our windmill, we will be able to have heat on low power "grey" days.

I'm really really looking forward to this addition to our home.  Both Geo and I love the smell of woodstoves.  We have paid for our installation and are now waiting for the contractors to schedule the day with us.

In the meantime we are hoping for mild temperatures and lots of sun!   Our Solar Panels are still operative ( I need to have Geo make me a diagram of those too).  We also have the generator as back up for when there is no sun.