HARTFORD — Two years ago, Lorraine Parsons was reading the Country Courier while eating her lunch in Youly’s restaurant when she saw an article about an All Season Windmill and decided to give the company a call.
The next thing she knew, she was looking up at her own wind tower in back of her red farmhouse and barn, her tiny frame dwarfed by the 39.5 foot structure. Now she is reaping the benefits by saving on her electric bill each month.
Her windmill is a Skystream 3.7. It’s 3.7 meters wide and weighs 165 pounds. It can be seen behind the house and barn off Route 140.
Parsons says it is rated at 1.8 kilowatts continuously or 2.4 at peak performance, and the wind must be blowing at 8 mph to cause the blades to turn. She said she cannot hear any sound, and if she wants to know if it’s turning, she has to go out and look.
“It only took a few days to install the windmill,” Parsons said. First a cement foundation was poured. While that was setting, Central Maine Power came to hook the windmill into her house. After the foundation was ready, the only thing left was to put the windmill up. She said the tower must be no farther than 200 feet from your meter.
There is a monitor inside the house connected to CMP, where she can read the power she is generating if she wants. Each month the generated power is turned into discounts on her electric bill. This summer the bills have been running about $25 a month. Parsons said the bill are slightly higher in the winter because of her furnace.
Parsons said she has not tried to calculate how much money she is saving because it’s supposed to pay for itself in 10 years.
“I can’t be bothered to find out exactly what I am saving,” she said. Parsons explained that she does try to conserve energy by using the newer light bulbs and unplugging appliances she is not using at the time, such as her microwave oven.
Parsons, who lives in a large farmhouse, is surrounded by her antique doll collection, and the walls are adorned with her prize quilts. She has made one quilt out of ribbons she has won over the years showing her prize Angus cows.
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- Behind the home of Lorraine Parsons on Route 140 in Hartford stands a Skystream windmill. The 39.5 foot windmill generates between 1.8 and 2.4 kilowatts as long as the wind is blowing at least 8 mph. Parsons said she cannot hear any sound, and if she wants to know if it’s turning, she has to go out and look.
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