With rising energy costs, many people are seeking ways to cut down on energy usage, from hybrid cars to hanging clothes on the line. On my seven-acre plot, we’ve decided to look into the purchase of a residential windmill, a Skystream model to be exact.

Windmills have been around for centuries, from the famous giants of Don Quixote, to modern reincarnations like the windpowered battery charger. For our purposes, we have been looking into the Skystream 3.7, a 170lb model with an average output of 400 kW per month. The heights at which they can be mounted vary from 110ft to 35ft, but the basic turbine design remains the same.

Our “local retailer” turned out to be a horse farm situated on a thirty-acre plot in Western Maryland, USA. Pulling up the house we spotted a 60ft model spinning in the relatively calm breeze. The Skystream has a minimum need for 8mph winds to produce energy, which did not appear to be a problem in the spot, but might prove tough on our land.

But as we toured the farm we spotted not only two more 35ft model Skystreams, but also two Texas Aermotor water pump mills. Out tour guide, a young barefoot woman, explained her father’s plans to use the old Aermotor to charge standing batteries, but the 8-foot propellers proved too powerful and each time ended up blowing the motor.

Farther on she directed our attention to a line of three small mills mounted on the side of a barn about 100ft down field. All three proved to generate enough electricity to power the entire barn. But what about the Skystreams?

The 60ft model we first spotted was able to cut winter energy bills in half for a one-family home with four children. The two 35ft models generated enough to power the second house on the property, a two story 1900s farmhouse. All three were exceptionally quiet machines, each bearing a built-in sound isolator, which lowers the mills to a low-pitched hum.

For about $8,000, not including government grants for green energy and state of Maryland rebates, should we buy a Skystream, it should pay for itself in about five years.

We still have questions about the Skystream, some based on the fact that they can get turned around in the wind. The turbine sits on a bearing that allows 360 degree movement in order to catch the wind, and is required to face away from the wind in order to rotate. But as we saw on one of the 35ft models, should the turbine rotate to fully face the wind it will “get stuck” without a tail to spin it around. We asked about this quality; how often did it happen? How long did it take to straighten out? But our questions were evaded on the basis that this particular mill was not in an optimal spot.

A residential windmill is a hefty investment for sure, and perhaps we should be pressuring electric companies to supply gird power through alternative energy, like Eugene, Oregon, one of the 50 greenest cities in the United States. But we can’t wait around for others to take up the reigns.

For now our windmill purchase in on standby, but perhaps in another year I’ll see that leviathan spinning from outside my own window.