We originally posted about Mariah Power’s Windspire turbine last year when its sleek, “propeller-free” design first caught our eye. The company recently announced commercial production, sales and shipping their small wind turbine. The bad news is the fully integrated unit is back-ordered for the next few months as Mariah Power tries to meet consumer enthusiasm for the product.
The Windspire is a vertical axis wind turbine, or VAWT, and as such, turns at a much slower speed than traditional “propeller-driven” turbines and is extremely quiet. With its sleek look and variety of colors the Windspire is one of the more aesthetically pleasing turbine 
designs. The company recommends installation on a minimum of 1/2 acre of land and an average wind speed of 12 mph to produce 2,000kWH per year. The unit takes just a few hours to install and is rated for winds up to 100 mph.
The fast growing wind power industry has seen many designs come and go so to ensure product reliability and standards the company has subjected the product to independent, third-party testing at Windward Engineering in Spanish Oaks, Utah (initial test results).
The fully intergrated, “plug ‘n produce” unit sells for a modest $4,995 (plus installation) and comes with a 5 year warranty.
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need an affordable and reliable company, we would like to purchase a windsphere or something close to it. Also need to include the cost of install.
We have a local company but seems our project is too small to be worth while. And contract agreement to risky for us to go with.
I have installed several of these in Central Texas. They retail for 6500.00 plus install for around 3000.00. There are some cool pictures on my website worth checking out. We are also designing a system for a customer combining wind and solar because solar costs too much as a stand alone right now.
Would be cool if you could wire that for over air cable and mount it near side of house. No one would know the difference. I’d love to get some kind of alternative power.
Wouldnt the wind tower be more efficient if is spun at higher speed to create more energy
Fill out the form at the link below to get a better idea how much juice you can produce.
http://mariahpower.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=188
HOW MANY ARE NEED TO RUN A 2500 SQFT HOME WITH
REFRIG AIR UNIT IN THE DESERT? MY ELECTRICITY
USAGE IS AVG.
Windspire is ‘grid-ready’.
But does it tie into the grid? (I mean standart) if not it’s not really usable if you ask me..
Hey Aaron,
I had been remiss in posting about Windspire for awhile. We need more wind power tech that people can afford. I’ll check out your post.
Seems like we covered most of the same ground (and that you beat me to the punch by two days), but if your readers are interested in another perspective on Windspire — 1greenproduct.com/2008/08/outdoor-home-windspire-wind-turbine.html
Really enjoy reading The Alternative Consumer, by the way. Keep up the great work!
- Aaron Dalton, 1GreenProduct.com