How to tell if it's worth getting a wind turbine in your garden

Telegraph

18 hours ago

Domestic heat pump uptake surged in the past year, while solar panels – despite a slight slump – are still the runaway leader for renewable energy installations. Homeowner appetite for wind power, however, is down in the doldrums.
This is despite Ed Miliband's mass expansion plan for Britain's onshore wind infrastructure, which could involve relaxing planning laws for home installations.
The industry's accreditation body, the MCS Foundation, wants homeowners and farmers to be given the right to install 30m turbines without the need for planning permission.
But with high installation costs and limited output, is wind power a financially sound investment for your home? Telegraph Money delves into the details.
Types of domestic wind turbines
Is there a demand for domestic wind turbines?
Other costs and upkeep
When will you break even?
How to boost the money-making potential
Do I need planning permission?
How much wind power do you need?
Could height restrictions change?
Types of domestic wind turbines
There are two types of turbines that can be installed at domestic properties, with costs varying considerably. They are nowhere near the size of commercial turbines you see out at sea or in clusters on land.
Roof-mounted turbine
Installed on top of the property's roof or on the gable end, this type of turbine has the advantage of height. However, the top of the turbine cannot be more than 15m off the ground.
They are smaller than standalone turbines, so the power is limited. Expect to generate a maximum of two kilowatts (kW) of electricity a day, against the average UK home usage of 8kWh. You'll therefore need to top up your energy from your existing grid supplier.
Costs range from around £1,500 to £3,000.
Pole-mounted turbine
Free-standing turbines work best in a large, open place that's exposed to the wind. They can generate around 6kW of electricity.
Those installed via permitted development rights (more on this later) cannot exceed 11.1m in height, but others granted with planning permission can be larger.
Costs vary widely depending on the size. For a 1.5kWh turbine, the typical cost is between £7,000 and £10,000. For a 5kW free-standing model, £25,000 is the ballpark figure, while a large 15kW machine will set you back around £70,000.
Is there a demand for domestic wind turbines?
Since a de facto ban on onshore wind was lifted by Labour a year ago, only a handful of applications for domestic turbines have been submitted.
A revolution in small-scale onshore wind has failed to materialise, and experts doubt it will ever become reality.
Oxford University's Prof Jan Rosenow, who has advised Ofgem, said: 'Small wind turbines in gardens rarely make sense because of poor wind conditions, low output, high costs, noise, maintenance needs, and better alternatives like solar.
'They're more of a novelty or a statement piece than a practical energy solution for most homeowners.'
Ryse Energy, a manufacturer, said more than half of its new enquiries are from customers looking to combine wind with an existing solar panel system at their home to provide year-round energy security (solar predominantly in the summer, and wind in the winter).
Other costs and upkeep
Aside from the purchase, it also costs to have the turbine installed at your property.
Figures from Checkatrade show the price tags can be hefty. The average installation cost for a roof-mounted wind turbine is £1,000, while installing a free-standing wind turbine – where foundations are required – can jump upwards of £5,000.
You will need to undertake maintenance checks every few years, at a cost of around £200.
The inverter may also need to be replaced during the turbine's lifespan. For a typical 5-6kW domestic turbine, this will cost around £1,000.
Additionally, batteries for off-grid energy storage need to be replaced around every five to 10 years. This can also be a four-figure bill.
When will you break even?
With the purchase being a significant outlay, it will likely take more than a decade to recoup the initial investment.
According to Greenmatch, a 1.5kW turbine costing £7,000 will take 14.5 years to break even. A medium-power 5kW turbine will take 18 years, while the large 15kW machine will break even in 15 years.
Having recouped your money, you can then enjoy generating electricity essentially free of charge. However, this will most likely be a short-lived period as turbines typically have a lifespan of 20 years before they need replacing.
Maximilian Schwerdtfeger, of adviser group The Eco Experts, said: 'For most consumers, a roof-mounted domestic wind turbine on its own will generate between 200kW and 1,000kW of energy a year, which is not enough to make a significant dent in their bills.
'For example, the average three-bed house uses about 2,700kWh of electricity a year.
'What it can do, however, is generate electricity that you can store in a battery to be either used later or exported back to the grid.
'The largest stand-alone wind turbines are only really suited for farms or properties with a lot of land, although these could potentially generate enough energy to cut your bills down to nothing.'
How to boost the money-making potential
To boost revenue, you can sell excess energy – if you have any – back to the grid.
The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme is a power-selling scheme introduced in 2020 by the Government.
This means you get paid for every unit of electricity you feed back to the grid. Your home will need an export meter and a Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) certificate.
It will also likely need to have a smart meter capable of providing half-hourly export readings.
Providers have to buy everything you sell, but they can set the price themselves and it does vary, so you should look into which one is best for you.
The provider you buy your grid power from may offer you a better export deal. For example, Octopus buys power for 15p/kWh for existing customers and 4.1p for new customers.
As most small-scale domestic wind turbines will not generate enough power to leave you with excess electricity, the perks of this scheme are limited.
SEG is better suited for homeowners with solar panels. Last year, only 19 new turbines were hooked up to the SEG scheme, compared to 283,597 solar installations.
The average domestic turbine supplying power back to the grid had a capacity of 50.4kW, with a total of £37,851 paid to homeowners in return for the excess power.
The two properties with turbines less than or equal to 4kW capacity received an average of just £17 from the SEG scheme last year.
Meanwhile, the 12 properties with turbines between 10kW and 50kW in power received average payments of £2,029 for their excess electricity.
How much wind power do you need?
Typically, a wind speed of six meters per second is the minimum average speed for a domestic wind turbine to be considered viable. It is the equivalent of a 13mph wind, so with the average UK wind speed coming in at around 9mph last year, the feasibility for a residential turbine in most areas is low.
That's without bringing nearby obstructions into the equation, such as trees and buildings, which further hamper turbine wind speeds.
Across the UK, renewable wind generation fell by 13pc in the first three months of 2025 due to near record low wind speeds.
Do I need planning permission?
Rules vary across British nations, with Wales and Northern Ireland having the tightest planning permission laws for turbines.
In England, permitted development rights allow a wind turbine to be mounted on to a detached house or an outbuilding without planning permission, if these criteria are met:
You don't already have an air source heat pump at the property
No part of the turbine, including the blades, protrudes more than 3m above the highest part of the roof, excluding the chimney, or be more than 15m off the ground
Blades are at least 5m above ground level, and no part of the turbine is within 5m from the site boundary
It is not on land designated as a Scheduled Monument or within the curtilage of a listed building, a National Park, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, an area designated under s41(3) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, the Norfolk Broads or a World Heritage Site
The turbine complies with MCS standards or equivalent.
Similar rules apply for stand-alone wind turbines, but these can be installed via permitted development rights within the garden of any house or block of flats.
The main difference is the highest part of the turbine must not exceed 11.1m in height.
Could height restrictions change?
The 11.1m rule is what MCS wants the Government to change by increasing the limit to 30m – which is the height of the Christ Redeemer statue and 1.5 times the height of the Angel of the North.
MCS argued that permitted development rights already allow for mobile phone masts to reach 30m in height in non-protected areas and up to 25m in protected areas.
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, said his party would 'not tolerate' the introduction of 30m domestic turbines.
He said: 'Allowing the tripling of wind turbine heights in residential areas is outrageous. This relentless net zero push will trash property values and turn our towns and villages into industrial eyesores.'
The National Farmers Union has backed calls for tweaks to planning law.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, said a change 'would cut unnecessary red tape' and allow farmers to 'make the most of clean energy opportunities'.
'Many farmers already generate renewable energy on-site, but access to a reliable power source remains a barrier,' he said.
The Government has signalled that height restrictions could be altered in the future.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said evolutions in onshore wind turbine technology and increased demand for small-scale onshore wind turbines 'may allow for an update' to planning laws last reviewed in 2011. A public consultation on loosening the rules will be launched by the end of the year.