Power of good at Scarsdale

Ballarat Courier
Saturday 7/4/2007 Page: 6

NOT only are Peter and Stephanie Bell doing their bit for the environment, but they also never have to worry about electricity bills. With so much talk of climate change, everyone is thinking about their ecological footprint. The Scarsdale two are determined to make theirs as small as possible.

A small wind turbine on top of their house combined with solar panels is enough to keep their house going almost all year routed. A back-up generator means they are not even connected to the electricity grid.

"We run the generator probably twice a year in winter," he said. "We've got enough power in the batteries to probably do without sunshine for about seven days." The Bells moved to their Scarsdale property about 20 years ago.

They raised four children using the power from four small solar panels. About three years ago they added another six panels and the turbine. Our initial system got us enough power to keep the house going,"

Peter said. If the kids wanted to run the computer to do their homework they had to turn the television off- which wasn't a bad thing. "Now that we've upgraded the system we can run anything off it - I even run power tools in the shed."

Anyone thinking of installing a turbine should contact their council, however. A Golden Plains Shire spokeswoman said some homes needed a permit, depending on a variety of factors.

Contrary to popular belief, the Bells' turbine is smaller than their aerial and creates very little noise. Peter said most of his neighbours were also using alternative energy and hopes the idea catches on. "We're not doing anything special, but we think it's the way to go," he said.