Follow this proven checklist to evaluate, install, and connect a residential wind turbine and solar system to cut your energy bill.
Based on: ASK This Old House | Home Energy Special (S14 E4) FULL EPISODE by This Old House
▶ Watch the source video on YouTube
What if your electric meter could spin backwards — and your neighbors got to use the clean electricity you made? That moment, captured live on This Old House, is the kind of payoff most homeowners never think is possible for a regular residential property. But it is. And it might be closer than you think.
Here's the frustrating reality: powering, heating, and cooling a home is the second biggest expense most families carry after their mortgage. Energy costs keep climbing, and the feeling of being locked into whatever the utility company charges is exhausting. You've probably looked into solar, maybe wind, maybe even geothermal — and then gotten completely lost in the technical details, the cost questions, and the fear of making a $10,000 mistake.
Now imagine this instead. You know exactly which renewable technology fits your property. Your turbine is up, your solar panels are running, and your system is grid-tied so you never lose power — but you're generating so much clean energy that you're feeding electricity back to the grid. Your 11-year payback clock is ticking, and every sunny afternoon and windy night is working for you. Your mechanical room looks like the spotless, efficient German systems Richard Trethewey spent 30 years admiring — pellet boilers, solar thermal tanks, thermostatic radiator valves, all working in harmony. That's not a fantasy. That's exactly what the experts at This Old House walked through in detail.
This Old House has been the most trusted name in home improvement for decades. In this special energy episode, Richard Trethewey traveled to Germany to document the world's most advanced residential energy systems, and his son Ross Trethewey led a full residential wind turbine installation on a Texas ranch — from the concrete foundation to the first kilowatt of live power. These are real installs, real costs, real payback calculations, and real lessons from professionals who do this for a living.
This checklist turns every insight from that episode into a step-by-step action plan you can actually follow. Whether you're evaluating wind versus solar for your property, planning a pellet boiler system, understanding how grid-tied net metering works, or just trying to figure out what a nacelle is — this PDF has you covered. Every step is grounded directly in what the This Old House team showed and explained on camera.
Download the checklist, work through it at your own pace, and start making decisions with confidence.
Every checklist item comes with actionable notes to guide you — things like "Don't forget to do this before you start," "Avoid this common mistake," or "Set a reminder for 30 days out." Nothing vague, just clear next steps.
+ 20 more action items inside...
Instant PDF download. Start taking action today.
✓ Instant download · ✓ PDF format · ✓ No subscription