Across the country, from Cornwall to Orkney, people are reducing energy costs and carbon emissions by generating their own energy using the power in the wind.

One particular example is a farming family in Cornwall; their decision to convert their Aga from oil to electric and install a small wind turbine to power it has significantly reduced their energy costs.

The Stubbs family, who run a beef farm near Bude, took the decision to purchase an Evance R9000 small wind turbine due to its all-round performance record. Installed in February 2012, the turbine now powers the family home and some outbuildings.

Patrick Stubbs, who runs the farm, said: “We live in a windy area - our average wind speed is around 6.4 m/s - so a turbine was the natural choice for us. Anyone in a windy location should be maximising its potential!”

Mr Stubbs undertook extensive online research to compare the models of wind turbines available, and the Evance R9000 small wind turbine came out as the top performer across all measures, including reliability and efficiency.

“With the cost of oil continually on the rise we decided to maximise our investment by converting our oil fired Aga to electric. This means, at any one time, our cooking, heating and lighting can be powered by green energy,” he added.

This will result in an estimated annual saving of around £1,500 per year in electricity costs and the family expects to halve their oil bill.

The investment has environmental benefits too as it will reduce the farm's carbon footprint by approx 7.5 tonnes of CO2. This is a definite benefit for Mr Stubbs, who has a real passion for investing in the environment.

He said: “I would encourage any property or land owner who lives in an exposed area to consider getting their wind speed checked and look into the potential of wind power. We are already exporting electricity back to the grid when we produce more than we can use. It's all part of our ambition to be as energy self-sufficient as possible.”

Kevin Parslow, chief executive officer of Evance Wind Turbines, said his firm was seeing an increasing number of customers, such as dairy farmers and small businesses, installing two or three R9000 turbines, as 10kW and 15kW solutions could be more flexible than a single larger machine.

“I believe small wind turbines have an important contribution to make to individuals and communities, as well as renewable energy targets. The potential impact of small wind has yet to be realised,” added Mr Parslow.