Kiss Wind Generator

January 2005
Rating: Good

KISS is the brand of wind generator we currently use.

We switched up to a Kiss wind generator after we decided our Ampair was insufficient. In the 9 months we have been out, the KISS has proved its worth.

We are by far in the lowest 1% of cruising boats needing to run generators. We have used our generator for about 10 hours in the entire time we have been out. True, the solar panels help as well, but the further south we have come, the more reliable the wind has gotten.

The generator itself is a pretty simplistic device and it is cruiser maintainable. The blades are silent up to about 15 knots, but by then the wind in the rigging is making enough noise to be audible as well. We run our's unregulated, which is not very popular with most cruisers, but I also get 15 - 20% more output in the same wind as others, so it's a trade off.

Many days we make so much power that I turn the freezer down as cold as it will go, charge up both lap tops, watch a DVD and still have to shut the wind gen down so we don't overcharge the system.

I'd definitely recommend this product, but be forewarned, I have never had to deal with customer support, which I've heard second hand that it can be a bit frustrating.