Thoughts on living near wind turbines?

[hudsoncomplex]

I've mentioned this in another thread, but my wife and I are looking at buying a new house. Somewhere out of town, with some land for our dogs to run on.

We found a pretty awesome place, but there are planned wind farms across the road.

Anyone live near turbines, or know anyone who does? Any stories of health problems?

[Emo Revival]

From what I've read any health problems associated are psychosomatic and not actually from anything real. Can't speak to noise though.

[chamb117]

no health problems associated with wind turbines. birds die, though. so there are health problems for birds.

[mac1]

Unless you are the one scamming the gov't for the subsidy, don't do it.  Would you live under power lines?  They say the same stuff above.  Your $100 monthly electricity bill is not worth the risk.   Find somewhere else.  

[thebiglebowski]

Someone wanna enlighten me to the scientific reasoning anyone would have to worry about this? Been a long time since I had physics 2 and I forgot all the electromagnetic field equations and stuff like that but I think that the conclusion drawn was that the strength of electric fields dies pretty quickly with distance (which is why everyone lives around power lines way up in the air....the electric field around an insulated wire is nothing with a little bit of distance from it).

 

I would be 99% focused on the wind noise aspect of it. People don't worry about health effects of generators when their power goes out the only difference is whether gasoline or wind is creating the electricity.

[Guest]

Nothing to contribute to this other than my roommates dad builds these things for a living. I got to visit a site one day while they were assembling one. they were HUGE. those cranes are some serious stuff, it can be kind of dangerous.

[futures]

While I understand the benefit of wind technology, those turbines are terrifying.  They make me feel queasy so I personally would not choose to live near them.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Unless you are the one scamming the gov't for the subsidy, don't do it.  Would you live under power lines?  They say the same stuff above.  Your $100 monthly electricity bill is not worth the risk.   Find somewhere else.  

 

LOL WUT

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

I've mentioned this in another thread, but my wife and I are looking at buying a new house. Somewhere out of town, with some land for our dogs to run on.

We found a pretty awesome place, but there are planned wind farms across the road.

Anyone live near turbines, or know anyone who does? Any stories of health problems?

 

by across the road, how far in actual distance are you talking about?  like, "the blade be spinning above your house" close?

[fueledbymike]

I dont get while people are hating on these so much and why they are so scared of them. I understand the noise a little bit, but dont see where the fear comes from.

[Guest]

The only real danger would be if the wind turbine exploded or collapsed, which has happened in the past. The dangers from electromagnetic fields would be minimal since the transmission lines are typically underground to the turbines.

As far as noise nuisance/effects on the view/etc., that would be an issue but you'd probably get used to it after a while.

[Shitty Rambo]

I imagine you'd get used to the noise. You getting a good deal on it because of this? If not then look elsewhere or ask if you can live inside of one.

[hudsoncomplex]

by across the road, how far in actual distance are you talking about? like, "the blade be spinning above your house" close?

It would be across the road and then across a 50+ acre field. Probably 1/4 or 1/2 a mile. There's always potential that they'll build more, though.

[hudsoncomplex]

The house is listed at $359,900 CAD. That might seem like a lot to you 'mericans but to buy anything with any sort of land in SW Ontario is expensive. We live basically right between Windsor and Toronto. The most inhabited area of our fine country.

I think we could use the turbines going up as an advantage when buying. Hopefully get the place for $330k or something.

Most people we've talked to say it'll hurt resale value, but we'll be staying there for 30+ years so that really won't matter.

My wife had a good point, though. What if we start getting headaches or something from the turbines and then can't sell, or take a huge loss because of it. Or what if our dogs become anxious because of the noise. We already have one dog with a few screws loose, I can't imagine all of them being like that.

[crime]

Funny enough I work for a company that does a lot of Environmental Assessment Impact studies for wind farms.  I'm actually working on two right now.

The companies that construct the wind farms spend millions and millions of dollars to make sure the turbines do not effect the natural environment around them (that's where I come in ... I get paid to do such studies or at least have a hand in them).  They also have to make sure they will not effect any human life around them.  Like it was mentioned earlier in the thread any health problems are psychosomatic.  If the general public knew the strict Ministry guidelines companies have to meet they would largely shut up about these "health" problems.  Case in point one wind farm I worked on only got approved earlier this year and we've been working on it for three years.

[thebiglebowski]

Most people we've talked to say it'll hurt resale value, but we'll be staying there for 30+ years so that really won't matter.

 

 

Anytime anyone tells you not to buy a house because of resale value tell them they know nothing about real estate. There are factors that push prices up and down. The key is to use the factors pushing it down to your advantage to get a good price. If you are willing to pay $300k to buy the house even with wind turbines making some noise, why would you not expect someone else to pay $300k (adjusted for inflation / market) later?

 

Use it to your advantage, get a good price, and don't try and predict the future cause no one can.

[mac1]

The fact you write studies that tell buyers that the only people who will have problems with the blades are "psychosomatic" seems kinda harsh and one-sided. The old "you're crazy" defense.  On the only solar-wind project I was involved with the turbine designer was the most concerned about sun flicker from the rotating blades.  I think the whole industry is a scam and waste of money.   He could always write a study, or get one written, to say there would never be an impact on any project.   Then all about the subsidy.  

 

In my neck of the woods, one big-ass wind mill stands idle after the gear shaft busted and the maintenance company ran to Canada.  So although no electricity is being produced no one cares because the feds keep sending the checks to pay the financing and the politicians have moved on to bigger "green" projects government subsidies to finance.   

 

More importantly to the topic.  Do you live near a wind turbine?  Would you after your experience writing impact studies?  

 

 

Funny enough I work for a company that does a lot of Environmental Assessment Impact studies for wind farms.  I'm actually working on two right now.

The companies that construct the wind farms spend millions and millions of dollars to make sure the turbines do not effect the natural environment around them (that's where I come in ... I get paid to do such studies or at least have a hand in them).  They also have to make sure they will not effect any human life around them.  Like it was mentioned earlier in the thread any health problems are psychosomatic.  If the general public knew the strict Ministry guidelines companies have to meet they would largely shut up about these "health" problems.  Case in point one wind farm I worked on only got approved earlier this year and we've been working on it for three years.

[Derek™]

I imagine it blows.

[bigbruise]

I imagine it blows.

[hudsoncomplex]

Funny enough I work for a company that does a lot of Environmental Assessment Impact studies for wind farms. I'm actually working on two right now.

The companies that construct the wind farms spend millions and millions of dollars to make sure the turbines do not effect the natural environment around them (that's where I come in ... I get paid to do such studies or at least have a hand in them). They also have to make sure they will not effect any human life around them. Like it was mentioned earlier in the thread any health problems are psychosomatic. If the general public knew the strict Ministry guidelines companies have to meet they would largely shut up about these "health" problems. Case in point one wind farm I worked on only got approved earlier this year and we've been working on it for three years.

Hey dude. Just curious. Do you work for a wind farm company? Apparently there are some ministry of enviro studies being done right now, but won't be completed until 2014.

The company putting up the turbines in Norwich Twnship is called Prowind.

[crime]

I work for an environmental engineering firm.  Companies hire us to do the studies they need to submit to the Ministry.  I don't think we have any projects in Norwich.

[crime]

The fact you write studies that tell buyers that the only people who will have problems with the blades are "psychosomatic" seems kinda harsh and one-sided. The old "you're crazy" defense.  On the only solar-wind project I was involved with the turbine designer was the most concerned about sun flicker from the rotating blades.  I think the whole industry is a scam and waste of money.   He could always write a study, or get one written, to say there would never be an impact on any project.   Then all about the subsidy.  

 

In my neck of the woods, one big-ass wind mill stands idle after the gear shaft busted and the maintenance company ran to Canada.  So although no electricity is being produced no one cares because the feds keep sending the checks to pay the financing and the politicians have moved on to bigger "green" projects government subsidies to finance.   

 

More importantly to the topic.  Do you live near a wind turbine?  Would you after your experience writing impact studies?  

 

I don't just write studies and pull facts out of my ass.  There are very strict guidelines that must be followed/met when designing/engineering a wind farm.  I've spent the past three years doing this, so I know quite well.  There is so much involved (most of which the public doesn't know about).  For example, in Ontario a Wind Turbine can not be within 120m of a residential dwelling.  So you have to run spatial queries to ensure that your turbine locations are not within 120m of a house.  Then you also have to make sure it's not within a certain distance from things such as watercourses, breeding bird habitats, bat habitats, noise sensitive receptors (ie. hospitals, schools, churches).  The lists go on and on and on.  Once you've made sure that your wind farm meets all these criteria, then you have to submit to the Ministry (of the Environment), where they go over everything and can request that you move turbine locations.  It takes years and years to develop these before they even go into construction.  All the while you must have constant public consultation with the communities involved, where residents are informed of everything that his happening with the project and can let their voices be heard.

 

For one wind farm project we worked on our public consultation department did a follow up study with those people opposed to having the wind turbines constructed in their community.  For this one community 2 out of 3 people who took issue with the turbines had originally been offered to have one constructed on their property and did not respond to the initial request.  It was not until after they learned how much money their neighbours were making from having a turbine on their property that they started to oppose the idea.

 

At the end of the day, companies pay millions of dollars to ensure these wind farms will not harm anyone.  9 times out of 10 any firm that is hired to provide a study showing that they do are some mom and pop operation just looking for a quick pay cheque and some publicity, and do not have the means (people, technology, money) to do a proper (ministry approved) study.

[Buffbloom]

I watched a YouTube video about some guy who lived near one and during the day his house would go from daytime to nighttime every few seconds as the turbine blades blocked out the sun and put his house in a giant shadow.

[thebiglebowski]

I don't just write studies and pull facts out of my ass.  There are very strict guidelines that must be followed/met when designing/engineering a wind farm.  I've spent the past three years doing this, so I know quite well.  There is so much involved (most of which the public doesn't know about).  For example, in Ontario a Wind Turbine can not be within 120m of a residential dwelling.  So you have to run spatial queries to ensure that your turbine locations are not within 120m of a house.  Then you also have to make sure it's not within a certain distance from things such as watercourses, breeding bird habitats, bat habitats, noise sensitive receptors (ie. hospitals, schools, churches).  The lists go on and on and on.  Once you've made sure that your wind farm meets all these criteria, then you have to submit to the Ministry (of the Environment), where they go over everything and can request that you move turbine locations.  It takes years and years to develop these before they even go into construction.  All the while you must have constant public consultation with the communities involved, where residents are informed of everything that his happening with the project and can let their voices be heard.

 

For one wind farm project we worked on our public consultation department did a follow up study with those people opposed to having the wind turbines constructed in their community.  For this one community 2 out of 3 people who took issue with the turbines had originally been offered to have one constructed on their property and did not respond to the initial request.  It was not until after they learned how much money their neighbours were making from having a turbine on their property that they started to oppose the idea.

 

At the end of the day, companies pay millions of dollars to ensure these wind farms will not harm anyone.  9 times out of 10 any firm that is hired to provide a study showing that they do are some mom and pop operation just looking for a quick pay cheque and some publicity, and do not have the means (people, technology, money) to do a proper (ministry approved) study.

 

Do you have any idea about the general cost-effectiveness of these working in the industry. Just curious. Something like they cost X dollars to build, Y dollars to maintain a year, and generate on average Z kilowatts of electricity each year.

[hudsoncomplex]

Went and looked at the house in turbine ally today. Super nice place but I'm not sure we can make the land work for fencing the dogs in.

The search continues.