Living with a pylon
We are looking at houses and one has a pylon in the garden. Aesthetically it doesnt bother me but the fact it might cause me to have migraines does. There are also scares but no proven links to other things like cancer that dont worry me as much. is the
migraine issue a real one does anyone know?
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I wouldn't do it, to be honest. There are so many stories about problems that it wouldn't be worth the risk. We even turned down the best pitch on the site where we have our caravan in North Yorkshire, because it was too near to overhead power cables!
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I wouldn't do it, not because I have any proof that nasty things may happen to me, but what happens if in 10/20 years time you want to sell and there is conclusive proof that power lines cause problems, it might be difficult to shift and you could lose money
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We had a large junction box up on poles near our garden when we first arrived, it made a humming sound and I was very glad when work was carried out and the box was re-routed a lot further away. Just on noise grounds I would avoid it. (I don't believe in any health worries but background noise can be a problem.)
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Been married to one for 49 years, Mrs A if 6 foot 9 inches tall !!
Admiral
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I would never buy a house near a pylon. Two years ago, when we were looking at houses, we almost bought a bungalow which was everything we wanted......good location, right size and age, nice neighbourhood but when the survey came back, it mentioned a 'substation'
adjoining the garden and said that it could affect the re-sale value should we decide to sell in the future because of 'public perception'. The survey was a private one so obviously, the surveyor was un-biased. We looked for another property and eventually,
bought this one and since that, quite a few people told us that they would never buy a house near a pylon or substation but no-one said anything to us at the time!!
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I fully agree with all that has been said! I am not one normally inclined to worry about "Old Wives tales" but that is one that I would never risk! There is far to much evidence around. a great deal of it gathered by people who do know what they are talking
about, to ignore!NO NEVER!
TF
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Well two years ago, we were told (after researching the subject) that there has been no evidence one way or another but as the research is on-going, who knows what will come out in the future? Too much of a risk when you think of the money that could be lost!
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Don't know about health reasons but we were walking in Grubingen, Germany and the overhead cables took a downward turn to follow the hillside contour. I had on open toe walking sandals and thought I was walking on stinging nettles, until we realised the grass beneath the wires was standing tall, trying to reach the sky, it was static and we could hear the crackling between the grass and our toes.
Slightly off topic and nothing to do with your post, but brought back a memory and maybe a warning of static electricity on a damp day
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Talk about de je vu (or however its spelt). I've been looking at pylons and how there's loads of them about. You would think, after all these years, that they could be hidden, like underground. Pylons are as much of a blot on the landscape as windmills
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If power cables are buried you do not need pylons. However, soil is a very poor insulator compared to air, so to stop the electricity just running off into the ground one has to add insulation. And it is a lot of insulation as these distribution wires carry
much higer voltages than what one has in a house or office.The high voltage is needed to reduce the losses sending the electricity around the country. There is a loss in the low(er) voltage local distribution to houses and offices but the distance is short. The humming boxes that get mentioned are part of the arrangement
to make low voltage electricity out of high.So this highly insulated cable is very very expensive, and has to be armoured as well to deter errant diggers from hitting the high spots. And as it is buried, there is a lot of disruption to repair a fault or replace at the end of safe liftime.
Recent cost comparisons quoted during the discussions about replacing long distance overhead lines in Scotland with buried cables mentioned costs of three to ten times as costly depending on terrain.
(for those who noticed, no mention of factories etc as I dont want to start on phases!)
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Thanks folks. The aesthetics and the resale dont really worry us that much but the migraine risk does. OH thinks the hum might and of course the other health risks might or might not be a factor. We do currently live not far from a substation but I suppose
it is all about voltages and distances. How far away is OK? 100 yards, 200? Half a mile?0 -
There have been several medical studies linked to depression in areas close by pylons and underground cables.From memory there was a study done in one UK town and medicall histories were taken from residents and there was a causal link to depression in and around the position of underground cables and pylons.The evidence for cancer was less conclusive but depression was very conclusive.I have retired now but will search my documents and see if I can reproduce the study and will inform yhou of this. There has also been evidence of birth defects in cows grazing in fields where there are several electricity Pylons.This work I believed to be ongoing. SG2
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There have been several medical studies linked to depression in areas close by pylons and underground cables.From memory there was a study done in one UK town and medicall histories were taken from residents and there was a causal link to depression in
and around the position of underground cables and pylons.The evidence for cancer was less conclusive but depression was very conclusive.I have retired now but will search my documents and see if I can reproduce the study and will inform yhou of this. There
has also been evidence of birth defects in cows grazing in fields where there are several electricity Pylons.This work I believed to be ongoing. SG2Write your comments here...One of the papers was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology 2009.titled"Residence near Power Lines and Mortality from Neurodegenerative diseases in a study of Swiss Population. written by Professor Matthias Egger
and Anke Huss. Sg20 -
It is difficult to say whether there is an increased risk of migrains as some people may be more susceptible than others. It is very common to hear a crackling noise which would be a lot louder late at night when everywhere goes quiet and any noise would
be never ending. I won't put our caravan under high voltage cables. Not for me.0 -
mny years ago some twenty anyway i was driving on the A417 when the battery on the car went flat i coasted down hill into a gateway which was under some power cables the main type, when the break down turn up he trid to jumpstart the car when he and i had
a real bad shock of the car. so we towed the car to a layby and tried again and it was all ok, was it to do wiyh the power lines your guess is as good as mine malc0 -
I read the title as 'living with a python' and was a bit surprised when electricity was mentioned.
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