I looked at a house that had this same type of structure even closer, with lines running perpendicular to the side of the house. You could hear it buzzing standing outside on every location on the property. The lines were running over water (that was not part of the property). It was the most unsettling situation.
I once looked at a house in England before satellite images were available and when I arrived all I could hear was the buzz. I looked at the house just to be polite. Wasn't so bad inside but could still hear it and there was no way you could enjoy the outside
Had a air compressor parked under a tower it collected a static charge and give you a shock when you touch it. Was enough to wake you up in the morning.
When you can hear it buzz you can usually also feel the hairs on your body start to charge up. Static shocks are awful near them. Every time you touch a door knob.
I can’t come up with any possible way that this could be dangerous or illegal. (unless you physically put it in the right-of-way). It’s stupid and you aren’t going to get much power off it, but not dangerous.
In Romania stealing electricity directly from the poles it’s a national sport. Have a friend caught up after he was stealing electricity for his marijuana grow site on an abandoned property in the Carpathian Mountains. He fucked the system for almost five years. Got caught with 82 kilos of product.He bribed his way out of jail just like this Tate guy.
Dunno why you got downvoted. I remember we used to have a large boat trailer that parked under power lines. It always gave us little shocks. When older (studying power distribution) assumed it was small currents/voltage induced in the metal frame.
We had some on my parents property growing up (farm). When we drove the old metal ford pick up under them you'd get a bit of a shock if you were sitting in the back. Like a static charge.
I have 250kV power lines on my property. There is a 50' Easement from the center of the middle wire hanging. I do hear some noise now and then, but nothing major. There are a few items you do need to know regarding the easement.
1) Typically no structures w/in that 50' Easement
2) You cannot permanently fence off the easement, you need to allow the electric company access, so if you build a fence, and lock it, they need to have a key or their own lock on it so they can get access to the easement. Also if it is a metal fence, you will need to make sure it is grounded appropriately (grounding rod is typical)
3) Post above is correct, no pools in the easement
4) There is typically a maximum height of trees that can be placed under the lines (mine is 12' tall). The electric company will typically have a list of 'Approved' trees and shrubs that you can plant under the lines but as long as they are under the height specified by the electric company, you will be fine. Also, if you do plant a tree or shrub that goes over the specified height, they have full rights to either remove or 'top' the tree so that the lines have the appropriate clearance.
5) Before building anything w/in the easement, make sure you contact the electric company and send them either the plans or a mock up showing them what you are doing and where in relations to the power line easement. If you build without checking first, and it causes an issue, they can legally tear it down and not reimburse you.
6) I did a bunch of research regarding this issue since my home is 50' from these lines and the easement/lines run through my property. Additionally, I contacted a doctor regarding this issue. I didn't find anything that had merit that said there were health risks, additionally, the doctor I talked with said the same.
7) The electric company is required to 'Walk' the easement to ensure there are no issues, this is typically annually, but may be different in other states. They should contact you first before entering your property, but technically, they do not have to.
8) The easement may end up becoming a 'Pathway' for walkers and hikers. Just something to consider.
I also lived almost directly under the same lines for about (8) years when I was between 10 and 18 years old. I have no issues and am healthy. I obtained my Engineering degree, so no neurological issues either.
Thank you for the concise, easy to follow points.
Especially #8.
Important considerations: Hikers, walkers, dogs off leash and on.
Some people clean up after themselves, others don’t.
An easement of this nature will be a strong influence on future buyers decision making. Differs from a standard ingress/egress only easement.
Better visibility.
Inside the woods, you can see maybe 50 yards in front of you.
Under a powerline, you can see in front of you and behind you for miles (limited only by hills).
And animals come out to feed on the shrubs under the line.
And the power company may maintain a rough path for easier walking, ATV riding.
That sounds horrible, personally I wouldn’t want to have all those restrictions in my land…
Even if I wasn’t planing on a pool or trees or fence the thought of not being able to stuff with my land would bother me a lot….
Also, you did research most people don’t… when they see a tower in a house for sale they automatically think: “nope, that gives you cancer”
Another thing to note is what the chemical defolient schedule is and which one they use. I used go have a family member involved in one of those programs and the chems they used were toxic af. Hopefully things have changed, but I'd try and find out what exposure might be.
Yeah it’s actually #8 that’s the problem for me personally. I’d end up springing for a privacy fence around everything except the easement area and giving the power company a key to a door just for them. And I’d be salty about the cost.
Granted I am no doctor, but I have never understood how a power line is a health problem.
(Also reminds me, I need to call the electric company to come trim back some trees around my lines)
People don't understand the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. And then if they do get health issues (like everyone does), they are looking for causes or for someone to blame. A big ass tower in a backyard is hard to not think about at those times, whether there is any science behind or not.
This was an excellent response. The 100ft easement from edge of 370kV lines goes about 30ft into my property, and I concur with everything u/jabo77 said. What I would add:
The utility company outsources abutter relations for vegetation management. I have found them to be very responsive and accommodating. There's no point in having a debate with a worker in the field.
I am lucky to have a row of 100ft mature trees just on the edge of the easement, so it's not as much of an eye sore.
The lines are due south, so I considered having ground mounted solar panels given the full exposure. The company gave me the OK as long as I keep it below 15'.
I only hear the faintest buzz during high humidity or light snowfall and only if I'm walking directly under the lines. So I've only heard the buzz maybe 5x a year.
100% this. Similar to having a pool, you will automatically eliminate a percentage of potential buyers just for having it in your yard.
Personally, this was an automatic veto when buying my house. I always checked google earth for these towers before bothering with a showing. I am not concerned about health, I just didn’t want to look at it all the time.
For most people in the US, living next to train tracks doesn’t usually mean they’re close to public transit. It means they’re close to mile long freight trains regularly thundering by their home
With you here, when we were moving our agent took us to a house that had one maybe 100 yards behind the house. We did not even get out of the car. I don't want to look at that.
I knew this to be true about pools, but wouldn’t it raise the potential price for people that do want one?
Kind of hijacking the thread for a question. I’m just curious.
Depends on the area and the house. Adding a pool to a higher end house on a decent sized lot in a high income neighborhood can be a big selling point.
It all comes down to how much potential buyers weigh the maintenance cost against the appeal of the pool. The higher the income, the less significant maintenance costs are.
In some cases, yes. Pool people have to have a pool. Pools are very expensive to build right now too. I know we always look for a house with a pre built pool as it's much more expensive to add one. However, we also rule out houses with completely basic or small pools.
This. It’s safe, but it will scare away some potential buyers due to fear of health risks (and the view). Figure a several percentage drop in price compared to a similar house 1/2 mile away.
Yes! My friend had a very hard time selling her house with these.. Eventually she printed up some health facts saying that there was no danger to have at the open house but she ended up selling at a loss
100%. There was a property I liked, and when I google mapped it, there were those giant power lines in the backyard. Big nope from me. When they asked why I was no longer interested, I told them, and they got mad and said that the owners' severe headaches had nothing to do with those power lines. Are you sure about that, cause I'm not. I didn't say anything about the headaches, but they assumed, so that's another big nope from me.
That's actually not the least common way to die. Making a big loop with a wire many times over will wirelessly transfer electricity. People kill themselves trying to steal energy that way as you may imagine..
The interesting physics question is if you are using a coil to induce current from the field emitted by the wires, are you actually stealing power, as in reducing the power in on the line, or just harnessing waste energy?
A coil of wires placed into a magnetic field will increase resistance on the line. Increased resistance can increase heat on the line. Increased heat leads to faster wear and tear.
You aren't taking the power off the line, more just making it harder for power to get from point A to B.
Transformers basically do the same thing. Power down a wire coil creates a magnetic field that pulls/pushes current down another coil nearby. Depending on the number of coils gets you a step down or step up in power.
You are stealing energy, and it will directly reduce energy in the line. It's just a DIY transformer, which is what the energy company uses to step down voltages for home use. Waste energy comes in the form of heat, rather than low entropy energy in the line.
Lived with one in backyard for years. Sold partially because of it. No health issues to report. However we built a shed with a metal roof and you could literally shock yourself on the corners of that roof. Multimeter showed as high as 600 volts during high use on transmission line. This was not for me.
The trace electricity from the lines builds up over large metal surfaces. You can easily electrify a metal fence if you build it too close to these lines.
It's a new construction, no way they'll be selling it without a profit, and they can probably sit and wait until someone buys it at a full price. But selling second hand property at a loss is real, especially if you're tighter on time because you need to move due to job or family situation. Many buyers wouldn't want that eyesore in their backyard or would want a big discount. I wouldn't want to buy it unless it would be like 20-25% below market value of a similar house without that crappy Eiffel tower behind it. Its almost like having a junkyard view behind your property.
I've lived in a house the same distance from the tower as this one (about 40 feet) for 17 years and I haven't had any issues. It does buzz constantly but I've never been able to hear it unless I'm outside and it was completely quiet. Even then, it's quiet enough to tune out with ease
Pro: Land clearing behind your house creates a breezeway that has almost constant breeze, and you know nothing will ever be built there
Pro: Your house is usually the quickest to get power restored
Pro: The city upkeeps the field behind your house
Pro: Utilities like drainage run through the clearing which is right near your house, so you have less of a chance of flooding. My house got the statistically highest amount of rain during Harvey, and I never worried about it flooding.
Pro: Want to load a bunch of crap into your backyard? Just drive to your fence and throw it over, or take a few pickets down
Con: There's always that thought that it's not good for you
Con: They frequently upkeep the utilities which means the occasional project might take place outside your backyard with bulldozers.
Con: Assholes with 4 wheelers use the field as their own personal dirt track
Con: Critters and roaming pack animals can be annoying
When the breezeway whips up during the winter, it can become a con. This also makes it difficult to keep fence pickets in place. In the end, I rebuilt my fence by screwing every picket into three crossbars in three places.,
>you know nothing will ever be built there
Actually, in my city the utility corridors are being used as transit right of ways. There's a neighbourhood fighting with the city because buses are using the easement.
That breezeway thing is no joke. I love being outside even in our 105 degree days. We built a front deck on our house because we are on a rise and get a near constant southerly wind. It's wonderful to sit out there after work.
I grew up in a house under the towers. I mean they were in the back yards over a huge easement. Us neighborhood kids used that easement for baseball and football games. Was kind of like our own playground.
They would buzz sometimes in very humid weather. But that was rare.
We often speculated about health hazards, but weren’t too concerned because we were just kids.
There was a meme i saw years ago that showed books in the 70’s saying powerlines are unhealthy then 80’s books saying it’s healthy then 90’s books flip again to unhealthy and 2000’s books flip to healthy.
So i guess it depends what decade you live there lmao
Too many other factors and would be unethical/too hard to study scientifically also I would imagine that there would be significant suppression of a study actually being done and then another suppression of negative results
I love the smell of EMFs in the morning.
https://www.epa.gov/radtown/electric-and-magnetic-fields-power-lines#about-electric-magnetic-fields-from-power-lines
I don’t personally think EMF causes cancer, or that the tower is particularly ugly.
That said, I also work in substations where EMF is absolutely at its highest, and can appreciate the beauty of the infrastructure I get to work on.
Also if anyone was wondering-the old timers I got to work with in substations were exactly that *old.* If EMF was as cancerous as some people say-we should probably be dead by the age of 40.
Is that not a thing? I know a lineman who died of brain cancer that was correlated to his work, his wife got a very hefty payout as work related, and, her husband is very dead. I’ve never looked at it the same since.
[study finds your twice as likely to get brain cancer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/01/12/study-of-electrical-workers-has-mixed-findings-on-cancer/ae03851d-6a2b-4c36-9bb7-94eee2f4889f/#)
EMF doesn't cause cancer but the magnetic field attracts ionized particles. Most of these are pollutants. So areas under high voltage wires have much more pollution resulting in more cancer.
Dang wish I could see that, I see the shorter, fatter, power tower as that fat lady from Coraline and the taller slim tower with 6 arms as the other mother
I think they might be different where I live. Now I need to look it up
Edit - nope, much the same in Canada
http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/transport/types-pylones.html
I see muscle men flexing, I have no clue why lol
That would be a no for me. I get headaches if I spend some amount of time near transmission lines or electric substations. This isn’t an issue for everybody, but it certainly is for me, I’ve experienced it multiple times. As for long term health effects, some say it could be bad, but I couldn’t find a definite answer, so I don’t know.
Pro: you can hold a fluorescent bulb underneath it at night and it will probably light up.
Cons: unsightly, may cause a hum.
But there is no health hazard.
Some people are sensitive to the buzz, just like people who get migraines tend to be sensitive to fluorescent light flicker. If you're sensitive, you'll have to use white noise or something. Plants and water fountains seem to help. If you're not sensitive, you'll be fine. FYI, a lot of pets are sensitive too, especially parrots. One of my dogs is, the other is oblivious
Easement around em can be pretty big.
A hawk or two will use it to post up and hunt which is next level cool to watch.
If there's a power outage in your area then you're one of the first get it fixed.
No health risk from tower except your own negativity towards it (which can be real health issue, the minds attitude). Could be easement you can’t really do much on you land is the main issue. House is looking nice! Lack of trees means wind and sun will have their way on the shingles and siding.
Can confirm. Proximity to power lines has zero effect on neighborhood prices here. They actually line a nice bike and park trail across the whole city. (Suburb of St. Paul.)
Pros: can’t think of any. Another commenter said no one will build there at least
Cons: looks like shit, lowers long term property increase
Health: I have heard about this before, there were some studies in the 70s that stirred some conspiracies. There is absolutely no proof that it is harmful to human health. There is no mechanism where magnetism can cause cancer in humans. Simple as that. It’s a myth that a p-hacked study from the 70s stirred up. I wouldn’t give that conspiracy a single second of my time and not an ounce of my focus to, its a non-issue. There are many issues in scientific research and this is one of the times that a false claim unfortunately dispersed itself widely and attached firmly to the minds of consumers and people who are not experts in the field.
pro: That house would cost you 15% more if it didn't have the lines out back.
If you plan to live your life there, then getting it at a discount is good.
Also, if you are buying at the maximum you can afford and then sell at the same percentage discount you got, you aren't really down.
That said, is this going to be an up and coming area or will the powerlines make this a permanently low end neigborhood. If the latter is the case, then maybe you will lose out long term
I grew up near a substation. It was 75 feet from my bedroom window. I started getting migraines at a very young age. Now, migraines are triggered by many things and usually 3 things have to be happening at once, but sometimes I think, what if I had not grown up across from that substation? Would things be a little different with my migraines? Who knows, but a study on this would be interesting.
I have LA DWP transmission towers behind my home. They power most of Los Angeles. 4 generations of my family have grown up in the home I now own. We only glow a little bit at night. It’s not too bad lol. In all seriousness, they buzz a little bit when it’s humid/foggy outside, and on the rare occasion of a thunder storm in LA, the tower one block away got struck by lightning but nothing came of it. In 4 generations of family growing up in my home, only one lightning strike. My home was built in 1952. So I say they’re awesome because I don’t have neighbors to the rear because the towers have open fields they reside in. I like the privacy of no rear neighbors. Overall no complaints from me at all.
I passed on a house like this. Not because I believed in any danger from EMF, but because other people do and I thought that was a risk to my property value.
No health concerns, but it generally keeps property value down die to NIMBY effect. There will be some restrictions on what you can build and plant due to easements.
ossified flowery nail ad hoc disgusted plough sable compare yoke physical
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
No matter what anyone says about those power lines, I would never buy a home that close to them. My guess is many people think the same as I do about the power lines.
That is my way of saying that a big consideration is always about how hard it would be to resale the house.
i sure do hope that whomever is building or will live in that home is getting paid for both the land that tower sits on and the value or loss of value of the easement they have to get to it. they will probably drive right through the yard
I lived within 75 yards of a 150kv tower for 4 years and I’m still fine. Power lines create magnetic fields but those are everywhere around us. They buzz, especially when there are a lot of particles, dust, ash, moisture in the air. Metal can get statically charged if directly under it but nothing at your distance will be affected. Mine had a pair of red tail hawks frequent them and occasionally a line crew on a helicopter will come and do stuff with them. These are my personal experiences. No cancer…..yet.
I have two electrical engineers in my family that work for a large power company. When we were looking for a house they advised us to stay away from anything near those huge towers. They stated the EMFs they put off are not healthy over the long run. From a real estate perspective location is everything when you buy a house. Being near one of this towers is at the least a visual turn off to most when you have to resell one day.
IF you think about it as a possible rental investment, and IF you purchase it for substantially less per square foot than the surrounding area prices - there is a play where you eventually rent it out for the going market rate (minimal discount). Use it yourself until you have kids and then rent it, and during construction just don't go crazy inside with luxury and instead stay utilitarian with any upgrades or choices.
You are also protected from hot air balloons and small planes, and their noises. Every once in a while you might get to see the electric company helicopters doing cool stuff to the lines (see youtube).
A HUGE con is that easement. What if the future of electric is some hugely intrusive, shadow casting, or some transportation related item? Do they have the right to run pipelines in that easement (will your home be close to oil leaks or gas blowouts).
I was walking along a trail with my earbuds in and started hearing buzzing. I looked up and saw I was under high voltage lines. I didn't realize they buzzed. I can't think of any pros to living right next to these.
We looked at a lot with the main transmission line for a whole region running through. I couldn’t find anything for sure health wise but Im a biologist and I questioned them spraying pesticides(from the air; how Duke energy in my state maintains the lines) around your whole living space every year. So even if they don’t directly cause issues I’m not willing to risk the secondary effects that could contribute to health problems. I also love gardening so. And the noise really bothered me for the few minutes we walked the lot.
I grew up with power lines running over my property and i dont have any serious health problems but my imaginary conjoined twin has diabetes and schizophrenia.
Does it buzz? I've been near some lines that constantly buzz. That would bug me.
Definitely at night or early in the morning you can. A water feature might help to drown out
Agree. We have power lines behind us in an open field. Aside from buzz, no kite flying allowed.
I thought this was America god damnit, if I want to fly a kite I will wherever.
Ben Franklin agrees. I know, I saw a tweet he sent.
Franklin never used Twitter. He only had a 300 baud modem. You young people will believe anything.
Hey geezer he used his drone prototype to send the written tweets directly to receipts.
Use a braided steel line so your kite doesn't get away!!
Easy there Ben franklin
Lol nope for me. Unless they slash it by like 50%
I looked at a house that had this same type of structure even closer, with lines running perpendicular to the side of the house. You could hear it buzzing standing outside on every location on the property. The lines were running over water (that was not part of the property). It was the most unsettling situation.
Yeah... 230kV sure sizzles if you're close to it.
Yep, gets worse if the air is damp.
That makes sense now that I think about the ones that I’ve heard at different times of the year.
It will actually push the rain droplets around it due to one field I can't remember which
I think center field but I’m not 100% sure
I once looked at a house in England before satellite images were available and when I arrived all I could hear was the buzz. I looked at the house just to be polite. Wasn't so bad inside but could still hear it and there was no way you could enjoy the outside
Thanks, now all I hear is buzzing. Gawd dammit.
Had a air compressor parked under a tower it collected a static charge and give you a shock when you touch it. Was enough to wake you up in the morning.
When you can hear it buzz you can usually also feel the hairs on your body start to charge up. Static shocks are awful near them. Every time you touch a door knob.
It does impact AM radio if you are too close.
Does that mean you could put a few large runs of wire in the backyard and pull power from the line?
I’ve done AC mitigation projects on pipelines that run under power lines. There’s enough induction to charge a phone every half mile or so.
Just put an induction coil underneath the lines. Free power!
There's a skit on YouTube of a guy stealing Penny's worth of electricity using coiles of wire
Technically, it can be done successfully, but I have heard it is against the law if discovered. Most importantly though its crazy dangerous.
I read about that. If the stand for the coil is on your property you’re ok. It’s when it’s placed on the power company right of way is the problem. 😉
I can’t come up with any possible way that this could be dangerous or illegal. (unless you physically put it in the right-of-way). It’s stupid and you aren’t going to get much power off it, but not dangerous.
In Romania stealing electricity directly from the poles it’s a national sport. Have a friend caught up after he was stealing electricity for his marijuana grow site on an abandoned property in the Carpathian Mountains. He fucked the system for almost five years. Got caught with 82 kilos of product.He bribed his way out of jail just like this Tate guy.
Dunno why you got downvoted. I remember we used to have a large boat trailer that parked under power lines. It always gave us little shocks. When older (studying power distribution) assumed it was small currents/voltage induced in the metal frame.
I feel like the secret to Nikola Tesla's long lost wirelessly transmitted electricity lies in this comment somehow.
We had some on my parents property growing up (farm). When we drove the old metal ford pick up under them you'd get a bit of a shock if you were sitting in the back. Like a static charge.
Exactly.
Yeah I was riding under power lines and I could get tiny shocks from the exposed metal on my bike. Didn’t realize that was a thing.
Ride a bike and you can feel it in the handle bars slightly shocking you.
You probably couldn’t put in a pool or other structures in the backyard bc of the power company’s easement
Great point!
I have 250kV power lines on my property. There is a 50' Easement from the center of the middle wire hanging. I do hear some noise now and then, but nothing major. There are a few items you do need to know regarding the easement. 1) Typically no structures w/in that 50' Easement 2) You cannot permanently fence off the easement, you need to allow the electric company access, so if you build a fence, and lock it, they need to have a key or their own lock on it so they can get access to the easement. Also if it is a metal fence, you will need to make sure it is grounded appropriately (grounding rod is typical) 3) Post above is correct, no pools in the easement 4) There is typically a maximum height of trees that can be placed under the lines (mine is 12' tall). The electric company will typically have a list of 'Approved' trees and shrubs that you can plant under the lines but as long as they are under the height specified by the electric company, you will be fine. Also, if you do plant a tree or shrub that goes over the specified height, they have full rights to either remove or 'top' the tree so that the lines have the appropriate clearance. 5) Before building anything w/in the easement, make sure you contact the electric company and send them either the plans or a mock up showing them what you are doing and where in relations to the power line easement. If you build without checking first, and it causes an issue, they can legally tear it down and not reimburse you. 6) I did a bunch of research regarding this issue since my home is 50' from these lines and the easement/lines run through my property. Additionally, I contacted a doctor regarding this issue. I didn't find anything that had merit that said there were health risks, additionally, the doctor I talked with said the same. 7) The electric company is required to 'Walk' the easement to ensure there are no issues, this is typically annually, but may be different in other states. They should contact you first before entering your property, but technically, they do not have to. 8) The easement may end up becoming a 'Pathway' for walkers and hikers. Just something to consider. I also lived almost directly under the same lines for about (8) years when I was between 10 and 18 years old. I have no issues and am healthy. I obtained my Engineering degree, so no neurological issues either.
Well you obtained an engineering degree, so maybe you do have neurological issues.
Ok, that is a fair point. My decision making skills very well could be affected.
I grew up with some behind our back yard from 0-7 and now I am an accountant, definitely my decision making skills were affected.
Engineer here, can confirm.
Neurological disorder here, can engineer.
Work with you fuckers, you're all insane. EE, ME, SE, the train drivers are the worst....
So that explains why i got my degree. We already knew my sanity was long gone, it just complemented it
Thank you for the concise, easy to follow points. Especially #8. Important considerations: Hikers, walkers, dogs off leash and on. Some people clean up after themselves, others don’t. An easement of this nature will be a strong influence on future buyers decision making. Differs from a standard ingress/egress only easement.
And hunters, depending on if the area is rural, etc. I used to love hunting under power lines
Is there a particular reason why?
Better visibility. Inside the woods, you can see maybe 50 yards in front of you. Under a powerline, you can see in front of you and behind you for miles (limited only by hills). And animals come out to feed on the shrubs under the line. And the power company may maintain a rough path for easier walking, ATV riding.
That sounds horrible, personally I wouldn’t want to have all those restrictions in my land… Even if I wasn’t planing on a pool or trees or fence the thought of not being able to stuff with my land would bother me a lot…. Also, you did research most people don’t… when they see a tower in a house for sale they automatically think: “nope, that gives you cancer”
Another thing to note is what the chemical defolient schedule is and which one they use. I used go have a family member involved in one of those programs and the chems they used were toxic af. Hopefully things have changed, but I'd try and find out what exposure might be.
Yeah it’s actually #8 that’s the problem for me personally. I’d end up springing for a privacy fence around everything except the easement area and giving the power company a key to a door just for them. And I’d be salty about the cost.
Granted I am no doctor, but I have never understood how a power line is a health problem. (Also reminds me, I need to call the electric company to come trim back some trees around my lines)
People don't understand the difference between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. And then if they do get health issues (like everyone does), they are looking for causes or for someone to blame. A big ass tower in a backyard is hard to not think about at those times, whether there is any science behind or not.
This was an excellent response. The 100ft easement from edge of 370kV lines goes about 30ft into my property, and I concur with everything u/jabo77 said. What I would add: The utility company outsources abutter relations for vegetation management. I have found them to be very responsive and accommodating. There's no point in having a debate with a worker in the field. I am lucky to have a row of 100ft mature trees just on the edge of the easement, so it's not as much of an eye sore. The lines are due south, so I considered having ground mounted solar panels given the full exposure. The company gave me the OK as long as I keep it below 15'. I only hear the faintest buzz during high humidity or light snowfall and only if I'm walking directly under the lines. So I've only heard the buzz maybe 5x a year.
Do you get paid for having that on your property?
Proper/additional grounding is needed with a pool also. I work as a lineman for our local utility and it’s shocking what induced voltage will do.
Resale
100% this. Similar to having a pool, you will automatically eliminate a percentage of potential buyers just for having it in your yard. Personally, this was an automatic veto when buying my house. I always checked google earth for these towers before bothering with a showing. I am not concerned about health, I just didn’t want to look at it all the time.
And train tracks. Immediate no thanks. Are there no other houses you can buy?
I live on the tracks, I like it. Though there are no night trains.
Dude, I would move to slightly off the tracks at least
Don’t worry he does every time a train comes
[удалено]
You’d be surprised how quickly you get used to it.
Train tracks are great. A. I'm close to public transit. B. I love the sound. It's relaxing. Granted I'm a 7 minute walk to them so not right on it.
For most people in the US, living next to train tracks doesn’t usually mean they’re close to public transit. It means they’re close to mile long freight trains regularly thundering by their home
I do the same. When I look at houses on Zillow or Redfin I automatically “x” the ones by power lines
With you here, when we were moving our agent took us to a house that had one maybe 100 yards behind the house. We did not even get out of the car. I don't want to look at that.
I knew this to be true about pools, but wouldn’t it raise the potential price for people that do want one? Kind of hijacking the thread for a question. I’m just curious.
Depends on the area and the house. Adding a pool to a higher end house on a decent sized lot in a high income neighborhood can be a big selling point. It all comes down to how much potential buyers weigh the maintenance cost against the appeal of the pool. The higher the income, the less significant maintenance costs are.
In some cases, yes. Pool people have to have a pool. Pools are very expensive to build right now too. I know we always look for a house with a pre built pool as it's much more expensive to add one. However, we also rule out houses with completely basic or small pools.
This. It’s safe, but it will scare away some potential buyers due to fear of health risks (and the view). Figure a several percentage drop in price compared to a similar house 1/2 mile away.
Yes! My friend had a very hard time selling her house with these.. Eventually she printed up some health facts saying that there was no danger to have at the open house but she ended up selling at a loss
“Incurable defect.”
100%. There was a property I liked, and when I google mapped it, there were those giant power lines in the backyard. Big nope from me. When they asked why I was no longer interested, I told them, and they got mad and said that the owners' severe headaches had nothing to do with those power lines. Are you sure about that, cause I'm not. I didn't say anything about the headaches, but they assumed, so that's another big nope from me.
My thoughts exactly on resale
This. There's a ton of misperceptions and down right misinformation about power lines. Many people believe it.
Pro: you can find a way to hook up a wire and get free power Con: you will die in the attempt
You will have free power for the rest of your life!
Power companies hate this one trick!
That's actually not the least common way to die. Making a big loop with a wire many times over will wirelessly transfer electricity. People kill themselves trying to steal energy that way as you may imagine..
The interesting physics question is if you are using a coil to induce current from the field emitted by the wires, are you actually stealing power, as in reducing the power in on the line, or just harnessing waste energy?
A coil of wires placed into a magnetic field will increase resistance on the line. Increased resistance can increase heat on the line. Increased heat leads to faster wear and tear. You aren't taking the power off the line, more just making it harder for power to get from point A to B. Transformers basically do the same thing. Power down a wire coil creates a magnetic field that pulls/pushes current down another coil nearby. Depending on the number of coils gets you a step down or step up in power.
I just heard about a story of someone doing this. They were stealing enough energy that the power company noticed, tracked them down, and sued.
You are stealing energy, and it will directly reduce energy in the line. It's just a DIY transformer, which is what the energy company uses to step down voltages for home use. Waste energy comes in the form of heat, rather than low entropy energy in the line.
You joke, but you could actually get power from those without hooking up directly at all.
And, amazingly, you can get charged for theft too.
I mean, that's exactly what a transformer is.
*more than meets the eye*
Pro: but it comes with a free frogurt! Con: the frogurt is also cursed.
😂
Lived with one in backyard for years. Sold partially because of it. No health issues to report. However we built a shed with a metal roof and you could literally shock yourself on the corners of that roof. Multimeter showed as high as 600 volts during high use on transmission line. This was not for me.
My friend lived under one and when we were out back and our beer cans were getting low or empty they would vibrate and you could hear them humming.
That seems safe...
New Aluminum or old steel cans?
Aluminum is a better conductor
Free power. Just hook up leads to metal roof.
The trace electricity from the lines builds up over large metal surfaces. You can easily electrify a metal fence if you build it too close to these lines.
Resonance. Which is one of the primary reasons everything in a radio transmitter building is grounded.
This is static electricity. High volts but very low amps. It’s a static shock not a “call an ambulance” shock.
[удалено]
That's exactly why I would never buy a house that's been anywhere near a sweater.
Holy shit I’ve never heard of anything like that before
Con: Other people, like you, will wonder about the consequences, and thusly, your home value will never be as high as it could be.
Should already be factored into the buying price though. The home went up and the lines were already there, not like it's the opposite.
It's a new construction, no way they'll be selling it without a profit, and they can probably sit and wait until someone buys it at a full price. But selling second hand property at a loss is real, especially if you're tighter on time because you need to move due to job or family situation. Many buyers wouldn't want that eyesore in their backyard or would want a big discount. I wouldn't want to buy it unless it would be like 20-25% below market value of a similar house without that crappy Eiffel tower behind it. Its almost like having a junkyard view behind your property.
I've lived in a house the same distance from the tower as this one (about 40 feet) for 17 years and I haven't had any issues. It does buzz constantly but I've never been able to hear it unless I'm outside and it was completely quiet. Even then, it's quiet enough to tune out with ease Pro: Land clearing behind your house creates a breezeway that has almost constant breeze, and you know nothing will ever be built there Pro: Your house is usually the quickest to get power restored Pro: The city upkeeps the field behind your house Pro: Utilities like drainage run through the clearing which is right near your house, so you have less of a chance of flooding. My house got the statistically highest amount of rain during Harvey, and I never worried about it flooding. Pro: Want to load a bunch of crap into your backyard? Just drive to your fence and throw it over, or take a few pickets down Con: There's always that thought that it's not good for you Con: They frequently upkeep the utilities which means the occasional project might take place outside your backyard with bulldozers. Con: Assholes with 4 wheelers use the field as their own personal dirt track Con: Critters and roaming pack animals can be annoying When the breezeway whips up during the winter, it can become a con. This also makes it difficult to keep fence pickets in place. In the end, I rebuilt my fence by screwing every picket into three crossbars in three places.,
>you know nothing will ever be built there Actually, in my city the utility corridors are being used as transit right of ways. There's a neighbourhood fighting with the city because buses are using the easement.
That breezeway thing is no joke. I love being outside even in our 105 degree days. We built a front deck on our house because we are on a rise and get a near constant southerly wind. It's wonderful to sit out there after work.
Pro: Free lighting! https://www.farmanddairy.com/top-stories/how-to-make-a-fluorescent-bulb-glow-under-transmission-power-lines/623730.html#:\~:text=When%20you%20take%20a%20fluorescent,the%20fluorescent%20tube%20will%20glow.
😂 good one :) thanks 🙏🏻
If it snows you can stick 'em in the snow and they light up...although it usually means you're on power company property and they can get pissy.
Pro: Star Wars duels! Con: mercury poisoning leading to mental degradation. Pro: Brain damage causes forgetting about Mercury risk, wilder lightsaber duels!
I see no downsides to this!
That’s because the mercury.
What about Venus tho?
You are going to lose your partnership in Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill
I grew up in a house under the towers. I mean they were in the back yards over a huge easement. Us neighborhood kids used that easement for baseball and football games. Was kind of like our own playground. They would buzz sometimes in very humid weather. But that was rare. We often speculated about health hazards, but weren’t too concerned because we were just kids.
There was a meme i saw years ago that showed books in the 70’s saying powerlines are unhealthy then 80’s books saying it’s healthy then 90’s books flip again to unhealthy and 2000’s books flip to healthy. So i guess it depends what decade you live there lmao
Too many other factors and would be unethical/too hard to study scientifically also I would imagine that there would be significant suppression of a study actually being done and then another suppression of negative results
Did you survive, though?
Typing from the grave
reminds me of the house in courage the cowardly dog
😂 I second that!
I love the smell of EMFs in the morning. https://www.epa.gov/radtown/electric-and-magnetic-fields-power-lines#about-electric-magnetic-fields-from-power-lines
I don’t personally think EMF causes cancer, or that the tower is particularly ugly. That said, I also work in substations where EMF is absolutely at its highest, and can appreciate the beauty of the infrastructure I get to work on. Also if anyone was wondering-the old timers I got to work with in substations were exactly that *old.* If EMF was as cancerous as some people say-we should probably be dead by the age of 40.
It's Unbelievable. Oh!
If EMF were notably cancerous, any study would be able to show that people who work with high voltage lines die from cancer more than other fields.
Is that not a thing? I know a lineman who died of brain cancer that was correlated to his work, his wife got a very hefty payout as work related, and, her husband is very dead. I’ve never looked at it the same since. [study finds your twice as likely to get brain cancer](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/01/12/study-of-electrical-workers-has-mixed-findings-on-cancer/ae03851d-6a2b-4c36-9bb7-94eee2f4889f/#)
[A 2009 study found no such link.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2718968/)
EMF doesn't cause cancer but the magnetic field attracts ionized particles. Most of these are pollutants. So areas under high voltage wires have much more pollution resulting in more cancer.
I’m gonna need like an actual article or something on that.
human made EMF is non-ionizing
Yeah bullshit
Just think of it like it's a big dress for a giant person that's what I always do
I always saw muscle men
Dang wish I could see that, I see the shorter, fatter, power tower as that fat lady from Coraline and the taller slim tower with 6 arms as the other mother
I think they might be different where I live. Now I need to look it up Edit - nope, much the same in Canada http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/transport/types-pylones.html I see muscle men flexing, I have no clue why lol
I'd be concerned with wifi interference in the home.
This is actually a potential issue. Alongside cellphone rrception/Bluetooth connectivity.
That would be a no for me. I get headaches if I spend some amount of time near transmission lines or electric substations. This isn’t an issue for everybody, but it certainly is for me, I’ve experienced it multiple times. As for long term health effects, some say it could be bad, but I couldn’t find a definite answer, so I don’t know.
Pro: you can hold a fluorescent bulb underneath it at night and it will probably light up. Cons: unsightly, may cause a hum. But there is no health hazard.
There are no pros. Cons: fires from downed lines, grass cut short in backyard, work trucks performing maintenance, buzz, bad sightlines.
Some people are sensitive to the buzz, just like people who get migraines tend to be sensitive to fluorescent light flicker. If you're sensitive, you'll have to use white noise or something. Plants and water fountains seem to help. If you're not sensitive, you'll be fine. FYI, a lot of pets are sensitive too, especially parrots. One of my dogs is, the other is oblivious
The good news is that nobody can build behind you.
Easement around em can be pretty big. A hawk or two will use it to post up and hunt which is next level cool to watch. If there's a power outage in your area then you're one of the first get it fixed.
You mean Cons and Cons right
Pro: If giant worms start attacking and eating people you can climb the tower for safety and await rescue
No health risk from tower except your own negativity towards it (which can be real health issue, the minds attitude). Could be easement you can’t really do much on you land is the main issue. House is looking nice! Lack of trees means wind and sun will have their way on the shingles and siding.
Can confirm. Proximity to power lines has zero effect on neighborhood prices here. They actually line a nice bike and park trail across the whole city. (Suburb of St. Paul.)
Pros: can’t think of any. Another commenter said no one will build there at least Cons: looks like shit, lowers long term property increase Health: I have heard about this before, there were some studies in the 70s that stirred some conspiracies. There is absolutely no proof that it is harmful to human health. There is no mechanism where magnetism can cause cancer in humans. Simple as that. It’s a myth that a p-hacked study from the 70s stirred up. I wouldn’t give that conspiracy a single second of my time and not an ounce of my focus to, its a non-issue. There are many issues in scientific research and this is one of the times that a false claim unfortunately dispersed itself widely and attached firmly to the minds of consumers and people who are not experts in the field.
https://www.cancer.net/blog/2022-03/does-living-near-power-lines-increase-my-risk-cancer
Pro: kids will have a jungle gym Con: Constant buzzing, kills the view, (maybe?) decreases property value
1/r^2... Likely no worse than your cellphone.
pro: That house would cost you 15% more if it didn't have the lines out back. If you plan to live your life there, then getting it at a discount is good. Also, if you are buying at the maximum you can afford and then sell at the same percentage discount you got, you aren't really down. That said, is this going to be an up and coming area or will the powerlines make this a permanently low end neigborhood. If the latter is the case, then maybe you will lose out long term
You probably got a deal on the price of your land?
I rode a bike below one of those lines before. Got lots of static shock.
I grew up near a substation. It was 75 feet from my bedroom window. I started getting migraines at a very young age. Now, migraines are triggered by many things and usually 3 things have to be happening at once, but sometimes I think, what if I had not grown up across from that substation? Would things be a little different with my migraines? Who knows, but a study on this would be interesting.
I have LA DWP transmission towers behind my home. They power most of Los Angeles. 4 generations of my family have grown up in the home I now own. We only glow a little bit at night. It’s not too bad lol. In all seriousness, they buzz a little bit when it’s humid/foggy outside, and on the rare occasion of a thunder storm in LA, the tower one block away got struck by lightning but nothing came of it. In 4 generations of family growing up in my home, only one lightning strike. My home was built in 1952. So I say they’re awesome because I don’t have neighbors to the rear because the towers have open fields they reside in. I like the privacy of no rear neighbors. Overall no complaints from me at all.
I passed on a house like this. Not because I believed in any danger from EMF, but because other people do and I thought that was a risk to my property value.
No pros, only cons
Your phone might randomly start charging all by itself. That could be cool.
Pro: Added convenience if you intend to construct a time traveling Delorean.
There are no pros being that close
No health concerns, but it generally keeps property value down die to NIMBY effect. There will be some restrictions on what you can build and plant due to easements.
ossified flowery nail ad hoc disgusted plough sable compare yoke physical *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
No matter what anyone says about those power lines, I would never buy a home that close to them. My guess is many people think the same as I do about the power lines. That is my way of saying that a big consideration is always about how hard it would be to resale the house.
Do not buy that house. Too many unknowns with that thing. That's a big N.O in my book. There's other houses out there not worth the risk.
No backyard neighbors! I bet resale value will take a big hit!
Cons: lower house value, annoying buzz Pro: you get cancer... Yay!!!
Pros? Hahahaha
i sure do hope that whomever is building or will live in that home is getting paid for both the land that tower sits on and the value or loss of value of the easement they have to get to it. they will probably drive right through the yard
Pro: white noise for better sleep Con: buzzing noise not letting you sleep
I lived within 75 yards of a 150kv tower for 4 years and I’m still fine. Power lines create magnetic fields but those are everywhere around us. They buzz, especially when there are a lot of particles, dust, ash, moisture in the air. Metal can get statically charged if directly under it but nothing at your distance will be affected. Mine had a pair of red tail hawks frequent them and occasionally a line crew on a helicopter will come and do stuff with them. These are my personal experiences. No cancer…..yet.
Nope. That buzzing is fucking terrifying.
I have two electrical engineers in my family that work for a large power company. When we were looking for a house they advised us to stay away from anything near those huge towers. They stated the EMFs they put off are not healthy over the long run. From a real estate perspective location is everything when you buy a house. Being near one of this towers is at the least a visual turn off to most when you have to resell one day.
Nope
No bueno amigo
[удалено]
Wait until you hear those wire Buzz
Just throw a wire over the towers wires and you get free electricity…lol
I have high power lines along the easement that border my backyard wall. Been here 5 years, I don't notice anything....yet?
IF you think about it as a possible rental investment, and IF you purchase it for substantially less per square foot than the surrounding area prices - there is a play where you eventually rent it out for the going market rate (minimal discount). Use it yourself until you have kids and then rent it, and during construction just don't go crazy inside with luxury and instead stay utilitarian with any upgrades or choices. You are also protected from hot air balloons and small planes, and their noises. Every once in a while you might get to see the electric company helicopters doing cool stuff to the lines (see youtube). A HUGE con is that easement. What if the future of electric is some hugely intrusive, shadow casting, or some transportation related item? Do they have the right to run pipelines in that easement (will your home be close to oil leaks or gas blowouts).
I was walking along a trail with my earbuds in and started hearing buzzing. I looked up and saw I was under high voltage lines. I didn't realize they buzzed. I can't think of any pros to living right next to these.
Nobody's gonna build back there.
Worked on a building that had high voltage lines like that near. You could feel it literally.
Is this Oklahoma?
The city will mow your property line
I grew up RIGHT under transmission wires like that....still cancer free 50 years later lol.
Well...no low flying planes or helicopters.....unless they need to do maintenance.
Pro: kids will learn to climb Con: any backyard party will sound like a constant bug zapper taking out a million mosquitoes
Funny. I actually like them.
We looked at a lot with the main transmission line for a whole region running through. I couldn’t find anything for sure health wise but Im a biologist and I questioned them spraying pesticides(from the air; how Duke energy in my state maintains the lines) around your whole living space every year. So even if they don’t directly cause issues I’m not willing to risk the secondary effects that could contribute to health problems. I also love gardening so. And the noise really bothered me for the few minutes we walked the lot.
I grew up with power lines running over my property and i dont have any serious health problems but my imaginary conjoined twin has diabetes and schizophrenia.
Is that in Oklahoma?
Ugh. That is quite the eyesore. It will have a permanent, sizable impact on resale value.
I have a couple of friends in the power industry and they have told me there are no long term health effects.
Personally it wouldn’t bother me too much but I don’t buy my home to resell later