Wind farms - anyone any experience

ABN

Researched this a while ago, can't remember why now.

Anyways quite a few youtube videos on the subject. If memory serves me right the people living near them were more concerned about the strobe shadows the blades cause. Whether this would be of concern if they are a mile away I don't know, possibly not.

Fire_Fox

I don't think wind turbines are strikingly beautiful, but I certainly don't find them ugly and their presence would not put me off viewing or buying a property. Presumably they are only audible outside on windy days when you are less likely to be enjoying the garden anyway? If the house is double glazed (or you intend to get it double glazed) then that cuts out an awful lot of noise from inside. I have virtually a bus terminus in my street and it really is not as you would imagine unless the windows are open.

[Deleted User]

I like wind turbines and they wouldn`t put me off buying

GDB2222

There has been some discussion of low frequency noise causing big problems for some people - lack of sleep and so on. I'm sorry but you'll have to research that yourself.

Valuewise, it seems to me that you are on a hiding to nothing. If the wind turbines decrease the value you lose, whilst there's absolutely no upside for you.

messimoney

I wake up every morning to a brilliant view of 12 wind turbines, I love them!!!

kingboth12

Hi,

I personally work in the wind industry and there are a lot of concerns that we hear on a daily basis but noise is the most common/biggest. Hopefully some of the following may help.

Can i ask what region area you are looking at buying? Every wind farm that is built has to produce an Environmental Summary (ES) which describes the project in detail and what effects it will/won't have. Given that you say they are already building then they must have produced one and this will be freely available to anyone who wants one. They tend to be available on the website of your local council, if not then give someone a phone and they should be able to point you in the direction of where you can find one (local library etc).

As part of this ES there will be a noise section detailing what noise levels they predict to happen. It is likely they will have followed the ETSU-R-97 guidelines. As part of this they will carry out a background noise survey and it is this that determines how much noise the turbines can produce (generally background noise + 5dB except at lower wind speeds where a lower limit is applied, what wind speeds and and limit depend on the site and will be detailed in the ES). Are you the closest house to the WF in your direction? If not then you will probably be less than a 5db increase (although may differ if houise closer is a landowner).

By looking at this you will be able to find out what noise you can/should expect and then be able to make a more informed decision about whether you think the noise will affect your lives.

I would suggest that it is likely you will hear them at that distance but not significantly and as for disturbance it will likely depend on your attitude towards them. i.e. complaints regarding noise would tend to come from people who were against them in the first place?

I think someone mentioned concerns regarding low frequency noise which is a load of s***. Have a look on the BWEA/RenewableUK website for a report by Geoff Leventhal about low freq noise. Your household appliances such as washing machines will produce more lf noise than the turbines.

If you navigate around that BWEA site then it should have other reports which may interest you (possibly including one about house prices - from memory there is a short term dip but increases back to previous levels as people realise they aren't an issue).

Apologies for the long post but hopefully it might help you make a decision.

Cheers
kb12

p.s. apologies for not providing links to report but wasn't allowed...

tabskitten

I live near a wind farm, not only are they quiet and no disruption to us, but they are AWESOME sight in my opinion and quite calming and relaxing to watch from both near and far.

Fire_Fox

I am fascinated that so many people have said they like/ love the look of wind turbines, I thought there would be a lot of negatives going by some of the press coverage.

Sammy85_2

Thing is the majority of press coverage is of the minority who compain about them. Im sure if the press went around talking to mr joe public on the street the views would be fairly well split both ways. That wouldnt sell papers though would it.

I think they're brilliant, i love watching them.

We have a couple of smaller ones in the town centre in tescos car park. The local yobs love them too. They throw bread up into the blades and then the seaguls dive in for the bread and get splatted everywhere. Its pretty gruesome and they have been deactivated for a while now.

g_attrill

As mentioned go and visit some which are identical to the model being installed near the house - work out the exact distance you will be away then you will know how big it will look, and hopefully if it's windy how much noise it makes in operation. I expect they all make varying amounts of noise hence why it's important to visit the correct type.