Pylon advice please - wooden pylon voltage advice

[Emma Owen]

Can anyone tell me what type of pylon especially the voltage a wooden pole is near a house we are buying please? I can't find an answer online. Photos attached hopefully, thanks in advance

 

[RWJ]

I would guess 11kv but I AM NOT an HV expert!

 

[telectrix]

deletred.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Three cap-and-pin insulators in a string suggests 33kV. It certainly isn't higher than this. Unusual question - what's the nature of your interest in the line?

 

[Emma Owen]

Thank you both for your responses. We are buying a house that is 18 metres from the line. We had this environmental report done which must be standard as the solicitor sent it, it's not something we requested. It was flagged up as having pylons within so many metres this being the closest. When I googled it loads of stuff came up about EMFs linked to childhood leukaemia and I have a 2 year old son and a baby on the way in the next few weeks so I've been worried sick about it. Just trying to figure out the voltage so can properly look into risks etc

 

[snowhead]

This is 11kv to my Son's house, in his front garden.
Double insulators so I'd go with Lucien as 33kv.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Please take great care when researching this. There is a lot of pseudoscience and sensationalist reporting on this subject, especially online, but few relevant scientific studies that are likely to reflect your situation. It is a sad fact that the loudest voices are often charlatans, claiming this or that about electromagnetic fields and misquoting or quoting valid information out of context, in order to scare people into buying their supposed solutions for the claimed harmful effects of EMFs. I once did a review (many years ago!) of material available to the lay reader on this subject and found that demonstrably misinformational articles outnumbered potentially valid ones by about 15 to 1.

If you have concerns, by all means investigate peer-reviewed academic studies, there are both lab and epidemiological studies, but be aware that small differences in parameters such as distance from the line can change a significant finding into an insignificant one, etc.

 

[ferg]

Current thinking and studies show no link.

You will find a lot of drivel online that tells you otherwise though.

Edit:
Lucien beat me to it and more eloquently as usual.

 

[snowhead]

If the scare stories about mobile phones in the past were true then we'd all be dead by now.

I suspect we're all at greater risk from the amount of Wi-Fi in the home than from Mobile phones or Power lines and equipment.
P.S. just my personal view, not based on any Scientific fact or studies.

 

[Emma Owen]

I don't have an electrical background and I am completely new to all this. It's really difficult for me to even understand the papers I have read which talk about safe distances depending on voltage etc. Even from the bits I've read there's lots of conflicting information. Much of it talks about the field to fall value and a unit of measurement (micro tesla) and suggests that for a 33kv the distance in metres for the field to fall value at 0-20 metres is 0.4 micro teslas. Some of the things I've read suggest 0.3 to 0.4 is associated with an increased risk of these health problems (particularly childhood leukaemia). The house is 18 metres away. The same table also suggests that for 10-40 metres it can be as low as 0.1 micro teslas though. There is a company I've found that say they can measure the actual level so I'm thinking of getting them to do this for peace of mind. I'm just very confused unfortunately.

 

[Des 56]

This is what I read in the American cancer institutes information


Low- to mid-frequency EMFs, which include static fields (electric or magnetic fields that do not vary with time), magnetic fields from electric power lines and appliances, radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, and visible light. These EMFs are in the non-ionizing radiation part of the electromagnetic spectrum and are not known to damage DNA or cells directly.

Electromagnetic Fields and Cancer - https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/electromagnetic-fields-fact-sheet

 

[westward10]

Don't buy the house.

 

[Emma Owen]

Don't buy the house.

Why do you say that? Do you think there is a risk?

 

[Wilko]

If you are worried, then perhaps that is the most important factor. In terms of peace of mind, will you look at those poles and cables next year and be happy ?
I love em, but fortunately not everyone is like me.

 

[westward10]

Why do you say that? Do you think there is a risk?

No idea and you won't find any definite answer so as opposed to worrying over the health of your family because you are in close proximity to these power cables, don't buy it. I hope you all remain healthy but you will rue the day should someone fall ill because you will blame yourself even though the power cables probably played no part.

 

[ferg]

I'd be happy enough living near pylons with young kids.

Really the evidence points towards no link.

As Lucien has said most of what you read online will be utter bollox.

The actual scientific peer reviwed studies point at no link.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

The physiological effect of being worried about a perceived risk, real or invented, could be more harmful than the risk itself. The only way to avoid that is to get solid data and put your trust in it to the point that you are quite satisfied that the risk is negligible. That is a matter of your own confidence in the accuracy, and relevance to your situation, of the study results you read.

 

[dmxtothemax]

I would not be worried at all about 33Kv.
We have already lived for hundreds of years with them.
Get on with your life and worry about putting food on the table.

 

[davesparks]

Some people seem to create quite a fuss about the overhead lines, but nobody seems to worry about the stuff underground like cables, ancient leaky sewers, lead water pipes etc etc

 

[davesparks]

I don't have an electrical background and I am completely new to all this. It's really difficult for me to even understand the papers I have read which talk about safe distances depending on voltage etc. Even from the bits I've read there's lots of conflicting information. Much of it talks about the field to fall value and a unit of measurement (micro tesla) and suggests that for a 33kv the distance in metres for the field to fall value at 0-20 metres is 0.4 micro teslas. Some of the things I've read suggest 0.3 to 0.4 is associated with an increased risk of these health problems (particularly childhood leukaemia). The house is 18 metres away. The same table also suggests that for 10-40 metres it can be as low as 0.1 micro teslas though. There is a company I've found that say they can measure the actual level so I'm thinking of getting them to do this for peace of mind. I'm just very confused unfortunately.

Compare that to the earths natural magnetic field, which a quick google search suggests can range from 25 to 65 microtesla at the earths surface. It kind of makes the 0.4 microtesla field look like far less of a problem.