Living with a pylon

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

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!)

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?

I wouldn't do it either and I have studied Geopathic Stress.  As a former sufferer of migraines I wouldn't dream of doing anything to bring them back. 

I agree with others.....I wouldn't buy a house with a pylon nearby or cables passing over.

We stayed on a site in Canterbury and had cables passing over the caravan. Didn't feel at all comfortable......

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

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

Write 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. Sg2

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.

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  malc

I read the title as 'living with a python' and was a bit surprised when electricity was mentioned.