Would you buy a house that is 500 ft from high power transmission lines?

[Transmition]

There's no real evidence of adverse health effects. The houses near me that are close to the power lines don't seem to suffer at all in value compared to those much further away, but maybe it is because they have much more privacy due to the lack of houses under the power lines - it all evens out in the end.

[Diana Holbrook]

Since this is in the Seattle forum and many of you live in *town*...

In the country these lines are always obvious... like these are.. in the city, they're often buried.

Obviously a major city needs a LOT of electrical power. That power is running somewhere downtown, even if you're not seeing the lines. It's all underground. Do people still worry about it then? Or is it just the eyesore that really bothers people?

[eugene_b]

This is a tough one: I'll go with "maybe". I used to commute right next to these every day when I was cycling to work because it was a really nice alternative to a 40mph road. I did a lot of digging and reading and I couldn't find any definitive study or overwhelming evidence that they are bad for health. However, they do make an annoying buzzing sound, especially on humid days. If the house was a block away from it and I absolutely couldn't hear the sound even a little bit, I'd go with it.

[leastprime]

radiation is the square of the distance. IRRC.
We had property that abutts 350KV lines, Perhaps 75 ft (hyptenuese) to lowest power lines. No problems. Redtails and Kites used to survey the fields from the towers.
radiation from certain bands on cell phones are more dangerous

[eugene_b]

Originally Posted by leastprime

radiation is the square of the distance. IRRC.
We had property that abutts 350KV lines, Perhaps 75 ft (hyptenuese) to lowest power lines. No problems. Redtails and Kites used to survey the fields from the towers.
radiation from certain bands on cell phones are more dangerous

My super duper vague memory from studying this more than a decade ago says that it's inverse cube (so even better). Too lazy to verify this or crunch numbers but if I had to bet $100 on a spot and only had several seconds to decide, I would go with betting on "more radiation from that phone you keep next to your bed while sleeping or wifi modem in the next room" vs "power line 500ft away" (in my case I was a bit worried because I was cycling right under them). The sound they make is still super annoying though. Also no idea about resale values, that's a valid concern because it's really about what people believe rather than what the reality is.

Update: I got curious and looked it up and for currents and electric and magnetic fields it looks like it's sometimes square, sometimes cube and is complicated; overall I agree with the sentiment that in case of 500ft either should resolve to "too little to matter".

[Cinema Cat]

1. Is it dangerous? MAYBE.

The evidence is, as you stated, inconclusive, with arguments on both sides.


2. Does it affect property values? YES.

Property values are determined by demand. Because some people refuse to live near power lines, there is less demand for those houses.

Back in 2012, I looked at a house in Tarzana, an affluent neighborhood in Los Angeles. A nice, newly remodeled house, with pool. It was listed for $800,000. The agent said it should be $1,000,000, but there were power lines hovering just beyond the house's backyard, much as in your picture. That lowered the price.

Based upon home prices in Tarzana, the house did seem under-priced. But it wasn't. It took a while to sell, even at $800,000.

[Jiff]

Are those the lines through Brier? 500' away shouldn't have any effect. Have someone test the electro magnetic field at the house. Is AM radio reception effected? Static?

I had a house in Brier right beside the lines. A corner of the house nearest them was cut at the angle of the lines. That's how close they were. We bought it because there were no neighbors on that side, just cows.

We had the EMF test. The force increased as the meter was moved towards the lines from within the house. There was AM radio static under the lines, especially when it was foggy, but not in our house.

We bought just before possible health effects were publicized (1985). We moved, not taking any chances