How noisy are wind turbines

[thinfourth2]

Looks like they are going to build some wind turbines near us and if you believe the greens who hate these things (this week at least) and the internet they produce well over 100Db of noise.

Thats a jet taking off type of noise

Now i have been around these things and have not heard them being even vaguely noisy so can anyone who lives near one tell us the truth instead of all the nimby bks i am finding

[KaraK]

thinfourth2 said:

Looks like they are going to build some wind turbines near us and if you believe the greens who hate these things (this week at least) and the internet they produce well over 100Db of noise.

Thats a jet taking off type of noise

Now i have been around these things and have not heard them being even vaguely noisy so can anyone who lives near one tell us the truth instead of all the nimby bks i am finding

I've driven past a fair few - I'd say at about 1/2 mile range and can't say I've ever heard a thing.

[cannondale]

Not witnessed it myself but I'm told that the mass of wind turbines on the Whiteleehill, Eaglesham Moor produces next to no noise!!

HTH!!

[robinhood21]

There was a couple on TV a month or two back, saying they had moved out of their house because of noise issues. Don't know how close their house was though.

[Kit80]

Was stood at the base of one (one on its own though) few weeks ago, don't remember much noise at all.

[f@tboy]

I've cycled past the ones in Lanzarote and never noticed any noise, yet I was recently standing pretty close to one in Belgium and it sounded like a jet flying overhead. Not really loud as in standing next the runway, but more like flying overhead at a couple of thousand feet. It was a bit odd because you'd expect the sound from a jet to diminish after a minute, but this didn't - it was pretty constant.

Maybe there are different types/designs? Some older ones may be noisier?

[garybezz]

I am surrounded by them where I am working at the moment (Siddick in Cumbria) - cant hear them at all

[robm3]

Probably closer to 70db, one of our companies sell a lot of safety gear into Vestas windtowers and you don't need any ear protection when working on them:

50 typewriter, loud conversation
60 noisy office
70 normal traffic, quiet train
80 rock music, subway
90 heavy traffic, thunder
100 jet plane at takeoff

Slightly OT but some interesting things about them:
Safety equipment stored in the Nacelles should be vacuum packaged because the constant vibrations cause webbing and textile products like a safety harness to wear out (if stored in normal packaging).
No wind tower farm has financially broken even without government assistance.
Temperatures in the Nacelles can reach 120degrees.

[funkyol]

thinfourth2 said:

Looks like they are going to build some wind turbines near us and if you believe the greens who hate these things (this week at least) and the internet they produce well over 100Db of noise.

Thats a jet taking off type of noise

Now i have been around these things and have not heard them being even vaguely noisy so can anyone who lives near one tell us the truth instead of all the nimby bks i am finding

100db is about the same as an iPod on max volume.

If you stood at the top of one like this:



then it would probably be quite loud, however 100db from most 'normal' distances? No way!

[10 Pence Short]

Unless it's a massive farm in one convenient location, ie. offshore, I believe they're a massive waste of time and energy for little tangible return. Then they insist on trying to put them up in beauty spots.

[crofty1984]

robm3 said:

Probably closer to 70db, one of our companies sell a lot of safety gear into Vestas windtowers and you don't need any ear protection when working on them:

50 typewriter, loud conversation
60 noisy office
70 normal traffic, quiet train
80 rock music, subway
90 heavy traffic, thunder
100 jet plane at takeoff

Slightly OT but some interesting things about them:
Safety equipment stored in the Nacelles should be vacuum packaged because the constant vibrations cause webbing and textile products like a safety harness to wear out (if stored in normal packaging).
No wind tower farm has financially broken even without government assistance.
Temperatures in the Nacelles can reach 120degrees.

I love that it specifies "Rock music"

[robm3]

10 Pence Short said:

Unless it's a massive farm in one convenient location, ie. offshore, I believe they're a massive waste of time and energy for little tangible return. Then they insist on trying to put them up in beauty spots.

It's because 'Beauty Spot' farms are the cheapest to run.

Anyhow, there's no return on them, all are currently not financially viable as standalone businesses. There's chart somewhere I've seen that shows how expensive coal needs to be in order to make them viable, needless to say it's around 5 times the price it is now and that's against the Wind Farms that are cheapest to run, even worse for the offshore, sub 15+ unit farms etc.. etc...

Edited by robm3 on Monday 14th December 13:37

[evenflow]

I live just over half a mile from quite a big one. I've never, ever heard it from home.
Even driving right past it with the windows open you can't really hear it.

[Puggit]

Used to drop Puggit jnr off at nursery under the one in Green Park, Reading. Can't say I ever remembered hearing it!

[paulmurr]

I walked my cousin's dog through a wind farm in Ireland, can't say I remember them making any noise at all.

[pugwash4x4]

They do make a whooshing noise, but i once slept in a tent at the base of one in morocco. Had to have ear plugs, but it was no more noisy than a car driving past say 30m away.

[nonuts]

I suspect if you're down wind (so to speak) you might hear them, however I've never heard the one in reading when basically at the base of it or nearby in the costco car park.

[Buzz word]

TBH they barely make a peep. There are two on site at work. There is some bunff on the intranet about the install which I was bored enough to read one day. Apparently its all in the magic turned up tips on this one that does away with the swoosh swoosh of old.

[thinfourth2]

evenflow said:

I live just over half a mile from quite a big one. I've never, ever heard it from home.
Even driving right past it with the windows open you can't really hear it.

That is what i thought that we are hearing from nimbys

[sadako]

The little ones that spin fast are very noisy, The monolithic ones that spin slowly you can stand right under it and barely hear it. If you are getting them near you then you want the big ones.