Wind farm noise does harm sleep and health, say scientists

UK Telegraph ^ | Nov 3 | Andrew Gilligan

[Hojczyk]

American and British researchers compared two groups of residents in the US state of Maine. One group lived within a mile of a wind farm and the second group did not. Both sets of people were demographically and socially similar, but the researchers found major differences in the quality of sleep the two groups enjoyed.

The findings provide the clearest evidence yet to support long-standing complaints from people living near turbines that the sound from their rotating blades disrupts sleep patterns and causes stress-related conditions.

The study will be used by critics of wind power to argue against new turbines being built near homes and for existing ones to be switched off or have their speed reduced, when strong winds cause their noise to increase.

The researchers used two standard scientific scales, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which measures the quality of night-time sleep, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, which measures how sleepy people feel when they are awake.

[cripplecreek]

They give me a headache. I guess its the constant pressure fluctuations. (when they’re actually turning)

[sodpoodle]

I think they are responsible for increased cases of shoreline shark attacks, inland cases of tinnitus, hearing loss, vertigo and ADHD.

Prove I’m wrong;)

[CrazyIvan]

When I was in college my room mate was an extremely talented musician and had one of the high end Arp synthesizers. (We nearly had an alter to Keith Emerson in the room). We got to messing with programming it to make background sound to see what effect it would have on mood. Some of the low freq repetitive stuff got very disturbing after awhile. I've been around some of the mills around here and the sound is similar.

[gr8eman]

You are not wrong.

http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2012/01/wind-turbines-pose-health-risks/

[Tucker39]

I think the gearbox noise from the slow RPMs of the blades being stepped up to a usable speed for generating voltage would be significant just from a FEW windmills. Now imagine an installation of hundreds of those muthas, and between the blades and the gearboxes, you’ve got one %$#! of a racket! IMHO

[sodpoodle]

This is a much better use of existing, man-made turbulence:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/city-speed-turbine

The City Speed Turbine offers a new way to harness energy for urban settings. Essentially, it converts a transit tunnel into a modular turbine that gains wind power from speeding vehicles. Able to be placed into existing settings, it could greatly benefit cities around the world.

(I thought of this and believed it to be an original idea - apparently someone beat me to it;)

[sodpoodle]

This is a much better use of existing, man-made turbulence:

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/city-speed-turbine

The City Speed Turbine offers a new way to harness energy for urban settings. Essentially, it converts a transit tunnel into a modular turbine that gains wind power from speeding vehicles. Able to be placed into existing settings, it could greatly benefit cities around the world.

(I thought of this and believed it to be an original idea - apparently someone beat me to it;)