Where I live on the outskirts of Chico, I have an almost constant supply of wind. I’ve considered a wind turbine as a way of getting closer to being “off-grid” so that I don’t have to pay PG&E the exorbitant rates. After reading this ChicoER story, I think I’ll pass on a wind turbine and focus on more solar. – Anthony
From the Chico Enterprise-Record: Disturbing the silence: Wind turbine not sustaining to neighbors’ sleep
By HEATHER HACKING – ChicoER Staff Writer
CHICO — A year and a half ago when Don Steinsiek installed a wind turbine at the top of Stilson Canyon Road, he was excited to harness the wind.He had been interested in the technology for a while, and when tax credits and rebates became available, he went for it.
The wind will vary, but he figured with the incentives, he could pay off his $82,000 investment in six or seven years.
When energy generation is greater than his use, he can sell electricity to the grid for 5 cents a kilowatt. But overall, he said the turbine provides energy for about two-thirds of his energy use.
It sounded like a good plan, and fit with the trend toward renewable energy sources. But neighbors say the wind turbine ruins the quiet nature of the neighborhood, lowers their property values and deprives them of sleep.
At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting there was a lengthy discussion of Steinsiek’s turbine.
The state is passing new rules that will make it easier to install small wind structures, explained Tim Snellings, county development services director. Unless Butte County passes its own rules before Dec. 31, the new state rules will apply, he continued.
Neighbors took the opportunity to talk about the wind turbine.
O.J. Sutherland lives at the bottom of the hill from the turbine. He described the sound as similar to a “hovering helicopter to a whining or moaning sound.”
He told the supervisors some neighbors have changed the rooms in which they sleep, others wear earplugs and some just can’t sleep.”We no longer have a quiet neighborhood. There is only one acceptable relief — to remove it,” Sutherland said.
Farther down the road is Gary Marquis, who said for 20 years he has heard frogs and crickets. “Now I listen to a wind turbine,” he said.
Read the full story here at the ChicoER
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I really think these things are unsightly and not the way to go with our energy production needs, however I also never hear the subtle noises at night like dogs, cars etc…because I create a little white noise with a small fan in my room; year round. I get great sleep.
sHx: July 15, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Fifty years from now people will look back at wind turbines as one of the most Quixotic attempts to to help us deal with the AGW hysteria.
You did that on purpose, didn’t you…
Ale Gorney says:
July 15, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I’ve heard these stories about people saying wind turbines ruin their sleep… I’ve read them and tried to understand but I can’t because my bedroom sits within 300 meters of a 2 MW turbine and my sleep has never been interrupted. I’ll be honest, the first week thats all I could hear but my brain has shut the sound off… I really dont know that its there anymore. [–snip rest–]
You might consider yourself fortunate to be able to ‘tune-out’ noises. But I’d like to share with you an anecdote. While I served in the USN, the shipboard environment was shocking experience every time I’d gone ashore for a few days rest.
The first few nights back aboard are a nerve wracking experience, and getting sleep was always something of a trial. Some people are more inclined to ‘focus’ on sounds than ignore them. I wasn’t the only one, as most of the other sailors had that same complaint.
After a while, that metal energy expended in forcing yourself to ignore one or another sound –or several of them– will have a deleterious effect on the physiology by way of induced stress. The more energy you expend ignoring a sound, the less energy you have for other intellectual tasks, and it does indeed tend to wear you down.
So, I can really empathize with the neighbors in the news story.
The other thing which you mentioned regarding ice formation: That problem could easily be solved by installing a teflon film over the blades. Remember: Nothing sticks to Teflon™.
Teflon film is made for road signs and comes in rolls and sheets.
http://ptfe-sheets.com/
Peter Miller- you got it- Pebble Bed/Thorium, heck Fast Breeders are a step up.
We need to ge toff the dime and reprocess- France, Britain, Russia, China, Japan,
see a pattern here? I really don’t want a half Civilization. We’d have at best North
Korea under wind and solar alone.
“Split Atoms, not Birds.”
BTW for off grid I do not have a problem with that. Admire those who do.
Been abused by PG&E and Pacific Power. I’d love to tell them to cram it….
pat says:
July 15, 2010 at 1:18 pm
>>>> Just in time for summer, the Warmists announce 2010 is the hottest year in the history of the planet.
Why do people believe GISS? Look at all that artic heat, when the DMI has been average. Watt’s up with that?
To some level, the sound might be bearable but one major problem with windmills is the stroboscopic effect (also known as flickering effect) for those living in the shadow, when the sun rises or goes down.
This however, could be an alternative design for windmills…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNudnI5tzf8&feature=fvw
or this one…
Look at this guy’s youtube videos… you could make your own windmill out of PVC pipes. Pretty cool!
http://www.youtube.com/user/supergokue1
Amongst the many problems associated with wind-generated power is the question of energy storage. Fear no longer – it seems the answer may have been under our noses all the time….literally!
http://www.reuk.co.uk/Storing-Wind-Power-with-Compressed-Air.htm
Claimed up to 75% efficient, too.
Now, if I could just find that old ’30’s hardback, ‘Practical Mining Techniques For The Beginner.’ Neighbours need never know…..
$82000 investment pays for itself in 7 years with the turbine supplying 2/3 of his demand? How much were the “incentives”? Or I should ask how much did his neighbors pay to be kept awake?
Douglas DC says:
July 15, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Peter Miller- you got it- Pebble Bed/Thorium, heck Fast Breeders are a step up.
We need to ge toff the dime and reprocess- France, Britain, Russia, China, Japan,
see a pattern here? I really don’t want a half Civilization. We’d have at best North
Korea under wind and solar alone.
“Split Atoms, not Birds.”
BTW for off grid I do not have a problem with that. Admire those who do.
Been abused by PG&E and Pacific Power. I’d love to tell them to cram it….
________________________________________________________________________
Darn it the EU has done all the experimentation for us, now we need to get the idiots in DC to LISTEN
Wind Power – Spain – FAIL
Solar Power – Germany – FAIL? It still can not compete in price but is better than wind
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/05/germanys-solar-pv-industry-a-victim-of-its-own-success
Nuclear Power – France – SUCCESS
Check out http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=948&idli=3
for the newest technology – small nuclear plants.
“…the International Energy Agency (IEA) has calculated that for France – the country with the largest production of nuclear energy (as a per cent of the total output of electric power) – the average person is responsible for 6.3 tons of carbon dioxide, which e.g. is one-third of the US average.
…law has been passed in France stipulating that toxic waste is to be stored in such a way that it can be comparatively easily accessed and recycled if, at some point in the future, technologies appear which will allow it to be used as a satisfactory input in the nuclear fuel cycle.
The latter provision is, as the reader might guess, partially intended to appease or possibly bewilder nuclear sceptics, because technology is already available for recycling this ‘déchet’, and in the event that the price of newly mined and processed uranium escalates, it would almost certainly be utilized without further debate…” http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=3698
The ONLY reason for not going nuclear is it creates individual prosperity and does not allow the vultures in DC to fleece us and put us into serfdom.
This is what Obama’s Science Adviser, Holdren wrote in a 1973 book with Paul Ehrlich, Professor of Population Studies:
“A massive campaign must be launched to restore a high-quality environment in North America and to de-develop the United States”
“Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class – involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, air-conditioning, and suburban housing – are not sustainable.” – Maurice Strong, Rio Earth Summit
“Isn’t the only hope for the planet that the industrialized civilizations collapse? Isn’t it our responsibility to bring that about?” Maurice Strong, Father of the environmental/Global Warming movement.
That mentality is what we are actually fighting – a hatred for humans.
At my place we get to enjoy the quiet of the country as well as noiseless solar electricity coupled with the peace of mind of never having to pay another electricity bill, with or without added carbon taxes.
Elizabeth says:
July 15, 2010 at 5:03 pm
*
*
Never underestimate the greed of an out-of-control government.
Here in Washington, the greedy have taken to putting water meters on community wells in the rural areas.
You read that correctly: If you and one or more neighbors make use of a common drilled well, the county will put a meter on that and charge you to use your own water.
So then, don’t for a moment think that such a scheme wouldn’t happen in the future with solar power.
Wind turbines are being forced onto rural folk here in Australia despite any real research as to their long term health effects on those same rural people who have to put up with the turbines.
When wind turbine farms are installed in the suburbs of the big cities right where the power is required then I will accept wind turbines.
Until then keep your bloody wind turbines as when all the health costs to the rural folk who have to live with them and get nothing in return, the energy costs of manufacturing, transporting and installing the turbines, the power grid extensions required and finally the energy losses across the numerous and long power grids needed by wind turbines plus the huge taxpayer funded subsidies, they are one of the most inefficient and most costly, most expensive and unreliable forms of energy generation known.
One wind turbine is interesting
Five wind turbines are a photo op.
Fifty wind turbines are an abomination across the land scape.
Two comments:
1. In western Scotland they hated the windmills so much because of the noise that they finally ended up putting them offshore.
2. @ur momisugly Bern Bray July 15, 2010 at 1:00 pm:
Just a thought, but I can foresee fairly light structures spanning between the towers – rails on beams and the sprinkers, instead of being pivot-type just running along the rails, back and forth. I am a design engineer and would think it is a pretty straightforward design project. I hate pivots sprinklers for the wasted land between the circles, even though the sprinkling is obviously pretty efficient. I also see the long gantry ones (no idea what they are called) on wheels, and they seem much less efficient. But get that off the ground and on beams and rails 15-20 feet up and it would run much smoother. With this pattern, the crops are planted in straight rows and planting and harvesting are pretty much standard for farmers, except the small areas at the towers. Since with pivot types at least 21.5% of the land remains uncultivated, it is a huge waste of arable. That is like having almost one acre out of four lying fallow all the time.
That said, I hate the windmills, too. They give people the idea we are solving the energy and other problem of fossil fuels, when they aren’t doing anything of the sort. False hope is hard to get people to give up on.
@ur momisugly Elizabeth July 15, 2010 at 5:03 pm:
Yes, we should all six-and-one-half billion of us move out to country estates and live like the landed gentry we all are.
Tom in Florida
The UDel campus is outside of town and the turbine is in an otherwise protected marsh area. There aren’t any structures or buildings near it. The campus is the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. I’m about a half mile or so from the site and there are people that are closer. Like I said, so far I haven’t heard anything about noise complaints. The company that built it is splitting the cost with the University. They’re trying to get an offshore wind farm build in the area.
feet2thefire says:
July 15, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Yes, we should all six-and-one-half billion of us move out to country estates and live like the landed gentry we all are.
Snide much?
FANTASTIC!
I can put up a nice shiny new tower for the 442.550 MHz Amateur radio repeater -er- put up my own state-sanctioned wind turbine and make secondary use of the structure as a high position for antenna mounting (something I could not otherwise do!)
WONDERFUL
.
I like the the Loopwing wind turbine – they’re pretty much silent from the ones I’ve seen, even when they’re going to full chat. I live right on the west coast of Oz in Perth and have a steady supply of wind from the sea – if I could get a small one of these for reasonable money to put on the roof next to the evaporative air con unit, I would. Mind you, today I’d be better off with some kind of mini hydro electric system, its pissing down!
ZT said:
The system will not be completed for another week or so. We are being held up by the power company (DTE) doing the survey. The furnace is smaller than the old propane furnace which hasn’t run for at least 15 years. I’ve burned wood since and for the last 5 years corn, of which both are a ball and chain.
It wasn’t difficult to figure out geo-thermal is the way to go. In years past they were a novelty for those with money to burn, but since LPG and NG prices have been rising and Geo prices dropping, the ROI will be 5-7 years. Also the COP (coefficient of performance) has improved to 5 nowadays.
Estimated total cost to heat (including water) and cool: <$500/yr.
Neighbor's cost of propane alone last year: $2500
Case closed.
899 says:
July 15, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Elizabeth says:
July 15, 2010 at 5:03 pm
*
*
Never underestimate the greed of an out-of-control government.
Here in Washington, the greedy have taken to putting water meters on community wells in the rural areas.
You read that correctly: If you and one or more neighbors make use of a common drilled well, the county will put a meter on that and charge you to use your own water.
So then, don’t for a moment think that such a scheme wouldn’t happen in the future with solar power.
___________________________________________
Towns in the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts have you beat. They come onto your PRIVATE property and place a meter on the well you have drilled and paid for!
Oh and do not forget that towns are now selling off their Municipal Water Authorities to foreign investors. So you could drill a well and have to pay a Saudi for your water…..
dwb says:
July 15, 2010 at 2:49 pm
The irony on this website is that wind is likely carbon increasing! Wind does not blow all the time, let alone when you are likeiest to run your AC.
In Great Britain they are actually paying windmill owners to not generate electricity. It seems they produce most reliably at night when the grid cannot take their output because there is far less demand.
They subsidize their construction and then pay for non-production. Brilliant!
when tax credits and rebates became available, he went for it.
When he found out someone else would pay he went for it.
BarryW says:
July 15, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Tom in Florida
The UDel campus is outside of town and the turbine is in an otherwise protected marsh area. There aren’t any structures or buildings near it. The campus is the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment. I’m about a half mile or so from the site and there are people that are closer. Like I said, so far I haven’t heard anything about noise complaints. The company that built it is splitting the cost with the University. They’re trying to get an offshore wind farm build in the area.
______________________________________________________________
Ahah, So this wind turbine is a poster child. I am sure it was precision balanced, QCed and well lubricated to make sure there would be no possibility of complaints.
He described the sound as similar to a “hovering helicopter to a whining or moaning sound.” He told the supervisors some neighbors have changed the rooms in which they sleep, others wear earplugs and some just can’t sleep.”We no longer have a quiet neighborhood.
Stuff your concerns. We’re talking about global warming here.
(I believe this is where I’m to say “sarcasm off”)