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Original poster

Small electrical substation near home

27 replies

foodie1 · 10/09/2017 17:02

Hi,

I was hoping someone could help. My husband and I have just had an offer accepted on a house and have just realised that there is a small electrical substation at the bottom of the garden behind the fence and our garage. We have read various bits on the internet but can't make up our mind as to whether it is safe as the information is very mixed? The garden and substation is probably 20/30 metres from the house.

Can anyone help? Does anyone have proof either way?

Thanks for your help :)

OP posts:

wowfudge · 10/09/2017 18:10

They are safe - your mobile phone is a bigger risk.

specialsubject · 10/09/2017 22:21

Reliable info is NOT mixed - go read sense about science. E fields in your house are stronger.

Check access, wayleaves, noise.

johnd2 · 11/09/2017 22:30

Very safe, unless you climb in and start touching things. Your house has cables through just about every wall and floor which are connected to the sub station. Will be worth asking for a discount though, as the house value will be slightly lower (in the same way that houses near graveyards are slightly cheaper)

Nestlyn · 11/09/2017 22:38

You should think about whether this might deter future purchasers, unless this is your forever home (which will probably be unlikely). Think long and hard, some might consider it a blight, might be worth renegotiating.

Treborextrastrong38 · 12/09/2017 09:49

I wouldn't be put off by an electricity substation, but would by a huge buzzing pylon. There is an electricity substation right next to our kids school and no-body has ever mentioned it as being 'unsafe' for the kids.

I understand what people say re: future buyers being put off, but if you're not put off then somebody else will come along that also won't be put off

yodelehoho · 12/09/2017 10:53

www.powerwatch.org.uk/elf/substations.asp

Lots of info here. Personally I wouldn't buy a house near one and I think it may affect future saleability.

Remember when the Government told us diesel fuel was cleaner and safer? Remember when we were told that cigarettes were safe to smoke?

wowfudge · 12/09/2017 11:10

Not helpful @yodelehoho. The OP's mobile phone will have a stronger electromagnetic field much closer to her. This kind of pseudo scientific stuff is misleading rubbish.

moggle · 12/09/2017 11:19

I looked into this when we looked at a house which had a substation about 8m from the house (and we would've walked within 2m of it every time we walked down the drive). I decided not to (other reasons too, but this was a factor). However 20-30m would not have bothered me due to how fast the EM fields decrease with distance. Plenty of people must live within 30m of a substation but because there are other houses or gardens or roads in between, it doesn't even cross their minds.
But read the info and decide on your risk level. We were about to have our first baby (so the info about childhood cancers were relevant to us; if we had teenagers etc maybe our assessment would've been different), and we have a MIL who would never have been able to forget it was there. For us it wasn't worth the worry.

moggle · 12/09/2017 11:20

Sorry, should be clearer - "info about childhood cancers" - I'm not saying this is reliable and I know the links aren't scientifically proven by any means - but just the mention of it gave us pause when we were about to start having kids. We hoped to live in the house for 15+ years.

MumOfTwoMasterOfNone · 12/09/2017 11:31

Well given that one near me had a very large fire and we had no power for days, I wouldn't choose to live near one, no.

yodelehoho · 12/09/2017 12:20

wowfudge - not really up to you to say whether or not it's useful.

I trust the OP finds it useful, in particular the Oxford Brookes university report on the effect of property values sited near sub stations.

wowfudge · 12/09/2017 12:46

It's a public forum and scaremongering helps no one - you can stick your biscuit. That some people consider (through misinformation) that the presence of a substation in the vicinity affects property values is perhaps no surprise, but it shouldn't put anyone off living near one.

specialsubject · 12/09/2017 13:00

go read senseaboutscience rather than fuckwit hippy-dippy zero evidence bollocks.

use that brain rather than doling out biscuits.

if you were that bothered about efields you wouldn't be using the internet.

as for the fire - houses burn down frequently. Should none of us live near other people?

InfiniteSheldon · 12/09/2017 13:26

The important thing g here is perception, it doesn't matter whether or not you believe it to be safe enough people worry to make the house worth less as those perceptions affect its saleabity.

Also as far as I know this is a public forum and a opinions are valid it's up the OP to discount the ones she find irrelevant not the thread police!!

wowfudge · 12/09/2017 14:37

The thing is, if this mumbo jumbo based on dubious "scientific evidence" is perpetuated, it becomes fact to some people - surely it's better to debunk these myths and call out those who choose to publicise and repeat them? Just because there's a website peddling this stuff doesn't mean it's true. A bit like the "news" in the Daily Fail.

InfiniteSheldon · 12/09/2017 16:04

Then say that, that's a very valid points of view but having an opinion doesn't give you the right to say others can't speak/write. Silencing posters leads to echo chambers not discussion.

BeyondThePage · 12/09/2017 16:09

We have a small substation 50 feet from the house - next door's driveway provides access, there is about 4 foot of his garden between us and the substation, can only see it from our property if you were to lean out of a bedroom window.

Never bothered us until last month when all of a sudden there is a comms mast poking up 8 foot high, 5 feet from our garden fence, so wherever we are in the garden, we see this white mast.

Temporaryanonymity · 12/09/2017 16:10

They have to go somewhere though. There was one opposite my old house. No one mentioned it, and I had two offers in a week. It was really obvious too.

johnd2 · 12/09/2017 23:35

The best part of that document is when it tells me that living near a substation can cause my computer to wobble and therefore breach Health and safety rules! I'd rather worry about things proven to damage Health eg pollution.

specialsubject · 13/09/2017 09:41

Op not back, perhaps has decided all efields dangerous and gone off grid!!

wowfudge · 13/09/2017 10:09

@InfiniteSheldon there is some irony about your post of 13:26 yesterday. I did counter what yodelehoho posted re: mobile phones. In my opinion linking to that kind of crap is unhelpful and stating that doesn't make me the thread police.

NoSquirrels · 13/09/2017 10:15

I didn't even notice the substation next to our garden until the searches came back. DH did, though.

It's not a problem for us. And we don't intend to sell anytime soon, so not massively bothered about resale value. Wayleave down the side of the drive, behind the garage, no big deal, never really see anyone checking it.

More spiders on that side of the garden though- warmth? Coincidence? Genetic mutations?

Either way, doesn't bother me at all.

InfiniteSheldon · 13/09/2017 10:36

Not aimed at you Wowfudge sorry could have been clearer

baldelectrician · 14/09/2017 20:27

I have to admit an interest as an electrican

I would not bother if I has a substation at the bottom of my garden provided all cables were underground and the sub station was ground mounted and enclosed - ie not pole mounted

There is a plus point- as you are closer to the sub station the voltage is marginally higher so your shower will be slightly warmer and your lamps slightly brighter.

specialsubject · 14/09/2017 20:28

There s a pole mounted one at the end of my garden. Perhaps the raydiashun has burnt out my tolerance for dopeyness?

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