349K views · Jul 6, 2011 · 1:33 · 0 HN recommenders · 6 mentions · discussed 2019–2025
A two-minute Telegraph report that takes a decibel meter to a wind farm and nearby residential areas to measure how loud turbines are compared with everyday noise.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it in wind-power debates as measured evidence that turbine noise is low relative to ambient or road noise.
“Unless you're within 200m of a turbine, the background ambient sounds are louder than the sound of the turbine.”HN comment, 2022
“City dwellers of most stripes suffer worse noise levels according to my limited research.”
Example measurement of wind farm noise levels
Are they any louder in Germany than in Britain? It seems that by suffering, they are just missing the benefit of the quiet rural areas. City dwellers of most stripes suffer worse noise levels according to my limited research. One example: this video
“they seem to be quieter”
Evidence that wind turbines are quiet
I cannot understand how anyone would prefer an enormous grey concrete building with a large exclusion zone and large cooling towers blocking the skyline, to otherwise untouched natural or agricultural landscape dotted with wind turbines. Wind turbines allow you to enjoy more of the countryside because they take up very little space (you can walk around them). Furthermore, they seem to be quieter: this video link
“4 to 6 dB is a lot less noisy than the AHA video.”
Decibel readings near a turbine site in England
Found that video working on Youtube using the same 'v=' code. At one point (2:50) the video (attributed to the 'Allegheny Highlands Alliance'[0]; executive producer an M.D.) plays a sound labelled 'turbine noise during winter'. It's very loud ... I wouldn't spend an hour in that noise. But was the noise recorded near the turbine(s)? And considering the turbine(s) are 530 yards (almost 1/3 mile) away from the home, those shadows falling on the building could only occur briefly near sunrise and sunset. Here are some decibel readings at an equivalent distance from a turbine site in England. 4 to 6 dB is a lot less noisy than the AHA video. this video [0] link
“Unless you're within 200m of a turbine, the background ambient sounds are louder than the sound of the turbine.”
Shows wind turbine noise measured against ambient sound
I was curious about the sound impact and found these two videos: 1) link , 2) this video . The first video has pretty sound (pardon the pun) methodology. Findings: Unless you're within 200m of a turbine, the background ambient sounds are louder than the sound of the turbine. Do you have evidence to the contrary?
“living near a road is _way_ more disruptive than living near a wind turbine”
Decibel meter comparison of road noise and turbine noise
How close are you talking? Here's [0] a video where someone goes out and gets a decibel meter to show that living near a road is _way_ more disruptive than living near a wind turbine. This is from over a decade ago. Modern farms are being put 300+ metres away from the nearest houses, where they should be 30-40dB or so [1] [0] this video [1] link
“This was interesting.”
Interesting look at wind turbine noise
This was interesting. this video The turbines I saw in Iowa weren't loud enough to drown out distance sounds of the highway. I didn't hear them at all, but I guess there's also tinnitus to be contended with...
