# Are these "high voltage" power lines or just regular ones? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 10, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479 "2014-01-10T22:52:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/1 "2014-01-10T22:52:04Z")
Here is the [street view](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sugar+Land,+TX&hl=en&ll=29.587192,-95.672872&spn=0.012222,0.022724&sll=29.587769,-95.669524&layer=c&cbp=13,92.8,,0,2.29&cbll=29.58759,-95.672987&hnear=7102+Silverthorne,+Sugar+Land,+Texas+77479&t=h&z=16&panoid=vUpBiIPJw18DOWiZfj6-4w). To be more precise in my question (this is in Houston area) are these the type of “power lines” that would lower the price/desirability of homes that back on them? I understand that regular above ground power lines are ubiquitous there and wouldn’t have an effect on the house price. But high voltage ones do. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/2 "2014-01-10T23:25:40Z")
You mean the ones that cause cancer, bith defects, miscarriages, etc.? Yup. Those are them. And it’s my understanding that they don’t. But a marketplace is often affected more by perception than reality so…still bad news for home values. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/3 "2014-01-11T00:01:45Z")
Yes, those are the alleged ones. The good thing is, municipalities can put in walking/biking trails beneath the lines.( For those willing to risk the flux, or whatever the demon is.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/4 "2014-01-11T02:16:19Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > For those willing to risk the flux, or whatever the demon is. Electric & Magnetic Fields (EMF). Science People say there’s no well-established causal factor for health problems associated with EMF that can’t as easily be marked up to coincidence. Nevertheless, they have no moving parts and still hum menacingly, so they must be dangerous. Like that wonky “dirty” light that comes out of the curly light bulbs. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/5 "2014-01-11T02:43:49Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Electric & Magnetic Fields (EMF). Science People say there’s no well-established causal factor for health problems associated with EMF that can’t as easily be marked up to coincidence. Nevertheless, they have no moving parts and still hum menacingly, so they must be dangerous. Like that wonky “dirty” light that comes out of the curly light bulbs. [Magnetic fields](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet_therapy) are healthy. Woosters say so. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/6 "2014-01-11T03:19:02Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Here is the [street view](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Sugar+Land,+TX&hl=en&ll=29.587192,-95.672872&spn=0.012222,0.022724&sll=29.587769,-95.669524&layer=c&cbp=13,92.8,,0,2.29&cbll=29.58759,-95.672987&hnear=7102+Silverthorne,+Sugar+Land,+Texas+77479&t=h&z=16&panoid=vUpBiIPJw18DOWiZfj6-4w). > > To be more precise in my question (this is in Houston area) are these the type of “power lines” that would lower the price/desirability of homes that back on them? I understand that regular above ground power lines are ubiquitous there and wouldn’t have an effect on the house price. But high voltage ones do. Mains voltage (eg 110 volts ) is called high voltage by the electricians, etc but the local ‘mains’ don’t devalue the house. You can tell by the size of the insulator something about the voltage. So what you are looking at are the transmission lines that are 30,000 volts or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/7 "2014-01-11T04:13:10Z")
I thought the Eeeek! Power lines kill! Nonsense had abated. There must be a newer scare on the scene by now. But then again, there are still outbursts of “fluoride in the water is a Commie plot to weaken us so we are a push-over for their filthy baby-raping soldiers!”, so those still warm my cockles… ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/8 "2014-01-11T04:30:38Z")
if you are near these you might have some problem with radio devices because of the radio noise they might cause. like an AM radio receiver might not get a listenable signal. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/9 "2014-01-11T05:36:04Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > I thought the Eeeek! Power lines kill! Nonsense had abated. I don’t really think there are health risks buying a house next to them. There is definitely a financial minus to having the house next to those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/10 "2014-01-11T21:39:58Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Mains voltage (eg 110 volts ) is called high voltage by the electricians, etc but the local ‘mains’ don’t devalue the house. > > You can tell by the size of the insulator something about the voltage. > > So what you are looking at are the transmission lines that are 30,000 volts or something like that. Every electrician knows that 110 volts is low voltage. Even 30 kV is medium voltage. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2014, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/11 "2014-01-11T21:55:18Z")
110V is high or low voltage depending on context. in building wiring it is not low voltage for electrical codes (USA). in circuits/processes it can be low or high voltage. it depends on the circuit/processes, it is all relative. for a utility they use lots of higher voltage. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/12 "2014-01-12T00:55:50Z")
Those aren’t typically what people are talking about. "High voltage lines’ means something more like these big metal tower jobs which aren’t all that far from where you’re looking. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=10918%2BSharpview%2BDrive,%2BHouston,%2BTX&hl=en&ll=29.705108,-95.57134&spn=0.006458,0.013078&sll=29.361858,-94.959512&sspn=0.006517,0.013078&oq=10918%2BSharpview&hnear=10918%2BSharpview%2BDr,%2BHouston,%2BTexas%2B77072&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=29.705108,-95.57134&panoid=suaAyuND9weoIAxb433zXw&cbp=13,299.29,,0,5.61 (FYI- New Territory is a well designed development; I used to work for the water/sewer/drainage engineering firm back in the 1990s when all that was being designed and built, and the guys who designed the roads and piping were top-notch and very serious about it.) ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/13 "2014-01-12T02:17:36Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Those aren’t typically what people are talking about. "High voltage lines’ means something more like these big metal tower jobs which aren’t all that far from where you’re looking. > > [Google Maps](http://goo.gl/maps/oDRaE) > > (FYI- New Territory is a well designed development; I used to work for the water/sewer/drainage engineering firm back in the 1990s when all that was being designed and built, and the guys who designed the roads and piping were top-notch and very serious about it.) So then what are the ones in my streetview? The unfortunate thing is, whether it is 30KV or 200V, the appearance is what counts. Tall towers with big insulators = can’t sell house when you need to. And yes, NT is a pretty good place, it seems. If I will be forced to move to Houston area, that’s among my prime neighborhoods where to buy. Too bad that one place backs onto these stupid power lines. Those guys you worked for couldn’t have buried those? I bet for the price of the discounts that the developer had to give to sell all those hundreds of houses that back on those lines, you could bury them twice over. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/14 "2014-01-12T02:29:17Z")
I’m about a quarter of a mile from towers with insulators about 2’ long. Looking at recent sales in the huge tract, the ones closer to the line don’t seem to suffer in sales price. This is Sacramento, so we may have a slightly higher education and technical profiles than other places. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/15 "2014-01-12T03:40:30Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > So then what are the ones in my streetview? The unfortunate thing is, whether it is 30KV or 200V, the appearance is what counts. Tall towers with big insulators = can’t sell house when you need to. > > And yes, NT is a pretty good place, it seems. If I will be forced to move to Houston area, that’s among my prime neighborhoods where to buy. Too bad that one place backs onto these stupid power lines. Those guys you worked for couldn’t have buried those? I bet for the price of the discounts that the developer had to give to sell all those hundreds of houses that back on those lines, you could bury them twice over. Electrical power was handled completely by the local power company (Reliant, I think)- they have easements that they run their lines in. The guys I worked for were in charge of the incoming water lines, sanitary sewer lines and the storm sewers, as well as all the retention ponds, etc… in the area, as well as a whole bunch of other stuff on the western side of the Houston area. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/16 "2014-01-12T14:22:26Z")
Not far from where I live, there’s a home where one of those tall towers straddles the driveway: Google maps: **39.90544,-84.009718** ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/17 "2014-01-12T17:07:05Z")
Weird… in that photo, there doesn’t appear to be what I’d think of as a “proper” power line right-of-way, as seen here: (look just west of Wilcrest Rd- you’ll see a undeveloped stripe that has the power lines in it that I showed in my link in post #12) https://maps.google.com/maps?q=77072&hl=en&ll=29.704698,-95.571656&spn=0.012916,0.026157&sll=29.365907,-94.958332&sspn=0.012959,0.026157&t=h&hnear=Houston,%2BTexas%2B77072&z=16 ---
**Author:** ![slitterst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@slitterst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slitterst)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-these-high-voltage-power-lines-or-just-regular-ones/678479/18 "2014-01-13T20:06:40Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Electric & Magnetic Fields (EMF). EMF actually stands for “electromotive force” which is the scientific jargon for voltage.