How can I find out if the wires in back of the house I'm interested in are high tension power lines?

Question

They are Giant rusty looking Very Large very tall poles that run along the pinelands behind a retirement village carrying wires...realtor said no, but I don't know if I beleive him! thanks

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

they might be distribution lines, but you should be able to find out from PUC

Public Utility Commission

Answer 2

Only one way to be sure: touch them with a realtor!

Answer 3

Take a portable radio, tune to a AM station. Walk towards a "normal" electricity line, the kind that supplies your house. Listen to, and memorize the "buzz" in the radio, and how close you had to go until it buzzes.
Now try the same going towards those "giant rusty looking very large very tall poles". If the buzz starts much further away, and is much louder when right underneath, then you can assume that is a high tension power line.

Answer 4

Check out the Y!A question linked below to get an idea how high the voltage is on those lines. From your description (large towers, long distances) they sound like high voltage lines.

If you are worried about them being HV lines... check out the second link. Any electric or magnetic field surrounding these lines drop in magnitude quickly as one moves away from the line, so I for one think the cancer worries that people have are mostly unfounded. There may be some radio interference, though.

Source(s):

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=…
http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/;_…

Answer 5

Look at the size of the insulators. If the insulators are small, and of only a single section, the lines are from 7200 to 12,000 volts. Large single piece insulators carry 33,000 volts. Multi-section insulators carry around 10,000 volts per section. It is possible that the power line in question has been abandoned and is carrying no power at all, but I would not bet on it. If you stand under the lines and can hear a crackling noise, they are carrying power.

Answer 6

Sound like high voltage power lines to me. Never trust a real estate agent, ask your electricity board or council. Real estate agents are compulsive liars.

Answer 7

if those wires are just on the top of a pole then they are just ordinary distribution lines high tension wires are distributed by steel towering hanger that are spaced 300 meters apart