Life in a Wisconsin Wind Project

5:35 AM. Sleep was not so good last night. The turbines woke me up about 5 times. The first time was at 1:47. Then I was woke at 2:28, 2:58 and 4:01. The last wake up was near 5:00 AM. After that I did not sleep. I have a headache that is getting worse and pressure at the base of my neck.

11:05 PM. The turbines are stopped:)

6:10 AM. Last night I was woke numerous time by the turbines. I was woke at 1:12, 2:36, 3:27 plus two more times in which I did not look at the clock. At 5:45 I got up. My alarm was set for 6:00 AM.

6:20 AM. Wind SW, 10 MPH. The turbine noise this morning is a loud blade noise ( a type of whooshing) to a jet flying over.

10:10 AM. Wind SW, 17 MPH, 18.6 rpms. The last few days have been a little peaceful as far as wind turbine noise. The noise is back with a vengeance. Turbine 4 noise is like that of a low altitude jet flying. There is also the noise somewhat like the sky is being ripped apart. My ears are crackling. I have a throbbing at the base of my neck.

5:30 PM. Until late this afternoon the turbines were making noise like that of a low flying jet going over.

8:35 PM Wind NW, approx. 15.2 rpms. The noise from turbine 4 is a loud motor hum to a jet noise. Turbine 6 is thumping and pounding.

7:20 AM. Wind NE, Calm, 12.6 rpms. Most of the turbines are not turning. Turbine 4 is  turning slow and fairly quiet probably using grid electricity to turn it. I slept better last night only being woke 2 time.

The crackling in my left ear is worse than usual. I did not have that crackling sound before the turbines went up.

My wife constantly has a ringing in her ears she did not have before the turbines. It only goes away if we are gone from home for from 4 to 6 days. One time we returned home from a vacation at night. We turned down our road and my wife commented, “The ringing is back”. That was in the dark not even thinking about her ears.

9:35 AM, Wind Calm. The turbnes are shut down.

4:30 PM. Wind Calm. For most of the day the turbines have been shut down. There have been a few attempts to get them running. Attempts? Attempts to get the turbine blades turning? I can hear grid electricity being “shot” into the turbine motors to get the blades turning. I can hear grid electricity being used to turn the blades from a position where they do not gather wind to a position to best catch the wind. I can also hear grid electricity being used to turn the nacel so that the blades are perpendicular to the wind as wind direction often changes.

8:35 PM. Wind N. The noise from turbine 4 is that of a jet. Turbine 6 noise is like a motor grinding or a loud humming noise.

11:30 PM. I hear a thumping and pounding noise while in bed.

 6:30 AM. Wind NE, calm, 11.5 rpms. I was woke three times last night even though the   turbines were turning slow. The noise I hear now is like a large motor growling.

4:10 PM, Wind calm. The turbines have not been turning since 11:00 AM (5+ hours). I’m glad we have reliable coal and nuclear power to keep my house supplied with electricity. A few times attempts were made to get them turning, but soon after the brakes were applied stopping them. At the moment it reminds me of pre turbine times. There is complete peace and quiet. There is an absence of noise. No traffic. No trains and most of all no large industrial wind turbine noise.

 7:55 PM. Wind NW. Turbine 4 sounds like a jet flying over and turbine 6 is thumping and pounding.

10:55 PM. Wind N, 7 MPH. The turbine noise is like that of a jet flying over.

7:15 AM. Wind NE, Calm, 8.3 rpms. The speed is well below production speed. There is just a gentle whooshing sound. Sleep: I was only woke 3 times last night.

8:10 PM.  Wind NE, 11.3 rpms.  We just got home from an all day field trip to northwest Wisconsin purchasing maple syrup making supplies. The current turbine noise is that of a loud whoosh and motor grinding noise.

10:35PM. I can hear turbine noise (#4) from inside or three seasons room.

6:00 AM. I had hoped for a good nights sleep because the turbines were not turning when I went to bed. I was woke three times and when I got up they were turning slow. I also had a headache which indicated that the turbines began turning sometime over night.

The speed of the blades or revolutions per minute does not matter for sleep deprivation. If the turbine blades are turning they affect sleep and health.

I was woke about 4:35 and did not sleep after that. This is quite a comparison to the night before (In Beloit) when I was away from home in an unfamiliar house in an unfamiliar bed yet slept for nine hours.

4:10 PM. Wind NW, 9.6 rpms. The turbines are turning slow. This is below production speed and is probably using grid electricity to turn the 42,000 pound set of blades. The turbines have been on and off this afternoon. I can hear the brakes being applied to stop the large blades then boost of electricity to again get them going.

10:50 PM. Wind, calm. The turbines are stopped

6:10 AM. Oh, what a wonderful night of sleep. I feel cheerful. I slept by Bill and Cathy in a rural area of Beloit. I went to bed at 9:00 PM and woke up with my alarm at 6:00 AM. NINE hours of sleep. Wow! I woke up only one time last night. I feel refreshed. That can not happen home thanks to Invenergy and the Wisconsin PSC for irresponsibly placing large industrial wind turbines too close to our house as well as others in this Forward Energy wind factory. I like to dream. Last night’s sleep seemed to be non stop dreams. Dreams of what I learned yesterday in training. Dreams with lot of people. Dreams with lots of color. Dreams with lots of activity.

After the turbines went on line my dreaming was taken away from me. It was some time later that sleep deprivation began to take place. At first I was woke up at around 3:00 AM. Then 2:00 AM. Now I am woke up during the midnight hour. I am very thankful for last night’s beautiful sleep. “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”.

5:00 PM My second day of  training in Beloit is over. It was a very peaceful day. There was no drone of large industrial wind turbines hanging in the air. There was no low frequency noise.

7:05 PM. Wind Calm. All the turbines are stoppedJ This is great.