[Greenbuilding] EMF's and smoke detectors

[Stephen Collette]

The hardwired smoke detectors will present the potential for EMF's in  
the same manner that any other electrical appliance and wiring will  
generate within the walls and structure of your home. The key to  
reducing the fields within the home is to ensure that there are no  
wiring errors within each of the junction boxes, be them light  
fixtures, outlets, wall switches or end points like the smoke alarm.  
Wiring errors that can slip by undetected such as ground to neutral  
touching, can yield a functioning circuit but will generate EMF's.  
The key is to make sure there are no wiring errors in the system to  
reduce the potential for exposure. For a DC or battery powered smoke  
detector, the DC fields generated would be much less than that of a  
hardwired detector with a wiring error since the wiring error will  
propagate throughout the house. The DC detector is isolated to itself.

If you are concerned about EMF's in your bedroom, you can take a  
couple steps. First ensure all appliances used in the bedroom are  
actually grounded. This includes lights, clocks and everything, to  
help reduce your exposure, or switch out for battery clocks and  
nightlights. Secondly, have all electrical appliances as far away  
from you as possible, and ideally, not in the room. Third, you can  
add a subpanel for the bedroom and have it on a demand switch. These  
switches work on a remote key fob. When you are in bed, hit the  
button and it kills the whole circuit (or as many circuits as you  
want to put on it). If you have to get up in the night, turn on your  
light like normal and the circuit is energized again. These work  
pretty successful but are certainly a more expensive option.

Also don't forget to think about what is around, behind, below and  
above your bed in regards to electrical appliances beyond the walls  
of the bedroom. I've seen people with the freezer in the basement  
below their bed, and think they have done everything in regards to  
EMF's.

Good luck.

Stephen

Stephen Collette B.B.E.C
Principal

Your Healthy House
Indoor Environmental Inspections & Building Consulting
www.yourhealthyhouse.ca
stephen at yourhealthyhouse.ca
705.652.5159


>
> I am trying to figure out if the hard wired or battery operated
> photo-electric smoke detectors will produce a smaller
> Electro-Magnetic field. My concern is to create the sleeping quarters
> that are as free from EMF as possible and it seems that a battery
> operated smoke detector placed outside a bedroom door would be better
> in this regard than the hard-wired detector placed inside the
> bedroom.  I've done some poking around, including talking to "Less
> EMF", but haven't come up with any info. Does anyone out there have
> an opinion or a lead of information on this (other than I should stop
> worrying about EMF...)?
>
> Thank you much,
> -------------------------------------------------
> Irina
>