[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: Smoke detectors and EMF
Lawrence Lile
LLile at projsolco.com
Mon May 21 13:46:20 CDT 2007
Here is a copy of some actually EMF measurements, that I keep around for
this sort of conversation. What this shows is that your most intense
exposures are from electric ranges, hair dryers, electric shavers, and
other things you stick right near your body. Being even 24" away from
these sources reduces the fields by tenfold or a hundredfold. 6 feet
should reduce most household EMF's to background levels. If I were
worried about such things,(which as you know I am not, but I do respect
your concerns) I'd be less worried about the freezer in the basement or
my electric blanket and more worried about my computer. I'd also be
patching grounded cords onto all my appliances, dumping my electric
stove, dumping the microwave oven. This is excerpted from Mikeholt.com,
a popular electrical site.
Lawrence Lile, P.E., LEED AP
Senior Electrical Engineer
P.S. If you go and get an MRI test, you are exposed to a magnetic field
of 75 gauss or so.
Note that 4 milligauss has been bandied about (without much to prove it)
as a possible lower exposure limit -LL
"Mike, I work for the local Power Company, this is always a hot topic. A
few years ago, I did my own study to measure EMF at various locations.
The results are below:
Milligauss Location
0.6 Bedroom fan, on, 2' away
1.32 5' from TV, on, 2' above floor
1.64 Curling iron, on
1.88 Electric blanket after warmed up
2.6 In the cab of my truck, in front of office
2.95 5' from pad mount transformer @ Wendy's
3.12 Directly under 69,000V line
4.04 Directly under 7,200V line
5.5 Cord type electric drill, on
6.12 Electric blanket, first turned on
6.28 On computer keyboard at home
6.88 5' from TV, on, on floor
8 on Computer keyboard at work
8.4 On my desk at work
8.76 15' from transformer
9.2 25' from 161,000V line
11.6 Directly under 161,000V line
12.8 In front of micro-wave oven, off
15.2 Directly under 12,470V line
19.2 Directly under 161,000V line
19.6 Desk fan, off
21.2 Portable electric drill, on
22 Desk fan, on
22.5 25' from 12,470 & 69,000V line
26.8 1' from hair dryer, on
28.8 On top of TV, on
31.3 Directly under 12,470V line
32.8 1' from fluorescent light, on
39.2 25' from 345,000V line
44.4 On range top, off
53.6 Portable electric razor, on
74 Directly under 345,000V line @ 255th St.
77. Directly under (about 15') 161,000V bus bar inside
sub
104 Directly under 12,470 & 69,000V line
128 In front of micro-wave oven, on
180 On range top, on
648 Next to hair dryer, on
896 Bedroom fan, on, next to motor
Unless you live within 50' of the conductors of a high-voltage
transmission line, EMF is a bigger concern from everyday convenience
appliances in your home! I just wanted you to have the facts.
Kevin E. Duke
Licensed Journeyman electrician and member of the local City Electrical
Board, etc."
-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Irina
Golfman
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 1:02 PM
To: Ted Inoue
Cc: greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org
Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] Smoke detectors and EMF
Importance: Low
Ted,
Indeed, we are constantly exposed to the electromagnetic fields in
our homes. In the case of our family we try to control what we can.
No, we do not have a TV, a microwave, electric alarms, or cordless
phones, but we do use computers and drive cars. This is about making
an informed choice when we have an opportunity to do so, rather than
saying "well, I am already exposed to so many things that this one
isn't even worth considering".
Irina
At 01:11 PM 5/21/2007, Ted Inoue wrote:
>hard wired will produce more because you've got the high voltage line
>coming into the unit. A battery operated unit will have virtually no
>emissions that aren't intrinsic in the circuitry of the detector.
>
>However, if you're worried about that, extremely low level of EMF,
>than I wonder - do you have any of the following in your home?
>electronic alarm clock - contains oscillators that will radiate. Power
>from plug is down-converted by a transformer that will radiate.
>Almost any device plugged into the wall will have a similar
>transformer to step the voltage down and that will radiate.
>Television? Will probably radiate orders of magnitude more than the
above
>Telephone? more transformers. Cordless telephone? Constantly
>broadcasting high frequency signals.
>
>Do you have any motors? Those generate lots of elector magnetic field.
>Do you drive a car? Microprocessors and motors all over the place. How
>are you reading your email? Your computer is generating lots of EMI at
>various frequencies.
>
>Oh, and don't forget about light bulbs. Did you know that a typical
>light bulb is an electro magnetic field generator of significant
>proportion? Any time you pass current through a wire, you're creating
>a magnetic field. The more current, the higher the field.
>
>In modern society, you're simply not going to escape being constantly
>bombarded with electromagnetic fields. But then again, most of them
>are trivial when compared to the strength of the earth's own magnetic
>field if you're more than a few inches away from the device.
>
>Please don't take this as a sarcastic attack. I'm just trying to be
>real. Every electronic device is creating magnetic fields but almost
>none is at a significant level.
>
>Also, consider that many people inclined to "natural remedies" are now
>using magnetic wristbands and other magnetic devices claimed to help
>their health. These magnets generate fields vastly more powerful than
>those from typical devices around the home.
>
>
>On 5/21/07, Irina Golfman <irina at inera.com> wrote:
>>Hello everyone,
>>
>>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
>>
>>
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