[Strawbale] re. metal vs. plastic mesh / electric field issues

[Leanne Rellstab]

Shivani,

That is incredibly interesting. I bought a Trifield meter to measure 
electric and magnetic fields as well as radio & microwave fields, I'm glad I 
did (bought different cell phones and don't stand close to the microwave or 
TV anymore). Your right in that you would need an oscilloscope to measure 
the amounts of different frequencies coming to your house from the power 
companies. I can't imagine what it would take to filter out some of those 
higher end frequencies out of the 4 ot gauge wire supplying the house, Ykes! 
Right now there is so much really high frequency stuff from microwave cell 
phones, cordless phones and the like in the 900 MHz to 2.4 GHz and nobody 
really knows how much of a hazard it is. Of course amplitude (how powerful) 
each frequency is probably matters more than the frequency itself as far as 
a health issue goes.

I'm curious what range of frequencies are you seeing from the power company 
at your house? Does the any particular frequency have a greater amplitude 
curve on your oscilloscope? What are you seeing in any lower frequencies 
below 50/60 Hz?

For those who don't know anything about electricity (bless your souls 
because it is the of bizarre stuff eggheads. I have no formal electronic 
training other than making things go poof in my shop, then my wife calls me 
a pinhead)  But electricity travels down a wire in a wave like on the ocean 
(sine wave) and the frequency is how fast the waves go down the wire. 60Hz 
is 60 waves a second. And the height of the wave is a measure of how 
powerful it is. 100 Amp service at 60 Hz is some big waves ( good surfing 
waves). Shivani, please correct me if I'm wrong here.

Doug

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <SArjuna at aol.com>
To: <strawbale at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 7:32 PM
Subject: [Strawbale] re. metal vs. plastic mesh / electric field issues


     Andrew Morrison sent me the following, in response to my Q about metal
vs. plastic mesh.   Following his remarks is my response to his questions.

Andrew wrote:

The biggest issues I see with the plastic mesh are its lack of
structural strength and the weakness it offers for shaping bale corners
around windows, etc...In some of the buildings we build, the mesh is an
integral part of the structural shear system. With welded wire mesh, we
gain strength but the plastic mesh offers no real value to the system. In
addition, the plastic mesh does not hold its shape as well as metal mesh
does when shaping window and door openings. We use both plastic and metal
but I prefer the metal for ease of construction. Plastic is less aggressive
to work with and cuts easily, but it also is harder to attach to the walls
at wood framing because the pneumatic stapler often blows right through the
tabs.
     I hear the concern about the electronic fields, and I am open to
ideas about that. Is it possible to ground the mesh in a way that would
direct the electrical noise into the earth?

     Shivani responds:

     There are a couple of problem with this, big ones.
     One is that the earth (terra firma) is no longer at zero potential.
The electric utilities are using the earth to return about 70% (in some 
areas,
more) of the electricity to their substations.    You might be lucky and 
find a
current-free spot to ground to, but you'd be about as likely to hit a spot
with high-frequency ground current, and bring that into the house.
     The electricity delivered by the utility in most areas these days is
extremely "polluted" or "dirty" with health-damaging high frequencies.
High-frequency electricity behaves quite differently from 50/60 Hz.    It is 
subject
to "the skin effect," meaning that it tends to spread out and travel over 
the
surfaces of things (even things that wouldn't ordinarily be thought of as 
very
conductive).   There are invisible rivers of current, sometimes as much as 
100
feet wide, flowing over the surface of the earth on their way back to the
substation, because the utility transmission system is 50 years old and was 
never
designed to deal with high frequencies.   In addition, each house will
usually have its own river heading out to retun to the substation.   (This 
can be
mapped if you have an oscilloscope.   We've done it here at our place.)
     Another problem, even if you found "clean" earth to ground to, is that
grounding the mesh would most likely then create a loop circuit for the
high-frequency to travel on.   Onto the mesh, onto the ground, then back 
onto water
pipes/wiring/metal rain spouts/another area of mesh.....
     There are things one can do to forestall the high frequencies "getting
loose" in the house, yes, but offering an attractive pathway like metal 
mesh,
that involves the entire building, is at the absolute other end of the
spectrum.
     Are there any builders here who prefer the plastic mesh?   If so, would
you kindly say something about why?
     If any of you have an electric field meter that is capable of
identifying high-frequency fields (and distinguishing them from 60 Hz) I 
would much
apreciate hearing what kind of readings you get in various SB buildings.
     Regards,
     Shivani Arjuna
     Life Energies
     (www.LifeEnergies.com   Where there is lots more info. about electrical
pollution & electrosmog.)
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