If you have ever researched electricity retailers (providers) and how your energy usage is tracked, chances are you have heard of smart meters. In the United States, smart meters began to replace regular analog meters in 2006. In the last 16 years, the number of units has risen to almost 80 million. Nearly 75% of all electricity consumers in the United States use one type of smart meter, and the rest use analog meters.
But what do smart meters look like, how do they measure energy consumption data, are these devices safe, and how can you protect yourself? We answer these questions and more in this article.
What are Smart Meters?
First, what are smart meters? Smart meters are electronic devices outside your home that are connected to the electrical system in your home. It records and measures information such as power consumption, voltage level, current, and power factor.
The electrical wiring from all over your house comes together at this meter. The meter monitors the current flowing through these wires and then wirelessly transmits that data to the consumer and utility company. Information on electricity consumption is required by the power company for billing and the consumer for monitoring.
What Do Smart Meters Look Like?
Smart meters look like the old-style electric meters you are probably used to. Although they are similar in size, you find that most smart meters do not have a dial and have a digital screen. Of course, the exact appearance may vary depending on the model and the provider.
Typically, smart meters have a white face with an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen, similar to the screen used in digital watches and many televisions and laptops. If you still have a meter reader that comes to your home regularly to take readings, you don’t have a smart meter yet.
Smart Meters and EMF Radiation
If you ask your power company if a smart meter affects your health, they will probably tell you there’s no health risk. But are these meters safe? Smart meters transmission closely resembles cell phone, satellite, pager, radio, power line, and Internet or Wi-Fi (TCP/IP) technologies. These are all forms of radiofrequency (RF) radiation used in most wireless smart devices.
But unlike cellular devices, which emit signals frequently, smart meters transmit RF signals only 1 percent of the time, with some devices transmitting even less.
The only period smart meters transmit radiofrequency signals for an extended time is in maintenance mode, during which the smart meter can update information and transmit RF signals for up to one hour. Even then, it’s no match for your phone, which keeps pinging in your hand most of the day.
Distance and time are the two most essential factors in exposure to electromagnetic radiation. When it comes to distance, a smart meter is usually located outside of your home and often far from your usual living space.
Looking at some numbers, US-style smart meters have a power density of 100-400 mW/m2 at 1 meter during a transmission period. Increase the distance to three meters and the power density will drop to 10-40 mW/m2.
So Are Smart Meters Safe?
Well, there are still concerns about smart meters, including their location and the resulting ELF emissions.
If you have a smart meter on the wall next to your bedroom or living room, you may be increasing your risk of exposure. It’s important to keep your bedroom free of EMF radiation, especially while you sleep. In certain apartment complexes, there may be a wall of smart meters close to your apartment that measures electricity usage for the entire building, and this increased load could be potentially damaging.
ELF Radiation from Meter Wiring
Your smart meter’s RF exposure is very low because the signals are largely infrequent. However, the wiring that goes to both regular meters and smart meters emits a different frequency known as extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation 24/7. Extremely low frequency is an even lower frequency than radio frequency but still shows some health effects with chronic exposure.
The meter itself is only a little box that monitors power levels. Its extremely low-frequency emissions are two milligauss or less. However, the meter plugs into a box through which the main house wiring passes. As mentioned above, this cable carries electricity for your entire home.
This cable gives off ELF at approximately 10 to 15 milligauss, whether connected to an analog or smart meter. That’s relatively high for extremely low frequency (the EPA recommends less than four milligauss), but as long as you’re within a few feet away, ELF exposure is reduced exponentially.
What distinguishes ELF from RF is that it doesn’t propagate from one device to another, like an electromagnetic frequency. It simply emanates as a by-product of anything that has as a by-product electric current. This means it has a much lower power level and does not travel as far.
Think of a constant water leak versus a water gun: the gun is more powerful and can travel farther, but if you’re really close to the source, the water leak can make you wetter than a squirt from a water gun.
This means that smart meters emit radio signals only 1 percent of the time but constantly emit ELF radiation. This, besides having a smart meter near where you sleep or spend a lot of time, could have biological effects on the body.
Research Revealing Health Concerns
The state of Vermont released a report in 2012 addressing health issues related to smart meters when they were introduced in the state. Part of this report covered radiation measurements from smart meters in homes.
Here’s what the health department found:
“RFR measurements during transmission ranged from 50-140 μW/cm2 when in contact with the smart meter near its transmitting antenna. Measurements taken 12 inches from the smart meter during transmission ranged from 10-50 μW/cm2. Measurements at distances of one meter or more from the smart meter were at or close to the background level.
With the rapid deployment of smart meters, often without home occupants being aware of the new technology, several people are reporting new health issues ranging from sleep disturbances to heart problems and skin rashes.
People with electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) may be more susceptible to new smart meters, as these people are already susceptible to EMF symptoms and illnesses. Staying in close proximity to meters, particularly for a long time, can lead to health problems.
How to Protect Yourself and Your Family from Smart Meter Radiation
Smart meters present a unique problem. Unlike mobile phones and other devices that you can use at your leisure and turn off at any time, smart meters are likely to be around whether you like them or not. This makes protective measures more daunting, but not impossible.
Here are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your family from the harmful effects of EMF exposure from smart meters.
Add Some Distance
In terms of reducing your EMF exposure, distance is your friend. In fact, according to the distance law of physics, the strength of the EMF exponentially weakens with distance.
EMF is energy, which means that, like all other forms of energy, it is strongest at its source. To better understand this, you can think of EMF sources as light bulbs. The closer you get to it, the hotter it gets, and vice versa.
So if you increase the distance between the EMF source and your body, the level of EMF your body has to deal with is relatively small. This is also one reason we recommend keeping your wireless router at least five meters away from where you spend most of your time.
But the truth is that, unlike other devices, moving your smart meter is out of the question. So we suggest you rearrange your home so that the places where you spend most of your time are away from your smart meter.
You can begin with your bedroom. If your bed is close to the smart meter, just move it to another room. And if that isn’t an option, you can simply drag it to another part of the same room. Remember that every inch counts.
GeoClense EMF and Earth Radiation Harmoniser
Adding distance between the EMF source and your body works very well. But you will still be exposed to lower levels of energy which, if they build up over time, can lead to problems. This is where you can use our GeoClense EMF and Earth Radiation Harmoniser as an extra layer of protection.
The Geoclense is a healthy, negative charge resonance field generator designed to balance the noxious, unhealthy positive charge resonance created by your smart meters and all forms of EMR, RF, Wi-Fi, Earth Radiation, and Bioplasmic Radiation.
The Geoclense Orgone Negative Ion Generator consistently generates healthy beneficial Negative ions that work by harmoniously neutralizing your entire property and home all the way to its boundaries, counteracting each one of these destructive energies such as radiation and electromagnetic frequencies.
Dome Schumann Resonance Orgone Generators
These highly protective Dome Schumann Resonance Orgone Generators are powerful Orgone accumulators.
They are beneficial for harmonizing and neutralizing geopathic stress and Smart Meters radiation, as well as all forms of electro-pollution, electromagnetic fields, and electromagnetic radiation.
Orgone Generator domes raise the vibrational healing energy of the magnetic grids and fault zones to a life-giving status, reducing the physical stress and mental health problems in the home, school, and work environment.
Strengthen Your Body’s Resistance
Although evolution has not designed our bodies to deal with today’s EMF radiation, an adult human being is resistant to the effects of EMF to some degree. And you can improve that resiliency with good nutrition and regular exercise, says Cathy Cooke, a building biologist and expert in electromagnetic fields. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all adults between the ages of 18 and 64 get up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.
Final Thoughts
Smart meters are here to stay. And we need to accept that they are not going anywhere. So rather than vainly lobbying to remove them, the best way to tackle the problem is to learn how to form a healthier relationship with them and technology in general. Additionally, you can invest in our EMF protection products to protect yourself and your home from EMF exposure. Shop our full range of EMF protection products today!
