If you’re looking into EMFs, you may have come across the term ‘Dirty Electricity’ (DE) but what actually is this and what causes it?
DE or ‘electrical noise’ is caused when there is high-frequency electrical spikes in household wiring (where there should only be 60 Hz electrical current or 50 Hz in Europe) from either the electricity travelling into the building or from electronic devices inside. Some of the biggest offenders include:
· Low-energy light bulbs (LED, compact fluorescents)
· Dimmer switches
· Solar power systems
· Battery chargers
· Electrical motors (especially variable speed)
For example, the only way for dimmers to create a varied light level with the typical 60 Hertz wiring system is to turn the flow of the electrical current “on” and “off” thousands of times every second which sends high frequencies back into the circuit.
DE can cause strong EMFs, particularly near walls with mains wiring where you have in place things like dimmer switches and has been linked to headaches, sleep disturbances and tinnitus among other symptoms.
Line EMI Meter
In order to measure whether there is DE in the circuits of your house, you’ll need a special meter such as the Alpha Labs Line EMI meter. These meters plug into an outlet and typically display the ‘noise’ in milivolts. Once plugged in, you can begin doing tests by turning off or removing certain devices to see what happens to this high frequency.
However, DE may be travelling into your house as opposed to being generated within. In order to test this, you’ll need to switch off (at the socket) all the electronics in your house so that they don’t interfere with your test, including any light sources. Once you’ve successfully turned these off (which isn’t an easy feat!), take the same measurement as you did when examining for device DE. This way you’ll only get the measurement from your local electricity supplier.
In most homes, DE will be caused by internal devices as mentioned earlier, however If you really want to determine the amount of DE in your house, you’ll need to do both these tests and use a process of elimination when in comes to examining each device.
The best way to avoid DE is to eliminate any devices causing it, however you can also use DE filters which plug into outlets. Essentially the filters cause interference filtering technology to “short out” (or shunt) erratic surges and spikes of electrical energy, while allowing standard electricity to pass through unimpeded. These can be a good supplement to aid your actions in reducing levels.
With the amount of electronics in our houses now, its likely everyone has some DE in their house. We recommend priorising the bedroom area first when looking to reduce levels.
Here’s a short video from Stetzer showing DE and filters in action.
EMF Home Team