House Electrical Meter proximity to sleeping child

[mivey]

What is considered the closest a 110 volt electric utility meter can be safely located relative to a sleeping child?

Closer than your child will be able to approach through the wall of the house. In fact, I would venture to say your child could use the meter for a pillow and not be in any grave danger from EMFs. Your child will get infinitely more exposure from other things in their environment during their lives.

What are the electrical field considerations to consider?

As far as electricity, I would be more concerned about electric shock than EMFs. I doubt there is anything in your environment, at least nothing I have heard here, that should make you put EMFs at the top of the list of things to worry about. Now if you worked in a high-energy lab and took your child to work, we might have something to discuss.

There are plenty of other greater concerns that would be a better use of your time & energy spent protecting your child.

 

[jgcruz]

I googled souther california edison esr, and got some information from their electrical service requirements on EMF. It gives some good information for electric meter location and magnetic fields from electric appliances. Hope this can be of some help.

 

[jgcruz]

make that southern california edison

 

[mivey]

I like the idea from Hillbilly 1 with the sheet metal plate behind the meter. Low tech and relatively cheap. Will this definitely work? How thick? Any info on shielding EMF like this out there?

Moving the bed would be easier and cheaper as the strength falls off with the square of the distance but it is really a non-issue. Quit worrying. Really.

If it will put your mind at ease, read:
http://www.ccst.us/publications/2011/2011smart-final.pdf

 

[Rockyd]

EMF is mostly produced when conductors of the same circuit are not run together, placing a metal shield between the source and subject also will do little to nothing to stop the magnetic field generated by wrongly run circuits, Circuits that are run together such as the hots and neutral run all in the same raceway, and cabinet like a meter cabinet will produce very little to no field outside of that raceway or cabinet.

While I have my reservations on this subject, and as was pointed out the saying "Don't let fear be your guide" I will add let the truth be your guide, be careful of where you get your information, there are to many out there that pray on fear of others to make money, do not take everything you hear that flows by on the wind to be the truth.

In my own experience of being an electrician for over 37 years, and many time being around very large EMF fields in industrial and in other places, I would have expected to have something wrong with me a long time ago, I used to work with very high powered radio equipment that produces fields so large no electrical system could ever match, some industrial heating systems that use RF to heat with over a few million watts of power, while it would give us a warm and fuzzy feeling, never seem to harm us or any of the operators, and are still in use as of today.

So in perspective, I suggest to search diligently for the truth in all things, and up most let the truth be your guide, not fear.

Good job Wayne! Much more eloquent than my posting, but along same line.

 

[S'mise]

I agree with the majority here; Meter is not a threat, especially compared with other things.
Probably much stronger fields comming from her hair dryer!

PS: Food preservatives are more cause of concern to me.

 

[Buck Parrish]

Good job Wayne! Much more eloquent than my posting, but along same line.

I agree, Hurk is good at explaining. Very informative, thanks.
I will add to the OP, Sixty Minutes (news) did a show on cows under power lines not producing as much milk. Never prooved it positvely, though. (But that's way more power then the op is taliking about)

 

[ActionDave]

I have found the best way to rid the body of preservatives is to conclude every evening with a glass of good scotch. Sometimes a shot in the morning is needed to finish the job.

 

[realolman]

Wouldn't any magnetic field produced be dependent upon the amount of current?

I wouldn't expect there would be much current when the child was sleeping.

re: to the insulating bushing in the water piping... if the house piping was copper or conductive, does it not need to be bonded? I have seen threads in this forum re: bonding across water heaters.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

... re: to the insulating bushing in the water piping... if the house piping was copper or conductive, does it not need to be bonded? I have seen threads in this forum re: bonding across water heaters.

Yes the water piping has to be bonded and if there are 10 or more feet in contact with the earth you have to use it as a grounding electrode.
The suggestion was to install an insulating fitting in the ground 10' from the building. This will eliminate the solid metallic path, via the mental underground water piping system, to other grounding electrode that are connected to the metal underground water piping system.
The grounding electrode system is always a parallel path for grounded conductor current, but this current is limited by the resistance of the path. With a common metal water piping system this resistance is much lower. In many cases 20% or more of the grounded conductor current will be flowing on the water pipes.
Any time you have "remote" paths for current the amount of EMF goes up. The metal underground water piping system is such a path.

 

[mivey]

I will add to the OP, Sixty Minutes (news) did a show on cows under power lines not producing as much milk. Never prooved it positvely, though. (But that's way more power then the op is taliking about)

It has been shown that they do indeed interfere with cows. To the best of my recollection it messes with their biological clock.

 

[ron]

It has been shown that they do indeed interfere with cows. To the best of my recollection it messes with their biological clock.

I thought it was stray voltage, but maybe it is a EMF issue
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/of-cows-and-power-lines

 

[K8MHZ]

I agree, Hurk is good at explaining. Very informative, thanks.
I will add to the OP, Sixty Minutes (news) did a show on cows under power lines not producing as much milk. Never prooved it positvely, though. (But that's way more power then the op is taliking about)

It's not even a question. Electrical distribution does negatively affect cattle. In Michigan it's not unheard of at all. It's not the EMF, though, it's poor connections that cause neutral current to flow in the ground. Every complaint I have heard was corrected by linesmen making repairs to the lines or connections.

 

[hurk27]

I agree, Hurk is good at explaining. Very informative, thanks.
I will add to the OP, Sixty Minutes (news) did a show on cows under power lines not producing as much milk. Never prooved it positvely, though. (But that's way more power then the op is taliking about)

I appreciate the flowers guys, and I try to get my thoughts across, but sometimes my brain don't connect with my fingers as to what I'm trying to say.:roll:

As to the cow problem, there has been many researches on the subject and as Don, and Marky has pointed out, is cause mostly by what some call stray current in earth.

For the most part, I myself believe stray current problems are not from problems that are very far from the affected area, in most all cases I have seen, the problem could be contributed to a very local event, wither it be a bad neutral to a house, the voltage drop of a long service drop to a house, or a problem with the MGN on the primary side of the transformer, the problem could be down the road a few miles, but is brought to the location via the MGN, thus still a local problem.
Much of this was explained in a thread of experiments done by a forum member, who even himself was surprised by the out come, but a good read non the less, many myths are busted in this thread, but I don't want to take anything away from the OP, so I'll just post a link to it:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php/116358-Earth-Shells-Experiment-time-to-eat-crow!

And is a very good example of a person who was seeking the truth of how really something works.

I wish I knew what ever happened to Gary, as it's been a while since hes logged in?

 

[mivey]

I thought it was stray voltage, but maybe it is a EMF issue
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/the-smarter-grid/of-cows-and-power-lines

You may be right. This was a recollection from a presentation at Ga Tech many years ago. I think I have a paper somewhere but finding it might be an issue. The link you provided is not working right now but I'll try it later.

 

[jmellc]

EMF is mostly produced when conductors of the same circuit are not run together, placing a metal shield between the source and subject also will do little to nothing to stop the magnetic field generated by wrongly run circuits, Circuits that are run together such as the hots and neutral run all in the same raceway, and cabinet like a meter cabinet will produce very little to no field outside of that raceway or cabinet.

While I have my reservations on this subject, and as was pointed out the saying "Don't let fear be your guide" I will add let the truth be your guide, be careful of where you get your information, there are to many out there that pray on fear of others to make money, do not take everything you hear that flows by on the wind to be the truth.

In my own experience of being an electrician for over 37 years, and many time being around very large EMF fields in industrial and in other places, I would have expected to have something wrong with me a long time ago, I used to work with very high powered radio equipment that produces fields so large no electrical system could ever match, some industrial heating systems that use RF to heat with over a few million watts of power, while it would give us a warm and fuzzy feeling, never seem to harm us or any of the operators, and are still in use as of today.

So in perspective, I suggest to search diligently for the truth in all things, and up most let the truth be your guide, not fear.

I know something is wrong with me, or I wouldn't have gotten into this crazy business, or returned to it when I once escaped.