Smart Meter Radiation

Smart meter radiation has become a major concern for millions of consumers around the world. In many cases their only choice is to accept a smart meter, or go without electricity.

What is a Smart Meter?

A smart meter measures how much electricity (or it could be water or gas) you use, and sends the information to the utility or company that supplies it.

The smart meter is usually installed on the outside wall of your house (or it could even be inside) in place of the old type of revolving disk meter.

The original idea was to automate the monthly meter reading, and save the high cost of this manual work.

The smart meter would record the electricity consumption at the end of each month, then automatically send that information to the utility company for billing purposes.

Unfortunately, this original concept has been greatly expanded.

Smart meters are now like small computers, able to detect every change in electricity consumption whenever any appliance is switched on or off. They store this data in their memory, while waiting to upload it.

How often do Smart Meters transmit?

When instructed by their controlling software, they transmit this  data to the supplier, usually by means of a radio message. This transmission is what gives rise to radio frequency EMF, or smart meter radiation.

Exactly how often this happens depends on the supplier, the type of smart meter, and how it has been programmed.

Utility companies often imply that a transmission only takes place every 4 hours, but in some instances it appears to happen much more frequently.

How Smart Meters Communicate

Radio transmissions from smart meters add further EMF pollution to an already heavily-polluted environment.

Other means of communication would be possible, and viable, and have actually been used by some utility companies.

For example, smart meters in IDAHO transmit their usage information via the power lines themselves. (Broadband Power Line or BPL technology uses the power line's alternating current as a carrier wave, and then overlays the electricity usage information on top of the carrier. This avoids broadcasting the radio signal into the air.)

Other utility suppliers have opted for fibre optic communication systems which create no EMF pollution.

But most suppliers have chosen the easiest solution (for them) which is radio transmission. Of course it suits them to promote the idea that radiation from smart meters is not a health hazard, in public at least.

Smart Meters can be Programmed

A smart meter in your house may work in a particular manner at installation, but it could work differently later on. The smart meter's program is proprietary (which means the public will not be told how it works or what it does). It could be updated and consumers would not be informed of the changes.

One example of how a program might be changed: a transmission which was originally scheduled to occur every 4 hours could be reprogrammed to occur every 30 minutes.

As consumers, we have no control over how the supplier might decide to use his smart meters, what information about us might be collected, who it might be sold to, or how it might be used.

Possible Future Smart Meter Developments

New developments could increase the amount of smart meter radiation in future.

For example, it has been proposed that all appliances in our homes should be required to inform the smart meter when they are switched on and when they are switched off.

If this were also to be implemented by means of radio transmissions, it would mean even more radio-frequency EMF pollution in your home. (There are also huge privacy issues raised by this proposal.)

Another cause for concern is that your smart meter may not just be used to tell the utility about YOUR electricity consumption, but about your neighbour's too.

You see, his smart meter may be out of radio range, his signal strength too low to reach the supplier's antenna. But your smart meter would be nearby. So his smart meter could talk to yours, and yours could pass the message on to another neighbour's smart meter, and so on.

All of this means that smart meter radiation may become a bigger problem than you would expect.

Privacy Concerns about Smart Meters 

Smart meters are now being installed in every continent, and in many countries. In most cases, consumers have not welcomed them.

Privacy issues are a grave concern. But even consumers' security could be compromised.

For example, smart meters are readily able to detect whether anyone is at home, or not. Do we really want this kind of information being broadcast all over the neighbourhood, even though it is encrypted?

Criminals can hack into just about anything these days. What if someone hacks into these smart meter transmissions? Could they use the information to decide when it is safe to break into your house?

Computers could further interpret the smart meters' raw data, to deduce what kinds of appliances you are using, when you use them, and for how long. This kind of personal information has value to appliance manufacturers and you can bet they are willing to pay for it.

But here at EM Watch we are concerned with the health implications of electromagnetic radiation, so let's focus on that.

Smart Meter Radiation - Brief but Intense?

Individual smart meter transmissions are generally very brief, maybe a second or two. But some investigators have reported that the intensity of EMF from a smart meter, while it is transmitting, can be much higher than that of a cell phone.

Unlike a cellphone or a wireless appliance in our home - which can be switched off when not in use - we have no control whatsoever over how much EMF is generated by a smart meter.

Power utilities and local governments may assure us there is no evidence that smart meters are a health hazard. They may go even further and assert that smart meters are safe. Should we trust them?

Utility comanies have a strong motive for reassuring us. They want us all to accept smart meters in our houses. This will increase their profits. So let's remember whose interests they are looking after.

Smart Meter Radiation May Affect Your Health

There is no hard evidence that radio-frequency radiation from smart meters is safe.

Until such evidence is provided, let's work on the precautionary principle. That means we should assume that radio frequency EMR from smart meters may be harmful, even if we do not have evidence yet.

Recently the World Health Organisation reclassified radio frequency electromagnetic radiation as a "possible carcinogen" (WHO-IARC Report May 2011).

We've all been told for years that radio waves - as found in our environment - are harmless. International organisations, governments, local governments and corporations have all tried to make us believe it.

But evidence that RF radiation can damage your health has been growing stronger for many years, even as the amount of RF pollution has been escalating.

Smart Meter in Your Home?

So if you are given the option, you may want to consider keeping your old meter and saying no to a new smart meter.

Whatever type of meter you have on your property, be aware that they all emit low-frequency radiation - which is also bad for you.

But low frequency radiation from an electricity meter penetrates only a short distance, perhaps 2 metres (6 or 7 feet). Further away than that it is generally too small to measure.

Radio frequency radiation travels much further - which is why they use it for radio! But EMF from a smart meter may be safe if the meter is more than 90 feet away. The signal is relatively weak at that distance.

If you find yourself with no option but to accept a smart meter, you can screen it off from your house with a metal sheet or film (preferably grounded). This will reduce the amount of radiation inside your house.

Do not rely on the wall of your house to protect you. RF radiation penetrates walls (even brick or concrete ones).

Finally, consider whether you need a radio-frequency EMF meter to monitor your exposure. With the right meter you can find out what is your exposure, where it is coming from, and whether your protective measures are effective.

Top

Get Instant Access! World's Best eBooks Problem Solvers.
Inspiration Builders.
Initiative Rewarders.
Grab Yours! 
digitalistix.com

Share this Page:

EMF Pollution     EMF Explanation    Health Effects     Who is at risk?     EMF Protection    EMF Survey    EMF Meters

Smart Meters    Cell phone EMF    Cell Tower EMF     Computer EMF     Microwave Ovens    Power Lines    EMF Table

Disclosure: The website owner may derive financial benefit from product links and advertisements on this website.

 Copyright 2008-2011 © EMwatch.com                Last updated: September-2011

Smart Meter Radiation