Dirty electricity is a big problem in many homes and people often ask me about the cause. The normal electrical frequency running over the wiring in American homes and offices is 60 Hz. When frequencies higher than normal run through a building’s wiring, they often won’t stay on the line but become airborne and radiate through the walls into the living space. This is what “dirty electricity” is.
Dirty electricity is caused by most often when electrical devices (like smart meters) connected to a circuit manipulate the current in some way, such as changing AC power into DC power. This can cause the spikes and surges of higher frequencies that then radiate out of the wiring and into the home. Dirty electricity can also be caused by a sub standard wiring job. And sometimes homes get dirty electricity coming into their homes from their power company.
My experience has been that most homes, even those that do not have smart meters, have most of the circuits in their homes emitting dirty electricity above safe levels. However, every home I have tested that has a smart meter has had significantly higher levels of dirty electricity than those that don’t.
How To Test For Dirty Electricity
In the video below I use a meter to test for dirty electricity in one of the circuits in my kitchen. Then I show you a simple solution that will bring the dirty electricity down to safe levels in most situations. The video is short, but very informative. Knowledge is power. I highly recommend taking a couple of minutes and watching this video!
Dirt(Note: Dirty electricity is only one aspect of RF Radiation that most of us live with every day in our modern homes. Anything cellular, Bluetooth or WiFi in and around our homes emit RF Radiation above safe levels. Some of these devices it is just better to do without, but some you may need to keep. The good news is for many of these devices their are items that you can purchase inexpensively that will block or shield 90% to 95% of this radiation. On my Recommended Protections page of this I list many of these protection items and links to my preferred places to get them.)
More About Dirty Electricity
While there are products designed to prevent the dirty electricity from entering our homes, you need to know where it’s coming from to fully understand the extent of the problem. It’s overwhelming. I get it. When I first started researching this topic, I felt overwhelmed and unsafe in my very own home. Knowledge is power and the more you know about dirty electricity and where it’s coming from the more you can control it. As I mentioned, dirty electricity is everywhere. Let’s take a look at the common sources of dirty electricity.
To understand where dirty electricity is coming from, we need to define dirty electricity? When I first heard the term, I thought maybe it had to do a short circuit or a cord that is physically covered in dust. Yes, I did. But, I soon learned how wrong I was. According to emfanalysis.com, “One of the most dangerous types of EMF pollution is so-called “dirty electricity.’ This is when the electrical power lines and wiring within your home contain frequencies other than the normal 60 Hz electrical current.” So basically, dirty electricity is corrupted electricity.
So, what does corrupt mean? It means that modern gadgets and gizmos no longer just operate on the standard AC electricity. Instead, the current is “manipulated” to operate. So, these devices operate with lots and lots of short bursts of electricity, instead of a consistent flow of electricity.
All this burst of electricity, think thousands of times a second, creates “unstable dirty electricity and spreads throughout a building and even other buildings via wiring and power lines, as I travel it radiates potentially harmful electromagnetic fields into living and work environments,” (greenwave.com).
All this unstable dirty electricity has been linked to serious health problems such as cancer, sleep problems, depression, anxiety, headaches, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Whew. Pretty scary stuff. Dr. Sam Milham recently published a book about dirty electricity. Dr. Milham believes this type of electricity is a silent epidemic in our country and around the world.
In the book, Dr. Milham writes, “the war on cancer has been a failure because people have missed the major carcinogen- dirty electricity.” Dirty electricity is a form of electromagnetic frequency, also known has harmful radiation.
Take a look around your home. Do you see the dust bunnies, the piles of dirty dishes and the dirty electricity? Of, course we can’t physically see dirty electricity, but you can see where it’s coming from. Let’s take a tour of your home and see where dirty electricity may be hiding.
Living Room/Bedroom
Your living room/family room may be a major source of dirty electricity. Dimmer light switches, televisions, wireless cable boxes, video game consoles and your cell phone are all source of dirty electricity. Let’s take a closer look at your television. Do you have one of those big fancy flat screen tv’s with the 3D option? Me too!
In order for you to see your favorite show at night, you have to plug your high tech TVS into the wall. However, your television need more than the standard 60 Hz to operate. This is where dirty electricity is created. If you can, unplug your television when you’re not using it. This will keep your exposure to a minimum.
I love dimmer light switches in my house. You can change the mood of a room in just a few seconds with a dimmer switch. We can go from homework lighting to dinner lighting just like that. But, I recently discovered these light switches are major sources of dirty electricity. Just like the television, it uses quick bursts of energy to allow the variation in lighting.
The same thing applies to fan switches as well. Experts believe you should replace these special switches with basic on and off switches, as they produce less dirty electricity. Also, get rid of those electric blankets.
Yes, I know it’s 3 degrees outside with a bitter wind coming from the north. It’s cold and the middle of winter, I get it. Even so, electric blankets are bad news because they create electromagnetic energy. “All electromagnetic energy falls somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from extremely low frequency (ELF) radiation to microwaves, x-rays and gamma rays.
ELF fields have been linked to increased risk of cancer such as leukemia. When electricity passes through a wire it creates an electromagnetic field that exerts force on nearby objects, including animals and humans,” weeksmd.com
Home Office
Thanks to modern technology, more and more people are working from home than ever before. You can Skype into a conference call all from the comfort of home, in your pajamas. Just kidding. I’d never wear pajamas in a conference call, or would I? All that technology however is a recipe for a lot of exposure to dirty electricity. Common sources of dirty electricity in your home office include: WiFi router, computer, laptop, wireless printer, Bluetooth devices and cordless phones.
Do you have any of these items in your home office? I sure do. I recently purchased a Stetzerizer Microsurge Meter, which measures dirty electricity, and I was blown away by the levels in my office. If you haven’t used a microsurge meter, I suggest you order one from Amazon.
I have a blog post dedicated to this topic if you want more information about how it works. The meter measures the quality of power coming through your power outlets. According to the manufacturer, “the lower the number, the cleaner the signal is. The higher the number, the dirtier power, electrical pollution, noise is present on the line.”
It’s super easy to use and you can install filters that plug into the outlet to reduce the amount of dirty electricity your exposed to. Because all your high-tech devices all produce varying levels of dirty electricity, try not to use them all at the same time. If you can turn off your printer and get router guard for your WiFi, to limit your radiation exposure.
Kitchen
What Causes Dirty Electricity in a Home? Okay, we’re now in the kitchen. What’s for dinner? Let’s see what you have in the fridge and then decide. Your refrigerator is major source of dirty electricity in your home. So is your microwave and those brand new compact fluorescent bulbs you just put in to replace the burned-out bulbs in your pantry. Compact Fluorescent Light-bulbs are not something you want in your house.
According to several leading experts on radiation exposure, CFLs are a major source of dirty electricity. Not only are they made with mercury, which makes cleaning them up really dangerous, they emit high levels of radiation. According to greenwave.com, “the bulb contains an electronic ballast that converts standard AC electricity into DC (direct current) and then into high frequency AC.
Unfortunately, as the ballast produces and regulates high frequency alternating current, it “chops up” the standard 50/60 Hz, creating surges, also known as dirty electricity.” Did you catch all that? So basically, CFLs convert energy back and forth creating dirty electricity and emitting harmful radiation. Some experts believe CFLs are responsible for sleep problems, depression, memory loss, fatigue and skin rashes. Isn’t that crazy?
I’d suggest switching out your CFLs with LED lights. Another source of dirty electricity in your kitchen is your microwave and high-tech oven. If you have a fancy oven with all the bells and whistles, this may be producing dirty electricity in your home. If you can unplug your appliances when you’re not using them.
Bathroom
The bathroom? Really. Yes, really. Remember dirty electricity is everywhere, including your bathroom. Some of the higher end washing machines produce dirty electricity. And your favorite hair dryer? Yep. That too. It’s not much, but even the lowest levels of dirty electricity can produce long lasting health problems. I’d say forgo the hairdryer all together, but that’s easy to do since I don’t have long hair. Perhaps you could wash and dry your hair every other day.
Outside The Home
Take a look outside. What kind of power meter do you have? If you’re like most Americans, you have smart meter. This smart meter communicates with your power company throughout the day, consistently sending data back and forth about your energy consumption. There’s a lot of issues here about privacy.
I get into those detail in another blog post. Let’s focus on the health issues associated with the smart meters. The power company will tell you the smart meters benefit you because you get a more accurate bill every month. What they won’t tell you is all the radiation and dirty electricity that is produced from a single meter.
The power company says the meters only send information once or twice a day, but several studies indicate its more like thousands of times a day. Each time data is sent to the power company there is a surge in power, little bursts or energy. These bursts of energy create dirty electricity and emit a lot of harmful radiation. Some experts believe smart meters are national health crisis. In fact, so many consumers are concerned about the adverse health effects, they are demanding to opt out of the program all together.
When I lived in a town home a few months ago there was an entire row of four smart meters installed right on the other side of my bedroom. The few years my wife and I lived there, we can’t ever remember having a vivid dream. Not a single one. Isn’t that odd? We thought so too. It wasn’t until we moved out to the country, where we have a digital meter, did the sandman finally visit us. We know have dreams every night. It’s amazing! I’m convinced the smart meters were preventing us from reaching that deep level of sleep where dreams come to life.
My theory is shared by doctors and researchers around the world who believe smart meters not so smart after all. Some experts believe smart meters can cause insomnia, anxiety, depression, headaches, vision problems, heart disease and other ailments. I recently purchased a smart meter guard to put over my meter which greatly reduces my exposure to radiation.
If you can, order a smart meter guard. Check out my blog about the smart meter guard for reference. If you want to get rid of your smart meter all together, ask your power company if you can opt out of the program. For a small fee you can often get your smart meter replaced with analog one. Experts in the field of dirty electricity believe smart meters are a public health hazard.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? Me too. Just about every high-tech device that you plug into the wall creates some level of dirty electricity in your home. Phew. That’s a lot of radiation circulating in your bedroom, office, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, you see your smart meter and start running for the hills.
Don’t do that just yet. You need to be aware of these sources of dirty electricity, so you can come up with a plan to keep your home safe for you and your family. “I believe that our evolutionary balance, developed over the millennia, has been severely disturbed by man made EMFs.
I believe that man-made EMFs, especially dirty electricity, are chronic stressors and are responsible for many o the disease patterns of electrified populations,” Dr. Milham, Author and Scientist. Time to mitigate the dirty electricity in your home.
As I mentioned earlier, a Stetzerizer Microsurge meter and filters are a good start. You can find these products on Amazon. If that’s not in the budget, unplug appliances when you’re not using them and replace that smart meter. Simple changes will greatly reduce your exposure to dirty electricity. Let me know how it goes!
For more information about the dangers of dirty electricity please see our articles entitled Why Is Dirty Electricity Dangerous? and Dirty Electricity Health Effects.
