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Post Time: 12/08/2008 09:29:06 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Hello all,
I last wrote back in November following high MW1 readings eminating from my next door neighbour's property which was kindly answered by Alistair and solved using the YShield paint.
I have since sold my home and moved into rented accomodation (due to the dropping housing market) and envisage having to move every 6-12 months for the next couple of years before buying again. I have now lived in my new rented house for 3 weeks and have had a permanent headache and virtually no sleep! I am becoming desperate! Remembering the MW1 meter, I took readings only to find major problems coming through the adjoining walls (terraced house) which are filling everyroom in my house with very strong pulsing signals. I assume my neighbours are using DECT phones, wi-fi etc. In addition, my own house has a mains wired burglar alarm with sensors in every room which give a single toned screeching on the MW1. I also suspect the lighting and house wiring to be bad.
So, not a good move after all but, unfortunately, I am now stuck here for the next 6 months!
Do you have any suggestions as to how I could improve the situation taking into consideration that it is rented accomodation and I am limited in my ability to make alterations from a practical and cost perspective? I would consider the YShield paint again but believe it would work out too expensive and not financially viable for just the remaining 5 months of my tenancy. I also found the YShield, although very effective, to not have great coverage. Coupled with the difficulty covering the thick black with magnolia and my having to use organic paints due to chemical sensitivty - it all adds up to a further great expense!
I have seen on another website (http://wirelessfacts.co.uk/) a different brand of microwave reflectant paint which, although more expensive per litre, offers much better coverage (upto 25m2) and is also magnolia so wouldn't necessarily require covering with further paint. Have you any experience/knowledge of this product/company and are you able to source this product yourselves?
From the same website, I have also seen the Graham/Stetzer meters and filters which, although this is something I have not heard of, seems a useful product. Do you have any knowledge on these or the subject of 'dirty electricity' and, if they're any good, is this something that you are able to sell through your shop also?
Finally, in addition to the painting options, is there anything else you could suggest for my predicament? I am considering buying some of the cotton electrocloth you offer and finding someone to make me some protective clothing - perhaps a t-shirt & shorts that could be worn under my regular clothing, and a hat to at least cover my brain. Would you consider this a worthwhile solution? Maybe even one of your headnets to wear in bed? Are you any further along to being able to offer clothing made using the cotton electrocloth yourselves?
I'm sorry for the long thread and all of the questions!
Hope to hear from you soon.
All the best,
Michael Fitzgerald |
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Post Time: 12/08/2008 10:01:28 |
alasdairP
Total Forum Posts: 173 |
Michael
(1) I would consider informing the letting agent of the problems and give notice as the property has turned out to be unsuitable. That way you should be able to get the let shortened to 2 or 3 months with no penalty. If they are difficult I suggest that you say that you can bring medical evidence to Court if they choose to try to enforce the 6 months / penalty clause. You would need one private appointment with a medical doctor sympathetic to ES people (can be done).
(2) Track down what is causing the pulsing. DECT phones, WiFi, BT Home Hubs (both) and demonstrate the signals to your neighbours. Explain your problems.
Think about offering to buy them (about £100) an Orchid DECT phone unit (EMFields sell them) - these transmit at low power and only when actually in use for phone calls. At other times they transmit nothing, whereas normal DECT units transmit at full power 24-7. If they have a BT Home hub and/or WiFi then you could consider offering to purchase them a wired Router (about £40). If they really need connectivity all over their house, then you could offer a pair of dLAN (about £100) (broadband over house wiring) units - more noisy than wired ethernet, but 1000 times lower than WiFi/wLAN units. Quite honestly, that would be your cheapest and best option, in my opinion. It would cost you a max of £600 to do all three things for both houses, and it is unlikely that you would need all 3 options for both.
(3) Glynn Hughes (Wirelessfacts) paint is good, but don't kid yourself about the coverage claim. To adequately screen out signals you need two coats and an overall coverage rate of 10 to 12 sq.metres per litre. That is the coverage rate that any good ordinary paint needs to even look good unless it is just on top of similiar colour, let alone a microwave screening paint. In our tests it is reasonably comparable with the Y-shield but the 10-12 m^2 per litre application is necessary and it then works out slightly more expensive.
(4) Dirty electricity is a hot subject. I will be producing a longer fact-sheet on this shortly. Stetzer 'filters' can actually increase the background magnetic fields in a house and they do nothing for microwave signals that you hear on your MW1 - they are just for phase noise in the range 4 to 100 kHz (kHz, not MHz or GHz) - the frequencies are below Long Wave radio ones.
I have real problems with the GS "Filters". There is no doubt that Magda has reported some impressive ecological findings in the scientific literature. What no-one has done is measure the changes in electric and magnetic fields in the buildings before and after the filters are fitted (they only measure a small noise signal on the actual wires using a GS meter).
I have measured buildings before and after the filters are fitted and with a GS meter and with advanced professional electric and magnetic field meters that cover the range of frequencies (2 to 100 kHz) that the Stetzer filter capacitors claim to reduce. They do reduce them but only from a few 10s of millivolts (e.g. 0.03 volts) on top of the 230 volts rms (300 volts peak) 50 Hz mains electricity. I could find no measureable reduction in actual electric or magnetic fields in the room.
So, although the fitting of the filters does seem to do something useful health-wise, it may not be due to the dirty electricity being cured, but may be due to the reactive current that the capacitors cause to flow around the house wiring. In some of her studies (even the latest school one) the improvement may be partly psychological.
Graham and Stezer have repeatedly been asked (over many years now) for engineering science and measurements linking actual noise EMFs with the GS readings - and they have never produced any - in private or in public. All they do is provide what I think are misleadingly scaled graphs of noise on the mains after a high level of filtering the (60 Hz) mains signal.
The electricity supply industry is concerned about the use of GS "filters". Each "filter" takes just over an amp of reactive current, which although not usually charged for as it is a virtual (but still real) current, does actually flow backwards and forwards around their circuits and cause the need for larger substation transformers and thicker cables and also causes greater resistive power losses in the electricity supply system.
So a house with 20 GS filters causes over 20 amps of reactive current to flow. Most houses in the UK are only main-fused at 60 Amps (some at 100 A) but most take an average current of less than 15 Amps. The UK distribution system relies on this. So if most households fitted GS filters it is likely that they would need to at least double the number of 11kV-230V electricity substations in the UK (although such a level of take-up of GS filters will not happen). If your mains needs filtering (and the industry don't deny that some mains supplies are noisy) then a proper 2-pole LC filter circuit should be used at the mains input to your house and that it will also need common-mode filtering (which the GS capacitor does not provide). They also point out that much HF mains noise is common-mode and not between Phase and Neutral, so the common-mode filtering should be seen as essential if you are concerned about HF noise on "dirty electricity".
If your house wiring is not "perfect", then fitting the GS filter will also be likely to increase the real 50 Hz magnetic fields, as each "filter" causes an extra amp of current to flow around your house wiring. 20 amps is equivalent to about 5 kW - two kettles on the boil all the time (although as it is 'reactive current', your electricity meter will not usually charge for it). Some older type meters will (another caveat). 'Certainly, in my opinion, you need to remove "ring" power circuits (which are standard in the UK) and have them converted to radial circuits to avoid problems. They don't normally use ring final circuits in the USA and Canada where Magda and others have been doing their studies. Also USA mains is much dirtier than UK and EU mains as the US Regulations on polluting the mains with "noise" are much weaker than here in Europe with the tight EMC Regulations.
There is little specific evidence linking dirty mains with ES symptoms - although the many of the symptoms that Magda (mainly) reports could well be due to ES. I know two ES people who have tried the GS filters and then removed them because not only did they not improve, but both thought their symptoms were worse. One used 5 and one used 20 "filters". I would suggest that if you need more than two or 3 then you need to track down the problem and sort it properly rather than stick on bandages all over the house.
(5) We are working on protective clothing. More soon about this. However, most people who are sensitive need to protect their head most of all. Also, most of the protective materials do not wash well - they lose effectiveness fairly easy and the washing product used needs to be carefully controlled - one wash with some powders (including Ecover and Ecover Biological liquids) virtually kills any silver-based products. In extensive washing tests we have identified this as a major problem, especially as manufacturers often change their formulations. At present DAZ (!!!) seems quite good on most products, but don't count on it for ever.
(6) I suggest that you carry the MW1 with you at all times and try to minimise your exposure in the future. Use it to test properties before signing any Agreements! Avoidance is much better than "protection".
Best of luck! Alasdair
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Post Time: 12/08/2008 10:30:49 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Hi Alistair,
Thank you for your most helpful and, as always, exceptionally fast reply! You have given me alot to think about with your extensive suggestions and advice and I will endeavour to consider and look into the various options you have noted.
As you said, avoidance is far better than protection and I will take far greater care in selecting my next rented home just as I was when originally looking to buy when planning to move (which led to various rejections on EMF grounds!).
Thanks again for your wonderful help and for continuing to provide such an informative and supportive service.
All the best,
Michael
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Post Time: 12/08/2008 11:51:53 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Hello again Alistair,
Sorry to bother you further with this problem after your already time consuming reply.
I have just been looking into the options you mentioned of offering alternative products to my neighbours (although I haven't yet spoken with them). I was completely oblivious to this DLAN that you'd mentioned but I've just been reading about it on a website of a company that manufactures DLAN products (Devolo). It seems like a very viable solution!
Before I approach my neighbours, obviously, I need to know a little about DLAN and what the options and implications are. If my neighbour truly wants 'wireless' access in everyroom in the house (as well as just network/internet access in everyroom) - do you consider the wireless DLAN units that devolo offer to be safe or were you only talking about the DLAN units which would be hardwired into the computer?
Any further information you may offer on DLAN use and products would be much appreciated.
Many thanks again,
Michael |
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Post Time: 14/08/2008 04:06:50 |
topazg
Total Forum Posts: 13 |
Hi Michael
We have tested Devolo and Netgear plug-in wLANs and they work well and up to about 6 outstation connection points. We use the 85 Mps ones for meetings and occasional other used which are fast enough for us and faster that WiFi. There are some 200Mps ones now that have a faster/wider bandwidth (for watching HD films etc) and will generate slightly higher levels of electrical noise.
In our tests the wLANs put between 1/1000 and 1/100000th of the energy levels into the room compared with a WiFi unit. The fields are strongest around the cables and fall off rapodly with distance. The work on a broadband non time-pulsed modulation system and most people seem fine with them. They can interfere with long and medium-wave radio reception very close by or attached to the same electrical wiring - but this is at signal levels in the 10's of microvolts per metre. WiF uses volts per metre.
We would recommend a wired router with at least 6 (mabe 8) newtork outputs that can be used as the main hub and located where the main computer and peripherals are located. One of the ouputs is connected to a dLAN and is then available at any socket in the house with a second dLAN terminal box.
You may find they are using BT Home Hub units. These also incorpate powerful DECT cordless phone units. BT have given away (and sold some) over 3 million units in the last three to four years. They are a major source of RFR pollution. They can be replaced by Orchid Low Radiation DECT phones which work well.
Best of luck - Topazg (Powerwacth Technical Manager)
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Post Time: 15/08/2008 11:52:55 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Thanks Topazg. That's all very interesting and very helpful. Now I just have to try to convince my neighbours that it's in their best interests to switch from their existing WiFi setup. Unfortunately, they are very reluctant to do so which is incredible bearing in mind they have already mentioned to me about feeling the effects of it themselves! (tiredness, inability to concentrate, difficulty sleeping etc). They also have 2 young children who I am sure will suffer from the combined effects of their WiFi and DECT phones so I will do my best to convince them of the dangers. Thanks again to you all for your continuing help and support! All the best, Michael |
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Post Time: 31/08/2008 09:50:44 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Hello again Alistair and topazg,
Thanks for your previous replies and help on these issues. I'm not sure if adding a further reply here is going to be picked up but I just wanted to update you and ask your further advice. I'm sorry for the delay but I've not been well for the last week or so (not sure if exposure related).
I have actually managed to get some sleep now over the last week or so which has been fantastic! This is due to the fact that the neighbours on one side are using the Orchid phone I bought them and that the neighbours on the other side have been on holiday! :) Their DECT phone is still pulsing strong signals through the downstairs reception rooms but there are no signals in the bedroom as before strangely. Perhaps this is due to removing a handset from the bedroom which is there normally when they're home? I will still need to buy them an Orchid phone when they return, of course.
The only current problem is that the neighbours WITH the Orchid phone have refused my offer of DLAN and persist in using their wi-fi. Their study is right next to mine and although the pulsing I'm picking up on the MW-1 is not particularly loud, it is causing me severe headaches, concentration problems etc so I am currently unable to use my study! Not good with my University studies imminent!
The only solution I can now try is covering the study joining wall. As I cannot afford the paint, I have been talking with Glynn Hughes about the electro wallpaper he sells and am probably going to try this plus a little paint for the joins, skirting, picture rail etc. Glynn has been extremely helpful and it's reassuring to know that there are so many people (including yourselves of course) willing to go out of their way to help with these issues.
I ALSO WANTED TO ASK, when my tenancy ends and I get the chance to find a new rented property I will be checking it carefully for EMFs as you suggested. Do you think my MW-1 is going to be sufficient for this or should I buy one of the other meters that you guys sell? I certainly don't want all of these problems again and am looking forward to moving out and finding somewhere 'safer'! :)
All the best,
Michael |
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Post Time: 01/09/2008 09:28:31 |
Sarahp
Total Forum Posts: 48 |
Hi Michael
As a short term measure, you might want to try something even cheaper :)
Aluminium foil (such as that found in your local supermarket) or even better the catering version of aluminium foil (it's a lot thicker) can be used to reflect microwaves. Rather than putting up the wallpaper ~ which can be rather tricky to put up properly, involving stripping off the paper layer at the edge of each strip, as the foil inside actually has to connect, and preferably overlap ~ pin or bluetac simple aluminium foil to the wall between your study and the neighbour.
It would be a good idea to earth this as well, as foil is conductive and could pick up electric fields from your wiring.
This will reflect a large proportion of the signal away from the room, and you should find your electrosmog detector will hardly pick anything up.
You could also consider wearing a headnet if it's primarily headaches, concentration etc.
Best wishes,
Sarah (EMFields) |
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Post Time: 05/09/2008 13:40:18 |
mcfitzgerald
Total Forum Posts: 12 |
Hi Sarah,
Thank you so much for your reply and suggestions. You have saved me a great deal of money and solved my problem I think!!!!! :)
I managed to buy some catering foil online for £6.95 plus p&p and spent most of yesterday 'wallpapering' the study with the foil and cellotape. Not the most elegant solution but it seems to work! My girlfriend and housemates think I've gone completely mad but that's a small price to pay. They will really think I've lost the plot when they see me sitting here in a headnet I'm hoping to order too! :)
It's amazing. The MW-1 is no longer picking up any signal - as you suggested may be the case. I do still seem to have a slight headache though so perhaps I need to use the technique described on the site to increase the MW1 sensitivity further. It's a little early to say but I can probably put up with it now or use a headnet for further protection. I also still need to earth the foil which may help with any remaining problems too.
Thanks again to you and the rest of the team for your extremely vital help and advice.
Best wishes,
Michael
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