The adoption of digital technology by power companies over the past ten years has occurred with lightning speed. It has happened so fast, in fact, that it has proven difficult for consumers and businesses to keep pace with the trend in order to secure their right to retain analog meters at their home or residence if desired.
There are two common types of digital meters: Standard AMR (automated meter reading) and advanced smart meters.
AMR, sometimes referred to as ERT, provides a one-way wireless communication for utility companies, whereas smart meters have a two-way capability via connection to the SmartGrid.
Why would a consumer want to keep an old fashioned analog meter and forgo the improved technology offered by AMR or smart meters?
The primary reason is dirty electricity and overexposure to EMF radiation.
An increasing number of people are finding that exposure to dirty electricity triggers or exacerbates health problems. While the effects of dirty electricity cannot be smelled, touched, seen, or felt, it is nonetheless very real and problematic for those who experience it.
The health effects of dirty electricity were first identified as early as the 1950s in rural areas when the behavior and feeding patterns of livestock were negatively affected by stray voltage caused by poor grounding and lack of utility infrastructure. In humans, the symptomatic effects can vary widely but commonly include:
- Headaches
- Difficulty sleeping
- Body aches and pains
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Worsening of symptoms from multiple sclerosis or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
I experience trouble getting enough deep sleep when I am exposed to excessive wireless radiation, so much so that I have resorted to using an herbal supplement to help me sleep in hotels. I never have trouble sleeping at home (we shut off the router at night and live in a semi-rural area with little EMFs) or when camping. I only started to experience trouble with deep sleep in hotels in the past few years since the widespread adoption of wireless technology. When I was staying in Manhattan last spring, there were so many sources of wireless devices around me (over 100, no joke … I counted them when I fired up my laptop and took a look under the connection settings), I literally felt like I was being lightly zapped as I lay in bed trying to sleep. While not painful, it was definitely annoying and interfered with my rest.
Lest you think that EMF sensitivity is nothing to be concerned about, note that the country of Sweden has formally acknowledged issues with dirty electricity as a legitimate disability which affects at least 3% of the population. In addition, doctors in Switzerland have concluded that 5% of the symptoms their patients experience could be traced to the negative effects of dirty electricity exposure.
Forward thinking companies are beginning to take note as well. The Weston A. Price Foundation has successfully opted out of a smart meter for its Washington D.C. office due to health concerns for its employees, albeit one of less than a dozen to do so in the entire District of Columbia.
Dirty Electricity Generated by AMR Meters
While most people are aware that the smart meters that have been relentlessly installed around the nation (usually without customer permission and despite verbal or written protest) are a huge source of dirty electricity exposure, AMR meters have, for the most part, remained under the radar.
As mentioned above, AMR meters transmit data using a one-way radio frequency. The radio signal is picked up by a “collector” inside a meter reader’s vehicle. This is similar to the operation of a garage-door opener. AMR technology is different from two-way meters, which are sometimes referred to as “smart meters”, but is it any safer?
My own home had an AMR meter installed without my permission some years ago. Tampa Electric began rolling out the AMR devices in 2003. The one way AMR devices provide the following conveniences according to TECO’s website:
- More accurate meter readings than traditional dial meters
- Increases privacy for customers because no meter reader enters their property
- Reduces access issues for customers with dogs or locked gates
While definitely not as bad as a smart meter, AMR meters can still be problematic for those who are sensitive to the effects of dirty electricity. According to the Smart Meter Education Network, digital meters universally have the following problems:
Digital meters—whether or not “smart”—cause dirty electricity to flow through your home’s wiring. The problem is what is called the “switched mode power supply.” Switched mode power supplies are used to run the digital meter (whether a smart meter or a radio-off opt-out smart meter). In order for a smart meter to be powered, the 240 volts coming off the power line to the meter must be stepped down to 4–10 volts. A switched mode power supply is the device used to step down the voltage from 240 volts to 4-10 volts. This generates an enormous amount of what is commonly known as “dirty electricity” and referred to by electricians and electrical engineers as “voltage transients,” “voltage harmonics,” “line noise,” and “power quality issues.”
In sum, whether your power company wants to install an AMR device, smart meter, or opt-out meter (smart meter with the wireless turned off), you need to insist on retaining your old analog meter to avoid the effects of dirty electricity on your health.
Having a smart meter adds the problem of emissions from the device itself. The closer you are to the smart meter, the more emissions exposure. The effect is similar to the radiation dangers of a cell tower when in close proximity.
Every foot away from a smart meter makes a significant difference. Having a smart meter installed on the outside wall of your bedroom would be the worst case scenario, in other words. This article describes how to protect yourself from a smart meter if you already have one installed and are having difficulties getting your power company to cooperate with its removal.
How to Eliminate Dirty Electricity from an AMR Meter
I have only just discovered that the AMR device installed at my home is generating a dirty electricity problem for my family. I had erroneously thought that because it wasn’t a smart meter, it wasn’t a problem. While the problem with an AMR is certainly much lower than with a smart meter, I do intend to petition our power company to replace it with an analog meter. This is a good move anyway, given that my power company has stated on its website that the long term direction of the company is toward two-way smart meters, which I definitely do not want to be a part of.
In the meantime, until the analog meter is re-installed, flipping the breaker switch at night will eliminate the problem of dirty electricity surging through the house from an AMR meter. And, beware of some power companies that are claiming that the devices they are using are AMR, when they are, in fact, smart meters that communicate with the utility every 30 seconds or via collection towers. As of this writing, one power company in New Hampshire and another in Arizona are apparently guilty of using this ruse with customers with others likely doing the same.
Another confusing tactic is the many acronyms that power companies use to describe SmartGrid digital technology. If it isn’t an analog meter, you don’t want it attached to your house if you can possibly avoid it. You don’t need a PhD to make an informed decision.
The bottom line is that only analog meters are completely safe with no emissions or dirty electricity issues. AMR, while less problematic than smart meters, still poses a health risk long term. Smart meters are the absolute worst with constant emissions from the device itself (like a cell phone tower attached to your home) as well as surges of dirty electricity through the internal wiring of a residence or business.
If you would like to buy an analog meter because your power company will not provide one, they are available here. Please note that many power companies actually charge their customers a fee if an analog meter is used instead of a digital device. While this is certainly outrageous, it is at least a better scenario than those power companies that are still refusing their customers any opt-out whatsoever.
How to Monitor and Reduce Your EMF Load
If you are interested in monitoring and ultimately reducing your radiation load from all the digital devices in your home environment, this can be assessed using this measuring device. This inexpensive, handheld gadget is particularly helpful for identifying EMF hotspots in your home so that you can move routers and other wireless devices to different locations (or eliminating some entirely like wireless baby monitors) and adjusting lifestyle as necessary to ensure, at the very least, that sleeping areas are as EMF free as possible.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
More Information
Reducing Exposure to Dirty Electricity
The Health Hazards of Wireless Baby Monitors
Harvard MD Speaks Out about the Health Dangers of Smart Meters
Sarah Pope has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. Her work is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.
Her work has been covered by major media including USA Today, ABC, NBC, and many others.
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I had a situation with Duke Energy. I called them stating I want to opt out having a true all daily analog meter in. She had told opting isn’t a problem but told me they have a digital analog meter that they it will be difficult to locate the any of the all daily meters. I told that’s funny, it took me a matter of minutes online and took three days to get so don’t worry I have one ready. Needless to say she had made it seem in just a few days it’ll be switched out. Two weeks later I finally gotten through and another lady have an excuse told me the opt out crew( not sure what she called them, were making calls and by Friday the latest ill be called. Two weeks later no word I called them up telling them not worry about it I had it myself. Now there’s a problem. Three days later a crew guy shows up. I can’t have my meter in for it’s not theirs and if that if there meter (no smart bit digital meter wasnt going to be replacing mine they would turn my power off at the street pole. So they replaced it giving me mine back to me. That week with my meter in I was capable of going to bed and with in minutes fall asleep. Can’t remember them but I actually had dreams mow I’m back where I was prior and paying more for it. I’m close to buying a generator (can’t really afford it) and removing all of their property off of mine and place it on the side of the road, buried cable and all. Every single person is paying, literally paying to die just so they have less over head from someone actually doing work not to mention knowing everything you use when you use it and how long your using it for. People are getting into this smart appliances for to become a smart home are being laughed by their ignorance and stupidity. There is an agenda for this smart shit just like it was part of the agenda to eliminate incandescent light bulbs making LED lights be only one to be sold, Obama the one on national television stated that the people are simple minded to handle our own affairs. Led lights arm a health hazard so he made it the light source to be sold. Agenda 21, depopulation is already at hand. Birth rates has dropped an all time high, more and more kids are having some type behavior problems which is medicated to to threat a ” chemical imbalanced of the brain” which not one test can prove this chemical. It is all connected, all of it. These storms(the bad ones) we have isn’t nature’s. Katrina was a test run to see how the people would react to martial law. Smart meters is just a small percentage of the whole picture. Wake up and it becomes obvious.
Brenada G.,
I too have paid BGE to opt out of smart meters for years. BGE is also trying to replace my old analog meter with an ERT.AMR?? which seems to be a smart meter meter (Itron). Please let me contact you to trade notes. my phone # is four four three, three seven seven , zero seven nine three
Thank you for writing about this important topic.
We have measured the wireless RF radiation from AMR meters and “smart” meters – it’s not so different. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYXMlat-QoY
It shows that AMR meters can send a wireless RF signal every second (that is what some “smart” meters do). That RF radiation contaminates the electrical wiring along with dirty electricity from the meters switch mode power supply.
All in all utility meters that contain electronic parts – antenna, SMPS, etc. are not proven to be safe nor have they been tested for electrical fire safety or radiation. The only safe meter at this time is an analog meter. M. Hertz – NYSUMA – New York Safe Utility Meter Association
Hello Sarah. I live in Central IL and when I called the electric co. to have my Smart Meter replaced with the old analog meter, I was surprised it was so easy, heh, heh, heh. Well, it was replaced with the AMR Meter. The young lady told me the co. is throwing away the analog meters. So Monday, I gird my loins (women do have loins, don’t they?) to take another stab at it. The meter sits about 1-1/2′ from my bed. My problem is that I am also helping an elderly couple who are having lots of health problems since their Smart Meter was installed and I have been trying to make a copy of your information to give them but I can’t get the print to line up with my paper. Are we not supposed to make copies or could I be doing something wrong? Sure would like an answer since they do not own a computer. I myself, am only semi-literate with computers. At any rate I appreciate your work.
Do CTRL P and you should get a print screen where you can download to a PDF to print.
Tanya –
I live in NH and have ever source. I’m pretty sure they’re lying their ***** off to me.
Did you ever get an answer about the NH company that the website lists?