Your trusty washing machine- now hazardous to your health?
This morning we received an open letter from Cindy Sage, Principal of Sage Associates, an environmental consulting firm based in Santa Barbara. What she reports below is very disturbing- that appliances are already being fitted with transmitters to connect to the ‘smart’ grid via the ‘home area network.’
The problem here is that these decisions- to install smart meters, to have your washing machine chatting behind your back with your utility through the “Home Area Network” (HAN)- have all been made behind closed doors- at exclusive resorts and conferences where utilities, regulators and appliance manufacturers hatch ambitious schemes without any consultation with the people whose lives will be affected by these technologies. We can catch a glimpse of the arrogant mindset behind this truly stupid program from reading through PG&E’s internal presentations on the SmartMeter program.
Moral of the story- beware when you buy any new appliances- they may come with a nasty electromagnetic surprise inside. Always ask before buying, and let them know you don’t want wireless! Corporations should be even warier. As the hazards of wireless technology become well known throughout society- hopefully this will hit these companies in their bottom line- about the only thing they appear to pay any attention to. Boycott the HAN! Refuse Smart Meters! -SSM!
From Cindy Sage:
Dear Friends,
This is a personal story. We just purchased a new Bosch washer and dryer – for delivery next week. Sam Milham happened to call this morning and said the following:
“I’ve just tested a home with an oven and dishwasher that had continuously radiating RF from internal power transmitters”. He could verify the RF signal was continuous, and only stopped when he threw the circuit breakers for those appliances (turned off the electricity to them). He could say with certainty the RF signal came from the appliances, because the signal was strongest at the appliance and attenuated with distance.
We have been told that these power transmitters will – in the future – be placed on appliances to monitor and report their energy usage to a wireless smart meter. Further, they should only be giving off RF pulses (the signal) very infrequently. According to Richard Tell, an electrical engineer formerly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — in a 2008 report on Smart Grids for Hydro One Networks, Inc./Toronto — antennas on appliances may transmit at a density of .18watts, each at ballpark 4.5 seconds per hour. Well, these appliance power transmitters are, in at least some cases, transmitting CONTINUOUSLY. This puts them into a category more like wireless routers and WI-FI. No one is going to tolerate 12-15 such power transmitters inside their homes that radiate full time. These are appliances you come into close contact with while you cook and move around your kitchen. Multiple, continuously transmitting RF sources are absolutely unacceptable to people with EHS and some ADA people with medical implants.
Bosch customer service confirmed that both the washer and dryer we have on order contain power transmitters. They cannot be ‘deactivated’. We cancelled our order this morning.
- “Hey utility, you wouldn’t BELIEVE what my owner ate last night!”
The news that appliances can only be purchased with a wireless activiated signal is truly terrifying. For those who are sensitive, does that mean that we must go back to hand washing everything, storing our food in cold rooms, drying our clothes in front of the fire. Those who cannot tolerate these signals are being consistently marginalized in this new, dangerous world. The truth is that those who promote these devices, will themselves become ill.
For people worried about certain large appliances fitted with ZigBee transmitters, I say don’t buy them, or insist that the seller disable the transmitter or you will not purchase it.
And don’t worry, these transmitters only transmit electrical consumption data to the customer purchased Home Area Network display monitor, they do NOT transmit to the smart meter or on the meters “smart grid” radio network to the utility, or to the power grid itself. And, most importantly they are not interactive with the customers HAN system or the meters smart grid, in other words, they are one way only and are not capable of controlling the large appliance, they strictly for in home monitoring. If a customer wishes to remotely control the appliance off or on, or for lighting dimming functions, they need to buy one of the many home automation systems that have been available for decades.
I was at Best Buy last week looking at electric clothes dryers. On a few of the high end models I noticed an advertised feature that said that the appliance had a “smart diagnostics” chip. So I asked the sales person what that was, and he explained that it is not a transmitter, but a tone generator that generates audible tones. If one has a problem with the unit, they can call the service center on any phone, hold the phone next to the appliance and a series of audible beeps will be decoded by a technician at the other end so they can tell the customer what the problem is, like close the door on the appliance etc., etc.
And more about the HAN’s and sales of the systems and appliances, sales figures are dismal. Obama gave $50 million of our tax money through ARRA stimulus funds to Whirlpool to install monitoring chips in 2009, and since then sales figures have fallen to very low levels. So low that Whirlpool laid off 5000 workers about 6 months ago due to sluggish sales.
And Microsoft and Google both dropped development of HAN systems. It seems that the consumers realize there is not much value in spending thousands of dollars on HAN systems and chipped appliances just to see how much energy the appliances use, especially since that information is stamped on each and every appliance rating plate.
There is a lot of hysteria and science fiction stories going around, but it is not a concern at all if one just simply says “no”, and does not purchase any of the few large appliances fitted with monitoring chips.
Keep in mind that appliance manufactures base everything on sales figures, and if customers don’t purchase their “chipped ” appliances, those appliances will very quickly be gone from the market.
The manufacturers and their sales hype have caused a lot of confusion on this matter, to their detriment no doubt.
Thanks for posting such important information! I thought new appliances would have power transmitters in the future, not now!
Home automation systems are nothing new at all, I have been designing and installing them for years.
Automation can be very helpful for building managers to control lighting, HVAC and security systems.
And for people that have second homes in Tahoe or Teluride, there are systems that connect to telephone interfaces or internet connections to control water pipe heaters, driveway heaters, refrigerators, HVAC systems, security cameras and detectors.
High end appliances have had ethernet cable ports and remote monitoring and control circuits for years, but not radio transmitters, they used cat 5 (ethernet) data cable to connect to the controller interface.
What I don’t understand is, why the need to connect a clothes washer and dryer to such a system ? Both those appliances have built in clocks, and require someone to be there to load the machines. What is to remotely monitor or control ? People will use their machines whenever necessary, or have hired help during the regular workday to do laundry for them. Nobody is going to settle for some outside authority telling them that they cannot do laundry at anytime they need or want to.
There was a lot of federal stimulus money (our tax money) doled out to major appliance manufacturers to install wireless remote controls into new appliances. This was a big giveaway of our tax dollars to multi national corporations to promote useless technology that most people will never need, many people don’t want at all, and won’t save one bit of energy. Actually all these new systems use energy and are very expensive to the consumer.
If I absolutely needed a new washer or dryer, I would bargain with the retailer. I would say, I am willing to buy a new appliance from you if you remove any radio transmitters. I don’t need the transmitters that added to the total cost of the machine, so remove the transmitters and reduce the total price of each machine by $200, and you’ve got yourself a sale.
As almost all manufacturing is done in China and knowing that the old USSR had experimented with RF radiation as a weapon there could be consequences to these RF appliance implants beyond just what the utilities want.
We know that it is RF radiation is harmful. We know that China makes their plans centuries in advance. It would be awfully tempting to use something that will destroy health over a long period of time. It would be a way to control the population without having to fire a shot.
The Chinese are great at code wars, but there are people here in the U.S that are also good coders.
For years, we enjoyed free unlimited satellite TV from Rupert Murdoch’s DirecTV, using carded receivers and emulators. Then we pirated the Dish Network with foreign made card less receivers. It was great, all the premium channels, pay per view channels, porn channels and network feeds from across the country at the touch of a button. It was for fun, like a cult. Now, with the creation of Nagravision 3 encryption, we have been down for 3 years.
Keep in mind, that was for recreation, but there are more serious hackers out there that do things to create havok, for monetary gains and for activism.
We all can be assured that those Home Area Networks coupled with the new meter scam WILL be easily hacked.
In most installations, they will use ZigBee radio frequency automation systems. All that these programmable logic controllers are is a switch that can be remotely controlled by the ZigBee or the HomePlug powerline carrier system.
Any novice electronics technician can simply jump the switch, and also cut the power to the transmitters in the new appliances.
If there is actually money to be made by disabling these systems, there are going to be many people capitalizing on the action, no doubt about it.
In these tough times, maybe even former meter readers will learn how to do this, I sure of it. It’s called survival.
I just started flipping off the switch to my fridge, at the circuit breaker and leaving it off for 4 hours or so, then one for awhile as I go out for a walk. I leave it off all night long and it seems to leave all my meat frozen, and milk and produce just as fresh.
My ears don’t buzz as much and I sleep better when I do. I live in an apartment and they installed a new fridge when I moved in.
With radiation coming at us in every wave shape and form in everything we do and everywhere we go it is clear that there is a population control agenda here and to think otherwise is naive.
we here in portland oregon, are already subjected to the stupid meters. my home is buzzing continuously indoors, probably with the RF from those, and all the cell, wifi, tv, and radio towers nearby. the whole neighborhood buzzes at all hours. true EMF pollution.
Our local utility is PGE (not PG&E- it sometimes confuses people). SEE MY LINK TO THEIR PAGE ON THIS.
here’s part of what pge (portland general electric) says about “smart” appliances + “smart” meters:
…Future demand response programs: The new system is also expected to support the future development of such programs as demand response — a pricing structure program that encourages customers to use energy at less expensive times of the day, when the peak demand is lower;
***and direct load control programs — a program in which customers would agree to permit the utility to turn off certain appliances for limited periods when demand is high. These types of programs will reduce the need for new generation resources to meet peak demand. ***
So they DO plan on remotely turning off our appliances for periods of time! I doubt they will give us any opt-outs- just MAYBE some choices on hours? maybe not! maybe no choices at all. This is absolutely diabolical and utterly unAmerican. WHO ARE THESE DAMN ROBOTS RUNNING THINGS IN THE INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT?
The only way out I can see, at least in Oregon, don’t know about other states: we had a voter initiative a few years back, to take over PGE and convert it into a public utility instead of privately owned. But that initiative was defeated. If the people get widespread education about this stuff, maybe the people can takeover the utilities. And put a stop to this insane garbage!
good gravy! y’all need a SHARE THIS button on your page so it can go viral.
the pge website also speaks of ‘experimenting” first before they went whole hog on the smart meters. Q. ON WHOSE HOMES DID THEY EXPERIMENT? i doubt there was any consent whatsoever for being part of an RF experiment!
http://investors.portlandgeneral.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=377447
Excellent article; thank you so much for the information.
Once again, the FCC isn’t doing their job! It’s time to abolish this Agency! It’s time to clean house, litterally! For people that are taking money or gifts from the CTIA, like Universities, individuals,” Be careful for what you wish.” Without Health, money is of NO use! This is ALL about Greed and Corruption at the expense of our health and our pocketbooks! People save money, not a stupid meter or appliance! The intrusion into our daily lives is,” Big Government,” and once this happens, there will be no stopping them! This is truely disturbing and everyone needs to get informed and rise up! Let’s get these things stopped ASAP!
We have a range hood that always tests for RF, powered or not. Has anyone found that metal objects in their home concentrate/collect RF, whether or not they are electronic or WiFi enabled? Is there a solution to this?
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