Re: Common house heating | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Pablo Halpern (phalpernworld.std.com) | |
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 09:52 CDT |
Ian Higginbottom <Ian.Higginbottom [at] ml.csiro.au> asks for feadback on the use of electric radiant heating in the ceiling of Cascade's common house. It is clear from your recent posting about the mild climate in Tasmania and the fuel prices you pay (electric is actually cheaper than gas) that electric heat is not nearly as inpractical or expensive for you as it is for many of us in the U.S.. However, I do want to point out another problem with heating coils in the ceiling that has so far not been mentioned. Research indicates that exposure to moderate to high levels of extra-low frequency electro-magnetic fields (ELFs) can cause serious health problems. Long-term exposure to levels as low as 2 miligause have been linked to increased incidence of childhood lukemia and other cancers and of miscarriages. For a long time, the electric power industry has denied these effects in spite of very convincing evidence. However, lately even they have begun to indicate that it "warrents more study." Some CRT manafactures have begun making CRTs that produce less ELF. ELFs are produced by anything that uses the standard 50 Hz - 60 Hz AC electricity used by all of the developed world. The largest produces of ELFs are devices that use large coils (such as big motors or CRTs) or which have long, unsheilded conductors (e.g. heating elements). Shielding does not mean insulation, by the way. Shielding refers any of several technologies for preventing electro-magnetic fields from entering or leaving a wire. Before you install a giant ELF transmitter in your common house ceiling, please consider this issue. I no longer use an electric blanket for this reason and I always sit at lest two feet from my VDT. I also own a gause meter so that I can avoid prolonged exposure to other ELFs in my house and office. I, personally am enough convinced of the health dangers that I would dismiss out-of-hand any proposal that would involve long stretches of unsheilded cable. (Electric baseboard heat, by the way, is probably not as bad because the strongest ELFs are along the wall and their geometry probably does not "radiate" the ELFs as far as the antena-like imbedded heater being discussed). - Pablo ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pablo Halpern (508) 435-5274 phalpern [at] world.std.com New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA, U.S.A. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Pablo ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pablo Halpern (508) 435-5274 phalpern [at] world.std.com I am self-employed, so my opinions *do* reflect those of my employer. However, they may not reflect the opinions of my client. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Re: Common house heating, (continued)
- Re: Common house heating Rob Sandelin, September 29 1994
- Re: Common house heating John Gear, September 29 1994
- Re: Common house heating Hungerford, David, September 29 1994
- Re: Common house heating Hungerford, David, September 29 1994
- Re: Common house heating Pablo Halpern, October 5 1994
- Re: Common house heating dghungerford, October 5 1994
- Re: Common house heating Stuart Staniford-Chen, October 5 1994
- Re: Common house heating Pablo Halpern, October 5 1994
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