Re: Common house heating
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

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Pablo Halpern              (508) 435-5274         phalpern [at] world.std.com

New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA, U.S.A.
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- Pablo

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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.
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