Now that I have move into my home and am starting to travel, this blog will be devoted to telling you about the different features of the Vehicle itself, and the adventure of living in it, while the story of my travels will be told at my main site.
I will also be starting a Q&A column so if you have questions about materials, construction, specific health concerns etc., please fee; free to ask. I am working on an eBook that will tell the whole story of the Vehicle along with diagrams, drawings, materials lists and a lot more, but in the meantime, this is the place to find those things out.
I will also be starting a Q&A column so if you have questions about materials, construction, specific health concerns etc., please fee; free to ask. I am working on an eBook that will tell the whole story of the Vehicle along with diagrams, drawings, materials lists and a lot more, but in the meantime, this is the place to find those things out.
Electromagnetic Fields
Just because it's fresh in my mind, today I'm going to talk about electromagnetic pollution and how I set my house up to avoid it. EMFs have a wide range of documented effects on human health.
From emfcenter.com:
"While there still is great controversy, studies suggest that EMFs may be linked to a variety of health problems including leukemia, lymphoma, brain and nervous system cancers, melanoma, breast cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, depression and suicide. Anecdotally, EMFs have been associated with symptoms such as nausea, headache, fatigue, anxiety, dizziness, mental confusion, memory loss, sleep disturbance, seizures, tinnitus, changes to blood pressure and heart rate, itchy or burning skin sensations, and skin rashes. Anecdotally, there are increasing numbers of people who report “hypersensitivity” to electromagnetic fields, similar to the way that some individuals have become “hypersensitive” to chemicals, often as the result of over-exposure in the past."
In the past I have been highly sensitive to EMF fields, including cell phones, wifi routers and "Smart" utilities meters in California, so I was concerned about making sure my house didn't expose me to them.
From emfcenter.com:
"While there still is great controversy, studies suggest that EMFs may be linked to a variety of health problems including leukemia, lymphoma, brain and nervous system cancers, melanoma, breast cancer, miscarriage, birth defects, Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, depression and suicide. Anecdotally, EMFs have been associated with symptoms such as nausea, headache, fatigue, anxiety, dizziness, mental confusion, memory loss, sleep disturbance, seizures, tinnitus, changes to blood pressure and heart rate, itchy or burning skin sensations, and skin rashes. Anecdotally, there are increasing numbers of people who report “hypersensitivity” to electromagnetic fields, similar to the way that some individuals have become “hypersensitive” to chemicals, often as the result of over-exposure in the past."
In the past I have been highly sensitive to EMF fields, including cell phones, wifi routers and "Smart" utilities meters in California, so I was concerned about making sure my house didn't expose me to them.
My primary consultant on EMF (electromagnetic field) protection was Michael Neuert of EMF Center. Michael helped me plan the electrical design of my vehicle to minimize EMF pollution. Because my home is basically an aluminum box, I am pretty well shielded from external fields, except through the windows, but I need to be careful about generating fields indoors, as they will bounce back and forth between the walls. We decided all the electricity in my bedroom would be 12 volt DC power, which doesn't emit fields, that all wiring would be run through steel conduit which contains EMFs, and that I would have a DC refrigerator. Along the right side of the Vehicle I have two clusters of AC outlets, in the kitchen and by my desk.
I am not able to completely avoid EMFs, but have isolated myself from them as best I could. For instance, I do have an inverter, which converts DC power from my solar panels to AC, to run my computer, blender and a few other appliances, but it sits inside a metal lined battery cabinet. I also have an electric fridge, because, for me, having no propane inside my living space was a higher priority. I traded my desktop computer for a laptop, which uses less power and generates less EMFs. What it does generate is mostly directed down from the base. My laptop sits on a raised base so the screen is at an ergonomic height and I use an external keyboard to type. This keeps me farther from the EMF fields. It's also against a window, so I don't have the bounce effect from the metal wall.
Someday soon I will go through the Vehicle with my gauss meter and see which appliances are generating fields and will start the process of switching out their power cords for shielded ones. I also have a grounding rod, which I still need to read the instructions for, which, when used correctly can reduce EMFs from the AC circuits.
The issue I was most worried about was wifi/cell access. I really didn't want radio and microwave frequencies inside the Vehicle. Right now, I have to go sit on the stoop or the deck to make phone calls, and I'm ok with that. If I end up in a cold place in winter, I will feel differently, I'm sure, but I plan to avoid that.
I am not able to completely avoid EMFs, but have isolated myself from them as best I could. For instance, I do have an inverter, which converts DC power from my solar panels to AC, to run my computer, blender and a few other appliances, but it sits inside a metal lined battery cabinet. I also have an electric fridge, because, for me, having no propane inside my living space was a higher priority. I traded my desktop computer for a laptop, which uses less power and generates less EMFs. What it does generate is mostly directed down from the base. My laptop sits on a raised base so the screen is at an ergonomic height and I use an external keyboard to type. This keeps me farther from the EMF fields. It's also against a window, so I don't have the bounce effect from the metal wall.
Someday soon I will go through the Vehicle with my gauss meter and see which appliances are generating fields and will start the process of switching out their power cords for shielded ones. I also have a grounding rod, which I still need to read the instructions for, which, when used correctly can reduce EMFs from the AC circuits.
The issue I was most worried about was wifi/cell access. I really didn't want radio and microwave frequencies inside the Vehicle. Right now, I have to go sit on the stoop or the deck to make phone calls, and I'm ok with that. If I end up in a cold place in winter, I will feel differently, I'm sure, but I plan to avoid that.
Cherie & Chris of Technomadia
Today I had my long awaited consultation with Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard of Technomadia, to get their help setting up my internet system. As a writer who blogs, both in print and on the radio, and conducts a lot of her work and social life online, I need reliable internet access to make a living. Cherie and Chris came up with a great package for me, taking all my access needs into account.
I will be using a Verizon hotspot and a router, connected to an antenna on my roof. But the wifi capacity will be turned off, and I'll use an ethernet cable to connect me to my cellular data so everything that is indoors will be wired, not wireless. I'll be using a Verizon data plan that's ample for my needs and will even let me watch some movies. Cherie and Chris really put some thought into this and took my needs seriously, which, as those of you are also sensitive to electromagnetic fields know, is not a given.
I don't have service set up yet, but will let you know how it goes, and what the gauss meter has to say about my whole set up. For now, I know I've taken a lot of good steps to keep my home free of EMFs.
I will be using a Verizon hotspot and a router, connected to an antenna on my roof. But the wifi capacity will be turned off, and I'll use an ethernet cable to connect me to my cellular data so everything that is indoors will be wired, not wireless. I'll be using a Verizon data plan that's ample for my needs and will even let me watch some movies. Cherie and Chris really put some thought into this and took my needs seriously, which, as those of you are also sensitive to electromagnetic fields know, is not a given.
I don't have service set up yet, but will let you know how it goes, and what the gauss meter has to say about my whole set up. For now, I know I've taken a lot of good steps to keep my home free of EMFs.
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