Comparison of the safety of AMR meters versus smart meters for measuring electricity or water usage on a residential home or apartment and as a source of potentially health-altering EMF radiation.
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 radiofrequency. 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.” (1)
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.
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.
More Information
Fitbit Health Dangers
Reducing Exposure to Dirty Electricity
The Health Hazards of Wireless Baby Monitors
Harvard MD Speaks Out about the Health Dangers of Smart Meters
jennifer
HELP…I am beside myself. Purchased a second home in Florida. Came down in April. there was a smart meter on the house. I felt nothing, but knowing what I know about smart meters (and it is on my bedroom wall). I called FPL to remove it and they replaced it with an AMR meter while I was gone. I came back and can barely be in the house. Ear ringing, numbness in my ears, cannot sleep. I asked them to put an analog meter on they refused and said “they no longer use them”. Do I have a right to demand that they put an analog meter on if I purchase it. They said they cannot get them anymore. they refused. Can I challenge them? Right now I am ready to put the smart meter back and put the smart guard cage on it that I purchased….the “non standard meter” which they call it is unbearable.
Sarah Pope
We live in Tampa and have a smart meter that is disconnected (we have a meter reader come out every month to read the meter the old fashioned way).
Perhaps if you request a disconnected smart meter that will work? AMR meters still send out a signal, and perhaps the frequency yours is using is more sensitive for you?
Connie
Hi. I also purchased a second home in Florida and was wondering if you were successful in purchasing an analog meter and getting FPL to put it in your home? I am interested in doing the same and would like to avoid the non standard meter. Unfortunately, I currently have a smart meter.
Connie
Hi Sarah,
How do you go about requesting a disconnected smart meter? Does it send out any signals? I figured FPL would just insist on a non standard meter instead. Thanks for your help.
Ken Gartner
Sarah, the ‘AMR’ meters come in several flavors, and can be deployed to run from a battery or tapped into a switched mode power supply (SMPS, which generated DE). The very old style which listened for a chirp from a local meter reader vehicle operated in a ‘bubble up’ mode. This is the safest way to balance ease of access and health, but is labor intensive. AMRs that broadcast at least one time per minute are now the norm. Broadcasting frequently does not promote the meter to ‘smart’, but instead it’s the ability to have that meter integrated into the home electronics network and offer two-way communication with the power utility are the ‘upgrades’ from a simple digital AMR to something referred to as a ‘smart’ meter. Being able to turn on/off the home’s electricity remotely or even individual appliances inside a home, without requiring any human interaction is usually one of the hallmarks of the ‘smart’ metering infrastructure.
Peggie-Jean Greenough
Hi Sarah,
I contacted Eversource today to have the (what I assumed is a) smart meter switched to analog on the home we purchased late last year. They told me we have an AMR meter, that NH does not have smart meters, that AMR’s are not “that” bad and they do not use analog meters anymore. I told them I would have to research that but I am not sure what my options are here. How do I know if it is a smart meter? Can I make them replace it with an analog one?
Ken Gartner
Eversource is particularly unwelcoming of requests to replace their AMR meters, in NH, CT and MA. They do not offer an opt-out meter — one that does not broadcast. Have you had health issues attributable to the continued presence of the meter? Many people do.
Look for the symbols “FCC ID” on the meter. After this is a code with letters and numbers. This identifies the meter by its registration information with the FCC. That would explain. A ‘Smart’ meter is probably only incrementally more unhealthful than the AMR — it receives as well as sends digital information. It is the sending of the information via wireless microwaves OR via PLC (powerline communication, on the power lines not through the air) that is one fundamental health hazard.
Adrienne Ham
What herbal supplement do you use when sleeping in hotels? I clicked on the link and it wouldn’t take me to the page.
Eileen
Hello, Ms. Pope.
My community has received notice that TECO will begin installing “smart” meters in the “coming weeks.” I and at least one neighbor plan to decline and pay the outrageous surcharge not to have the new meters. (Forcing people to pay not to have something tells me all I need to know. Without such coercion, fewer people would buy in!)
The notice indicates that those who opt out of the smart meter will receive “a standard digital meter” that must be manually read. Our homes already have digital meters, but I’m unsure if TECO will insist on installing another for some reason. (Oh, right, the $100 fee.)
Have you or any of your readers had success switching back to an analog meter? Must TECO accommodate this if we demand it? Before confirming my request with TECO, I want to find out if I can demand that it install an analog meter, even if I must purchase it on my own. At the least, I want to retain the digital meter that I have.
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
Sarah Pope MGA
You have to pay a installation + monthly fee to have a smart meter that has the digital capabilities turned off. A meter reader comes to your house every month to read the meter. TECO won’t give you an analog meter.
Ken Gartner
It might well seem like highway robbery to pay high fees to the Utility, whose meter is causing health concerns. However, given how injurious the continuous broadcasting meter is for one’s health, please consider the cost of a single ambulance trip plus ER visit in comparison. Not everyone is going to be equally susceptible to possibly permanent injury from these meters, but some people ARE. Think of it as a kind of health insurance to get an opt-out meter. I know of people’s health that eroded within weeks or months, including my partner who has had ‘permanent’ EHS for 4 years since moving into a new house with broadcasting AMR. Even though we now have the opt-out meter, it is too late to correct the EHS.
Miranda Walker
I too am having issues with the water company here in nc. was told that my meter is a amr and its not the same as a smart meter. My daughter has a load of medical issues and I am really concerned for her. I don’t believe what the water company is telling us. The guy that called me said there was no opt out for this. He assured me there is no harm but after reading this article I know that he was clearly lying to me. No surprise there. I know all about agenda 21 and we are at the mercy of the united nations and those that wish to kill us all…….. the elite.
Ken Gartner
Miranda, water and gas meters can be quite injurious, especially if they are located inside your home. Usually the water meter has a wire connecting to a small box on the side of your house that broadcasts. You can unscrew this and bury it in a bucket at ground level and put a very large paving stone over it — the water company will still get enough upload to know your water usage but your family is better protected. Or a few layers of aluminum foil should be enough to cut the signal significantly in the house. Anyone who already as health issue and is serious about lowering their personal RF device usage in the house, also has to consider all the utility meters that are broadcasting as well.