Fridge placement when off grid?

softdown

Need to preface by explaining that I am one of those who believe in deleterious effects of significant magnetic/electrical fields. Those who live in cities can not get away from all of the electrical emissions from high power lines etc. Off gridders enjoy more of a choice....see my tin foil hat.

My fridge stays on a heckuva lot during the summer. Of course the area is much warmer during the summer. Being right next to the sunroom makes the fridge work a lot harder.

How close can a full sized fridge be to a sleeping area (bed) before one may encounter significant electrical emissions? Moving a loaded fridge is a chore. Only want to do it once if possible.

4'? 6'? 8'? 10'? 12'? Anybody know what I am talking about?

mcgivor

Being that the refrigerator is made of metal, an assumption, which is grounded, hopefully,  magnetic radiation, if any, would more than likely be dissapated to ground, nice photo BTW.

softdown

mcgivor said:

Being that the refrigerator is made of metal, an assumption, which is grounded, hopefully,  magnetic radiation, if any, would more than likely be dissapated to ground, nice photo BTW.

Hopefully true.

I am certain that some electrical fields can interfere with healthy brain functioning. When I was a videographer, I would occasionally dupe a video while I slept near by. Woke up feeling very odd every single time.

Has anybody read anything about safe distance of full size refrigerators from beds? I don't have a proper kitchen. The fridge is in the bedroom.

Scientific news about this phenomenon may be muted since so many people work in the area of significant electrical fields.

Estragon

I know this can be an issue on boats with single sideband radios, but I think it's mainly noise in the DC leads to a DC fridge. Keeping the leads short, twisting them, etc helps, but sometimes the only solution is to turn off the fridge when using the SSB radio.

For the AC fridge I would also think the metal case and grounding would largely eliminate any emissions. Maybe try tuning an AM radio to a weak station and see if there's interference near the fridge?

softdown

I had a meter that measured some type of electrical field from a distance. Found out that the power line down the street really carried a lot of power to the college and emitted supposedly unhealthy levels to those close by. Can't find it right now. It could have been useful for this.

I think that anytime power is carried through a line, there are emissions of some type of electrical activity.

softdown

Then we have the windings around motors which, I believe, operate on magnetism. Thus emitting a magnetic field. What about the compressor? Shiver me timbers...

Lumisol

You can sleep on top of your refrigerator without any harmful effects if it's comfortable for you.
Stay away from cell phones though if you are worried.

mike95490

softdown said:

Then we have the windings around motors which, I believe, operate on magnetism. Thus emitting a magnetic field. What about the compressor? Shiver me timbers...

The motor is sealed inside the steel compressor housing, putting it effectively inside a 100% Faraday Shield.  No emissions, unless the light inside the cabinet stays on.  (hint - it's inside the cabinet, the steel shell cabinet - another good  Faraday Shield ).

The problem is household romex style cable, is not twisted.  The hot and return are separated by the ground wire, so you will get emissions from any circuit wiring with a load applied.  No load, nearly no emission,  High load = higher emission. Using a blowdryer at 1200 watts should fry your brain, if not your hair.

So, figure what circuits are wired through your bedroom walls and just don't use them.