What Body Voltage Will Tell You About Your Laptop

In the prior blog post, I went over how to ground your laptop/computer to prevent you from coupling electrically with your devices such as laptop and computer. Strands of voltage invisibly touch your body and cause you to become highly charged without you knowing what is going on except a feeling of being tired. To visualize what that looks like, take a look at this plasma ball video that shows how an electronic source can reach out to you like a beacon.

If you want to skep ahead to the video I posted on how to do the procedure, you can fnde it here.

How much is too much charge and how do you know what is charging you? You need an inexpensive tool called a multi meter and a procedure used with an exposure chart. I will teach you how to use that multimeter and find out what is making you tired electrically, and what you can do to reduce your exposure.

First let's take a look at some numbers. There are very few organizations or agencies that understand how electricity affects body voltage let alone acknowledge that AC voltage can have health effects, so there are very few agencies or organizations that study and come up with limits for this energy. The Building Biology Institute has been measuring and studying body voltage since the 1980s and have come up with some numbers in reference to people who were experiencing symptoms and in reference to published research on health effects. This is a guide for people who want to reduce their exposure to these electromagnetic fields. It is called Precautionary EMF Exposure Guidelines. It can also be found on my site here.

Here are the numbers for electric body voltage:

No Concern: less than 10 milliVoltz

Slight Concern: 10-100 milliVoltz

Severe Concern: 100-1,000 milliVoltz

Extreme Concern: over 1,000 milliVoltz ( most people are here, sitting at their desk)

Now you might be asking, what is a milliVolt? It is one thousandth of a volt. What is a volt? It is a unit of measurement of voltage. What is voltage? Think of voltage as the electrical part of electricity that holds the pressure. And by the way, the name is in honor of the Italian scientist who invented the electric battery, Alessandro Giuseppi Antonio Anestasio Volta, little factoid there.

Imagine a hose that has water pressure in it. The more pressure, the harder it will hit the daisies in your garden. The less pressure, the less damage it will do to said daisies when you open up the nozzle. So, think of voltage as the electrical aspect that provides the punch. Current, also a part of electricity, provides the flow, but that only happens when you turn on the switch or "open the nozzle." Pressure is always there as long as there is power to the home or device. That's why technicians and engineers refer to it as potential. It's power not being used, but it could be at any given time once the flow begins. Or in other words, once you open the nozzle.

OK, so now we have some numbers and the technical concepts out of the way. Let's get to finding out what our body is doing. Take a look down below at the image of the Zoyi multimeter. It probably looks like a bunch of gobbly gook to the average person, but you don't need to know what all the dials and numbers mean, just a few of them, and you're good to go. It costs around $35, so it is a bargain.

It will come with two leads, a red one and a black one. The black one goes into the "COM" port and the red one you will put into the V port. V stands for voltage, the one on the right with the Hz (hertz is what the frequency is measured by, and the O that looks like it has feet which is the symbol for Ohm which means resistance.) We are not going to be dealing with either of these, so don't let them confuse you, stay focused on the Voltz. There are two Vs one with a wavy line and one with a strait or dotted line. The wavy line represents the AC (alternating current) in your home. The strait line represents DC current, or direct current which is not as biologically hazardous, so we won't bother with the DC for our purposes. You find DC in batteries and such. What we are after is how the AC electric voltage is affecting you.

So, I just realized I need to help you build a body voltage meter from scratch which is inexpensive, but if you don't want to go to all the trouble, and have some cash to spend, I would recommend Safe Living Technolgies Body Voltage Test Kit

It costs $140 plush shipping, but you get everything you need to do a proper body voltage test. The multimeter, all the leads and a circuit tester.

If you are still onboard with the home made inexpensive multimeter testing, the last things you will need are an electrode for your red lead. That is the one you will be holding with your hand. You can make your own with a metal cupboard or drawer handle that is wired to your red lead.

Here is one I found online so you get the idea of what we are after. As long as it has a banana plug to go into the multimeter you are good to go. What is a banana plug? Here is what it looks like. Notice the bulge in the middle with thingys that would make for a nice fit once plugged in. Your multimeter will come with a red and black lead, it's just that they are pointy at the end, and won't work right. We need a hand held red lead, and a long black lead to stake out to the ground.

Ok, so we're good to go on parts. I know this is a lot for the non technical, but hey, I was non technical at first too, and I can do it, and as the saying goes, if I can do it, anybody can do it. I will draw the line at soldering. I won't ask you to solder anything, promise. The reason you can't just find this stuff on Amazon is because it's not one of those things that is commonly used, so we have to make it for now. So, if you haven't given into buying the kit at Safe Living Technologies, let's press on.

So, let's say you have the red, hand electrode now. Next is the black lead that gets staked out to the ground outside. You will need a long black lead with banana plug at one end and an alligator clip at the other end. The alegator clip is going to attatch to the stake in the ground outside. I looked online for a long lead like this and couldn't find one, so you would have to get a crimpable allegator clip like this one

And a crimpable banana plug like this This link was to Home Depot, and I am told you can get speaker wire there too. Or you can even order speaker wire online. I know you can get whatever length you want at some hardware stores. I have gotten simply lamp cord at Ace Hardware, my favorite place, and they rolled out forty feet of it for me. So the only tools you need are a wire stripper and a You Tube video on crimping allegator and banana plugs onto wire.

Ok, so by this point, that $140 Safe Living Technolgies Body Voltage Testing Kit is looking really good right now, unless you are the type of guy or gal who is into this type of stuff or you are really budget motivated.

Just to mention about the stake in the ground. It can be something simple like a quarter inch metal rod, a tent stake, a coat hanger (do they still make them out of metal anymore?). The stake is included in the SLT Body Voltage Test Kit also.

If for some reason, you cannot get a stake in the ground, you can ground to the home wiring by using this.

This is a grounding plug with two plastic blades that don't come in contact with the hot and neutral, but has a metal round hole ground, and you plug that into your banana end of your grounding lead. This will act as a body voltage reference, but the numbers won't be as accurate as the ones from a true ground to outside dirt because believe it or not, you have voltage on your home grounding system. Each house is different depending on what is coming in from the utility. It's just the way it is with the electrical grid. So, your numbers may be higher or lower. I'm not sure, but you will get a relative picture of what is going on.

If all this seems too much, you can always contact me through email or phone and I'd be happy to help out where I can. Now for the actual procedure. One last thing. If you are using the house ground as your ground, check the ground with a circuit tester you can purchase at the hardware store for $11. Some, especially older houses, don't have grounding systems, and some have been only partially updated and it may look like there is a round hole, but it goes nowhere.

Body Voltage Procedure

1) Set your multimeter to V ~ (remember wavy line means AC)

2) Plug in your black lead to COM and attach it to the stake outside or the ground in your home

3) Plug the red lead that has your hand electrode attached into the V (voltage) red port

4) Hold the hand electrode and see what numbers you get. This is your initial reading. Record it. Remember, most multimeters record in voltz. We want milliVoltz, so move the decimal three places to the right.

5) Is your initial body voltage somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000? That is about average.

6) Now unplug nearby appliances like lamps, computers, printers, etc. What are your numbers now?

7). Once all the electronics are unplugged (just because they are off doesn't mean they aren't charging you with voltage) the remaining voltage on your body is coming from the house wiring.

8) You can turn off electric circuits at the main power panel. Turn them all off and then turn them on one by one to see which circuits in the house wiring are coupling onto your body.

9) Make sure you power down computers and HVAC systems and lower the temperature in the frig to prevent overload or lost data when circuits are being turned on and off.

10) If your whole house is off, and you are still getting voltage on your body, that is the voltage that is on your grounding system. It just is. Nothing can be done about it unless you shield the walls with radiant barrier foil or Y Shield paint.

11) On the other hand you can leave circuits off or install a kill switch that turns off the circuits at night for the bedroom (you need an electrician for this). You can also turn off the offending circuits at night every night, but that becomes very bothersom after a while and wears your circuit breaker switch.

Wrap Up of What You Can Do To Lower Your Voltage

1) You can unplug appliances that cause voltage increases in your body or use a wall switch. Cords that are plugged in are bringing the electricity to the lamp or appliance, so the cord is carrying voltage that is coupled onto you whether it is on or off. A wall switch cuts off that flow at the wall, and allows it only when you turn it on.

2) Distance yourself from the source. Move beds and chairs away from the walls by a foot or two. This gives more space between your body and the wiring of the house. Also, another source of high voltage is by putting your feet next to power cords near a desk. Push the power strip and all the cords as far away from the body as is conveniently possible.

3) Ground your lamps and appliances. Look at my last post to see how you can ground laptops and computers. Electricians can rewire lamps with a cord and plug that gives them goundedness. This will bleed off some of the voltage coming from those appliances.

4) Turn off circuit breakers to the bedroom at night while you sleep especially those that carry high voltage onto your body. You'll know which ones from your body voltage test.

5) Shield. This is the last step because it is laborious and expensive. If a high electric field is coming into the room from the utility, you can use gounded shielding to block those fields. You need the expertise of a Building Biologist to do this properly.

5) Once you have done all you can do to reduce fields, provide distance from sources or eliminate sources, it is beneficial to ground the body with reliable grounding products on the market. Clint Ober has been around for some time now, and has quality grounding pads for office and sleep. The Earthing Institute offers information and links for products that ground the body. I can't speak for other grounding products because I haven't used them, but they may be perfectly fine. I have found that this particular sleeping pad alleviated some of my EHS symptoms, the big one, the heart palpitations that nothing else besides being in a forest and eliminating wifi has been able to touch. So, I have high praise for his products. He also has chair pads for offices. I would recommend them as well, but first see what you can do about the emf fields, and then get the pad.

Wouldn't it be nice to have consistent energy all day long, flop on the bed at the end of the day and be asleep in minutes, awake refreshed and ready for the day? That is our goal, and eliminating man made electromagnetic fields is one way to get there.