Now, this is a serious question and please dont derail this subject.
Reading a bunch of posts today, is there any documentation I can read regarding zigbee/wifi signal strength and heath risks ?
I am not looking to scare, but educate myself and I see you guys as a lot smarter than me.
I have attached a minimal layout of my house and the devices I have, but reading some of the ST forums I am thinking maybe I should ditch the hue hub (or atleast move it) and maybe relocate my HE hub also as they are one wall away from my head when I sleep.
I am after genuine, knowledgable help as i don't want to be filling my house up with devices that can further down the road impact my families health - its not worth the risk.
Yes, you can type in “WiFi health risks” into google and get a ton of information where you don’t know what to believe anymore. Didn’t someone say the internet is always correct?
As mike said, I would be much more worried about the high power output of cellphones than the WiFi/Zigbee RF field which has a much lower power output
There probably is some effect from all this RF. Who knows what it does to the body long term. Mitigating it is much harder, as you point out everyone has a cell phone as well as electrical wires, TV/Radio and Satellite transmissions flying everywhere. Much worse is solar and cosmic rays, but hardly anyone thinks about that.
There is almost no way to avoid "deadly radiation" unless you live deep below ground at all times. You just have to hope it won't kill you before something else does.
I think I might move the repeater in the bedroom to the opposite end of the room and maybe move the hue hub to the far left of the house - while still being rather central.
with the HE, not sure. But having it a wall away might still be a bit iffy.
I mean, at the end of the day I have an apple watch strapped to my arm, which is basically a phone anyway. Hmm.
You're correct to be concerned. If we recall what Paracelsus said "all things are poison and it is the dose alone makes it so a thing is not a poison". In other words, minmize when you can and especially when uncertain about effects. Radio waves are the lowest energy forms of the electromagnetic spectrum, if thats any consolation.
Whatever you do don't go to youtube, lots of clickbait hyperbole.
could I (i swear not wearing a tinfoil hat), since I have a large bedhead, place some sort of "shield" on the back of the bedhead, thus effectively blocking chest to knee high area between my head and the devices behind that wall ?
Yes you can, place yourself inside a Faraday cage and you'll have almost no radiation. But is that worth it. I think if you're really concerned you would have gone for a wired solution for your HA. That is if you want best of both worlds. If you want wireless HA with good coverage you don't want to build that cage because it will bounce off all frequencies and make big mess of everything.
So the short answer is yes, you can place aluminum foil at your headboard of your bed to bounce of the radiation. But you'll likely be screwing up a big part of your mesh. And since you'll have a smartphone on your wrist and one next to your ears I think you would be better of letting the zigbee and wifi signals through.
Btw, I think sitting in a car with your phone is like a little microwave. Your car is a, bad version, of a Faraday cage. And since signals bounce of a Faraday cage, they also stay inside and bounce of. Just like in a microwave
To play it safe if suggest looking into something like this. Faraday Cages | Professional RF Test Enclosures and Shielded Rooms. I agree with all above. There is more rf that is bombarding you from outside your home the miniscule amount added is by personal tech is nothing. And we are all going to die someday.. kinda what makes life... Life
I don't exactly know if I understand your question right. But before wireless was mainstream people were already working on HA. So there are multiple wired systems with devices on the market.
About the curtains. Be aware that you would have to step outside the get cellphone reception with those. Also like I said before, if you shield yourself from outside radiation, you would most likely want to shut of inside devices for not making things worse and putting yourself inside a sort of microwave oven.
Sure, but they would be electrical in nature requiring buttons / other hubs etc IE not IP, Zwave or Zigbee related.
The curtain fabric I was thinking of putting like I said behind my bedhead just as a shield from the HE on the other side of the wall. I wasnt going to use it as a curtain.
Yes, those systems would indeed be using different hub's and they are electrical.
About the curtains behind the bedhead. Yes that will filter out most of the radiation (though aluminum foil would do almost the same for less money). But I think you will also create mesh problems for yourself. Which will result in headaches eventually.
hmmm - so moving the devices is probably the best bet.
The mrs wont approve me wrapping the bedhead in tin foil - then she'll know how crazy I really am.
