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Severe Tinnitus Following the Installation of New Electricity Meters

Since new gas and electricity meters were installed in my house on 9 February 2022, I have had a very serious problem with tinnitus. I also have had a feeling of strong pressure on my eardrums. Let me say straight away that this is nothing to do with smart meter communications; the hub responsible for mobile and Wi-Fi signals was removed one week after the meters were installed as a final attempt by the energy company to solve the problem. Various engineers I’ve been in contact with over this matter suspect the problem is most likely to be a switched-mode power supply or capacitors associated with it. I would like to know more about how such a device upset my health to the point that I do not feel it is safe to live in my own home. The energy company have refused to carry out any further work to investigate the issue and state that their meters meet all the current standards and are therefore safe.

I did not have any problems with the traditional analogue meters previously installed. I should add that I’ve been in houses that have smart electricity meters of various types and only in one of those houses do I feel my tinnitus tone is being amplified and none result in any pressure feelings on my eardrums. The first meter, a Landis+Gyr E470 was replaced with a Kaifa MA120 five days after complaining to my energy company. The Landis+Gyr meter was unbearable to live with any longer than that. The Kaifa model has seen me leave home twice for respite despite discovering on how to dampen down the tinnitus and greatly reduce the pressure feeling on my eardrums. The Kaifa makes an awful little noise which if I could hear that while in the living room, I could understand why my ears are being irritated. The Landis+Gyr also made a similar noise but a little quieter. However, should such devices make any audible noise at all? Some people don’t have the ability to hide these away in cupboards. I can hear the Kaifa meter 2 to 3 metres away with the cupboard door open where it is installed. A short recording of the continuous noise it makes can be heard in the following mp3 file:

My tinnitus grew into a significant problem within 24 hours of the Landis+Gyr meter being installed. I’ve had tinnitus in the past and was cautious to blame the new gas and electric meters at first, but I soon noticed this was very different to previous bouts of tinnitus: I found the affect would wane when away from the house and be amplified back to ‘horribly irritating’ upon return. The pressure feeling on my eardrums 'throbbed away' as soon as I got a short distance away from my house, it too would come back very quickly upon returning inside. When the Landis+Gyr meter was shutdown for replacement, it was an hour before the Kaifa meter was switched on. That is the only time I’ve been in the house since the new meters were installed on 9 February that my ears have felt calm, albeit the tinnitus tone only very slowly fades away. Unfortunately that short period of time was to end with a shock when the Kaifa was powered on; I felt a short burst of pain in both ears making me flinch in my seat. I was not watching what the fitter was doing and had to ask him what had just happened. He stated he had just powered up the meter with the distribution board still switched off. I’m horrified that simply turning on the meter could cause me pain, not to mention the fact the tinnitus and pressure feeling came back with this new meter.

With the aid of a friend who is also has a background in electrical and electronic engineering, I made the discovery that the effects of the meter can be reduced by turning off electrical devices plugged into the mains supply and found by turning off the ring main supplying the bedroom overnight, I could achieve better sleep, albeit still not adequate. Suspicion then was that the meter was emitting something being carried around the house via the mains cabling as opposed to just emitting something from itself. I requested help from the local power distribution company who sent out an engineer to check for electromagnetic fields. No unusually strong fields were found, however the engineer said he could perceive a high pitch tone and a bit of pressure on his eardrums. So far the only other person to sense something of what I am experiencing and I at least do not feel alone any more. He asked me to try powering down electrical equipment before turning the distribution board off and we both felt a relief from the pressure as soon as I turned off the television and surround sound system. The surround sound system along with most other audio equipment are now unplugged and the sense of pressure on my eardrums is much less noticeable. The engineer mentioned that tantalum capacitors and switched-mode power supplies can be a source of noise at frequencies in the audible range if they are defective or inadequately filtered.

Unfortunately the tinnitus tone has been gaining strength recently worsening my sleep down to just 2 hours a night. Hence I have had to leave my house again for respite, immediately achieving nearly 7 hours sleep on my first night away despite the tone having hardly subsided. I have used a tone generator to match the tinnitus at 14kHz. Sound analyser applications on my smart phone don’t show anything unusual at this frequency, but there is some low frequency noise below 100Hz and high frequency noise around 20kHz. Both are at low volumes, albeit I hardly think the microphone on a smart phone can be trusted at these low and high frequencies. However, what is interesting is that noise in the 17kHz to 21kHz range is hardly present when I am in other houses with smart meters where my tinnitus is not amplified and it is present in the only other house I know where my tinnitus is amplified. It could be a red herring, but there must be strange harmonics involved one way or another.

I’ve spent a great deal of time researching the Internet trying to find out about the problems with tinnitus and smart meters. I find people reporting life affecting tinnitus within two days of having smart meters fitted and then the forum responses where they posted concentrate on the arguments about Wi-Fi and mobile phone signals, neither of which apply here and then they soon degenerate into conspiracy theories about smart meters. (I’d have been very disturbed by tinnitus for the last 20 years if I had any sensitivity to radiation from mobile phones and Wi-Fi routers.) I’ve been in touch with the British Tinnitus Association and they have confirmed my case is “not without precedent”. I’ve had an email discussion with a specialist audiologist who states that the link between electrical apparatus and tinnitus is not scientifically proven but it is known some people can be hyper-sensitive. I’ve not knowingly been sensitive to any electrical devices in the past. I've had a hearing test which proves my hearing in the normal range is very good for my age, just some mild loss in the 7kHz to 8kHz range. The tone generators I used to match my tinnitus show I can hear tones up to around 15kHz, subject to the quality of these tone generator apps, websites and speakers within my smart phone and attached to my computer.

Maybe the arguments over smart meters and health problems have been clouded by the debate on Wi-Fi and mobile phone signals rather than the quality of the electronics in these meters. The electronics engineers who have pointed out the problem is likely to be the switched-mode power supply or capacitors within the electricity meter have done so independently, based in three different countries, which proves to me there is some concern about these components which obviously are in lots more devices than just meters. There is a difference though: I have two devices which have power supplies, almost certainly switched-mode, that make audible noises, but these can be turned off and would be replaced if I suspected they were causing any health concerns. The electricity meter is not something that can be turned off and replaced by the householder, it has to be changed by the energy company and any interference with it is illegal. I’m currently left in a position where I am reporting health effects coincident with the meters being fitted, locational to my house, affected by household electrical equipment and I'm so afflicted I am renting accommodation at some expense away from home, but being told by the company they are not going to do anything about it. They asked me switch company if I wanted the meter changing again and issued me with a deadlock letter so that I could take my case to the Energy Ombudsman as the only alternative. Either takes more weeks than I would like to contemplate, I've suffered more than enough already.

As switching energy companies at the current time is very difficult and very expensive without having to make the unusual request to remove a virtually new meter, I have started a complaint with the Ombudsman and I need to supply them with as much evidence as possible to prove the electricity meter is causing my health problem. There does not appear to be anyway of enabling the meter to be replaced as a matter of urgency given all my personal evidence as described above. If anyone can provide any advice or evidence that the quality of these meters can result in problems like I am experiencing I would be very grateful indeed. If anyone is researching in this area I would be very happy to help them with my experience, I do not fancy a future where such tinnitus inducing devices are common to every home.

Parents
  • I am sorry to hear of your problem. I am not sure I can be of much help but one of the suggestions made was to change your meter to a dumb electronic one. I have done some measurements on mine: an elster electronic three phase meter A1100. 

    This generates noise at RF around 0.567Mhz with audio output peaking around 3900Hz when the receiver is close to the meter  and 500 Hz slightly further away but a high floor level across the AF spectrum Above a foot away there is nothing received. There are a couple more lower peaks in the 0.800 MHz and 0.900 MHz  regions. My cheap old tinny dial tune trany receives the noise over a wide band but my little communications receiver only picks it up at that frequency. The signal must be quite a low level as even the lowest squelch setting, as opposed to no squelch, on the comms receiver cuts it off but weak AM transmitters are received. I get no change in the audio noise on a smart phone spectrum analyser up to 20 K Hz when moved close to the meter other than the noisy blackbirds singing outside.

    I should say that the RF noise across the RF spectrum  from my old steam driven PC is much worse.

    Good luck with the resolution of your problem. 

    Kevin 

  • The radio signal appearing across the band on a simpler receiver, at even with a signal that has a low average level, usually indicates a funny RF waveform with a high peak to mean ratio - imagine repeating short duration spikes with a low mark to space ratio. This is quite possible with a switching supply.
    In a receiver with low pre-mixer selectivity, the front end overloads on the peaks, and when that occurs, almost regardless of which frequency you think you are are tuned to, every other incoming signal is chopped up by this, before it gets mixed down into the high selectivity IF stages. Once intermodulated in this way, no amount of cleverness can undo it. In a receiver with a higher Q tuned circuit in the front end, the short burst is smeared into a longer 'ring' of lower amplitude and more a narrowly defined frequency.
    Part of the problem with this sort if interference is that the EMC standards, and therefore test house receivers,  are predicated on most systems generating narrowband more or less continuous waves, so levels are set in terms of the energy in a 9kHz bandwidth in each channel, averaged over a short time, assuming that between the few affected channels there is almost no energy. In days past this was a sensible assumption. But, equipment  like switching supplies are not like that at all and have more in common with periodically recurring lightning, with a very high ratio of peak to average power. The spectral view is fine as far as it goes, but is not the full story and identical levels may not mean identical situations.

    given this, if it were mine, I might be adding a few uF L-N at the consumer unit to see if that reduces things - on the scope you can see it, and on the radio you can hear it, so you will know if you have had any effect.
    Mike

  • Thanks for your reply Kevin and your findings with your elster meter.

    The second smart meter installed was converted to a dumb meter just two days after installation, one week into this long running saga, so the smart functionality of these meters is not a part of the ill health effects I am suffering. I think I have been very unlucky with the two models of meter that have been installed in my house being particularly bad at noise suppression of their power supplies, but try talking to an energy company, Ofgem, BEIS/OPSS, UKHSA and other authorities about that. I can't take the risk and expense of switching and paying for the meter to be replaced until one is found that suits me. I need to be reverted back to the meter type I had before asap. It really shouldn't be as monstrously difficult as I have found out when there the medical problems are as bad as I am reporting, the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming and with all the technical evidence I have provided. Don't forget in my battle, the symptoms mean I'm fatigued, my head hurts and my concentration level is well below par. The average person in the street suffering similarly has absolutely no chance of being taken seriously.

    Continuing on that theme: I've just received a response from UKSHA this morning informing me that 'smart meters are safe, they comply with ICNIRP the guidance' and I should "discuss my health situation with their own GP, who is best placed to decide on what investigations should be carried out and what treatments may be possible". I've lost count of how many times I've been told 'smart meters are safe, read the guidance' and as for seeing GPs, my GPs have been learning from me about the symptoms. The only treatment I need is to remove the source of the problem. The meter in my house is not safe. Our visitor last Friday who left complaining of some recognised electro-sensitivity issues after just one hour, doesn't need convincing of that. That's the Kaifa MA120 to be precise, the Landis+Gyr E470 before that. UKSHA - I am not saying all smart meters are unsafe.

    I'm finding more and more people online reporting similar symptoms as me and it is not always meters that are involved. There's many different types of electrical equipment in my house, many of which will have switched-mode power supplies, I don't understand quite why it has it taken the installation of a digital electricity meter to push me over the edge into suffering from well noted electro-sensitivity symptoms so badly. I'm very close to having to abandon my house. I'm camping out in the garden now at night to see if that can improve my sleep. After a very bad first night, I managed 5 hours last night, which is still poor but double that of most nights in the last fortnight. I certainly don't feel the pain my ears as bad outside as inside, it's is a very marked change when I come back in for breakfast. I look forward to not having any pain again, even if the meter was changed today, it will take a very long time for this level of tinnitus to fade. Most other symptoms I would expect to cease very quickly.

Reply
  • Thanks for your reply Kevin and your findings with your elster meter.

    The second smart meter installed was converted to a dumb meter just two days after installation, one week into this long running saga, so the smart functionality of these meters is not a part of the ill health effects I am suffering. I think I have been very unlucky with the two models of meter that have been installed in my house being particularly bad at noise suppression of their power supplies, but try talking to an energy company, Ofgem, BEIS/OPSS, UKHSA and other authorities about that. I can't take the risk and expense of switching and paying for the meter to be replaced until one is found that suits me. I need to be reverted back to the meter type I had before asap. It really shouldn't be as monstrously difficult as I have found out when there the medical problems are as bad as I am reporting, the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming and with all the technical evidence I have provided. Don't forget in my battle, the symptoms mean I'm fatigued, my head hurts and my concentration level is well below par. The average person in the street suffering similarly has absolutely no chance of being taken seriously.

    Continuing on that theme: I've just received a response from UKSHA this morning informing me that 'smart meters are safe, they comply with ICNIRP the guidance' and I should "discuss my health situation with their own GP, who is best placed to decide on what investigations should be carried out and what treatments may be possible". I've lost count of how many times I've been told 'smart meters are safe, read the guidance' and as for seeing GPs, my GPs have been learning from me about the symptoms. The only treatment I need is to remove the source of the problem. The meter in my house is not safe. Our visitor last Friday who left complaining of some recognised electro-sensitivity issues after just one hour, doesn't need convincing of that. That's the Kaifa MA120 to be precise, the Landis+Gyr E470 before that. UKSHA - I am not saying all smart meters are unsafe.

    I'm finding more and more people online reporting similar symptoms as me and it is not always meters that are involved. There's many different types of electrical equipment in my house, many of which will have switched-mode power supplies, I don't understand quite why it has it taken the installation of a digital electricity meter to push me over the edge into suffering from well noted electro-sensitivity symptoms so badly. I'm very close to having to abandon my house. I'm camping out in the garden now at night to see if that can improve my sleep. After a very bad first night, I managed 5 hours last night, which is still poor but double that of most nights in the last fortnight. I certainly don't feel the pain my ears as bad outside as inside, it's is a very marked change when I come back in for breakfast. I look forward to not having any pain again, even if the meter was changed today, it will take a very long time for this level of tinnitus to fade. Most other symptoms I would expect to cease very quickly.

Children
  • I've finally had chance to look at the mains in the only house where I know I have the same problem as in my own. Like Kevin's (RE: Severe Tinnitus Following the Installation of New Electricity Meters), it is an "elster", but single phase model AS300P. Waveform is looks slightly more distorted than my own:

    Tell tale noise close to 14kHz, slightly lower level compared to my own:

    I also found noticeable peaks of -7.8dB at 38kHz and -5dB at 1.4MHz.

    I don't know whether somebody from Octopus read Kevin's message about making my meter dumb, but they sent a fitter to remove the communications hub again last week. Must have missed my messages stating they did that back on 16 February. The appointment was promised to be the long awaited switch of meter, but someone thought they knew better. This whole episode with Octopus and the Ombudsman is one of torment and a complete lack of understanding of the issue with the meter, the intensity of the symptoms and the effect all this is having on my normal way of life not forgetting the impact on my wife also not forgetting our friends also. Our friend, a medical professional, who fled the house after 1 hour with ear and head pains continued to suffer typical electro-sensitivity symptoms for a further 48 hours. What would she be like if she was having to live with this meter? This is plenty bad enough for me with my comparatively slower reaction.

    I didn't make it clear in my previous post that my GPs are supporting me in my plight, they see the removal of the meter as the only real solution and my registered GP wrote a letter requesting that the meter be changed back "with some urgency" which was received by the Ombudsman on 31 May. What happened afterwards is beyond the scope of this discussion, but let's just "urgency" has a different meaning to what it says in my dictionary. The disappointment of last week's appointment was obviously huge, but bearing in mind what has happened over the last 140 days, it was not a great surprise. The Ombudsman insisted on Octopus compensating me for the muddled appointment and a £30 credit has been duly added to my energy account for the inconvenience.

    In the midst of all the inconvenience of waiting for the actual solution, I was told by one of the officers at the Ombudsman that the meter could be bypassed while I await the change of meter for urgent medical reasons. Here's the responses I have had when trying to make that happen and I wonder if anyone can make sense of them, because I am having some difficulty:

    1. Your health is paramount but you would be getting free electricity so we are not going to do it.*
    2. We don't touch the meter, it is your energy company's responsibility so you have to get them to do it.
    3. Our fitters need to be more qualified than they are to be able to do such a thing.
    4. Only if your meter is faulty such as having an arcing terminal would be done.
    5. It would unsafe not have a working meter.

           *I have offered to pay the average daily usage which is a little higher than our current summer usage.

    It seems the meter making me faulty has more rights than I do to be in my own home.