Overheard on Facebook

[chicagomeg]

I love the overheard at work thread. I hear lots of similar crap on Facebook, but I especially loved this one...

Status: My electric bill is more than my rent. (Note from author, this is a friend from elementary school back home in my small town, so her rent is probably $500ish)

Commenter 1: Yuck! Ours was over $400!
Commenter 2: Mine is close to my rent...$300...on budget!!!!
Commenter 3: My water bill has been almost my rent. I don't get it!!!!
Original Poster: Those are all high bills...but don't beat my $556.35 WITH a disconnect notice lol, Some excuses about deposits & her bill being messed up that made me almost feel bad for her...
Commenter 4: That happened to us once, they said we owed $900, turned out to be $300 lol.
Original poster: I know they have a lot of bills to keep track of buuut they really need to get it together. We're not wasteful and never use more than $175 worth of electricity in a month

What in the world are these people doing to use so much electricity??? Not to be rude, but none of them are wealthy folks with 3000 sq. foot houses. Probably more like 1500 sq. foot apartments!!! The OP doesn't even have a washer & dryer, she has a laundry room!!! And don't give me the AC excuse, it has NOT been that hot this summer in my home town yet. Maybe 10 AC worthy days at worst.

OK, so lay it on me, what kind of crazy anti-MMM oversharing is happening in your social media world?

[huadpe]

Not sure where your hometown is, but electricity costs vary hugely by region.  For example, when I lived in Quebec, prices per megawatt hour were a fraction of what they are on Long Island, because Quebec has cheap hydro power, and Long Island has expensive fossil fuel power (also, LI has a ton of mismanagement and debt in its public utilities, including debt from the Shoreham nuclear plant over 30 years ago)

[chicagomeg]

Not sure where your hometown is, but electricity costs vary hugely by region.  For example, when I lived in Quebec, prices per megawatt hour were a fraction of what they are on Long Island, because Quebec has cheap hydro power, and Long Island has expensive fossil fuel power (also, LI has a ton of mismanagement and debt in its public utilities, including debt from the Shoreham nuclear plant over 30 years ago)

I know my mom's electric bill is never over $100/month, and their AC is from 1974, so I'm rather skeptical that that's the case.

[Jamesqf]

Mine hasn't been over $45/month for a year or more, and usually less than $40.  That's at around 11 cents/kWh, living in a fairly modest house.

[Joet]

I think if you have any of the following:

-well (electric pump)
-pool/spa
-electric dryer
-desert area/southwest (AC)

I can't really compare to your electric bill, and it's pretty useless for me to compare to your electric bill

[dragoncar]

I'm hoping the "bill" is high because it covers more than one month (quarterly billing or balance forward from unpaid bills)

[Zaga]

I think if you have any of the following:

-well (electric pump)
-pool/spa
-electric dryer
-desert area/southwest (AC)

I can't really compare to your electric bill, and it's pretty useless for me to compare to your electric bill

You know, I hadn't considered that ours was so high because of the well pump, thanks for that thought!  Between that and the fact that our whole house is run on electric makes our bill so very much higher than many here consider reasonable.  I've been trying to figure out what we could change to improve, but other than not using the dryer (not really possible in this humidity) I'm stumped.

[Jamesqf]

I do have a well pump on mine, and a quite large garden that gets watered (though quite a bit is native/xeric plants).  The dryer is a clothesline, and A/C is opening the windows at night.  Usually stays quite comfortable in the daytime, though last week's ~105F heat wave was pushing things a bit.

[Micheal]

@Zaga a friend of mine has he same issue, well pumps take alot of electricity.  About the only thing you can do to lower your bill is to invest in more energy efficient appliances or find a more eco pump.

[Zaga]

@Zaga a friend of mine has he same issue, well pumps take alot of electricity.  About the only thing you can do to lower your bill is to invest in more energy efficient appliances or find a more eco pump.

That is a process, and we're working on it a bit at a time :-)  Our furnace and a/c is geothermal, extravagant but super cheap to run plus it heats our water.

[GuitarStv]

Some people have electric heating.  During a cold winter you could easily rack up some big bill numbers with that.

[gooki]

Yip. $17.50 a day in electricity last week. This week $10.50 per day.

Come summer it drops to about $4 a day.

[chicagomeg]

I'm not judging y'all's electric bills! But I know for a fact Miss $175/month lives in town (no well), it's been a mild summer, and she has laundry in the basement. She's a regular oversharer. And I highly doubt they have a pool. Like I said, my parents live in the same town & have a central ac from 1974 & an electric dryer and almost never go over $100. The people w/the $300 & $400 bills I know nothing about, but I really really really can't imagine anything that would justify that on a regular basis in the midwest.

[Micheal]

Im in Kansas, My bill could get to $130 - $140, now we've got it to $80 a month.  the only thing we use gas for is the Water heater and it sits at about $30 a month.  If you mean midwest US then in her defense Westar is infamous for overcharging, and is currently in negotiations to hike the prices again.  If you don't turn out your lights, leave you computer on at all times, using non CFL or LED bulbs, and other wasteful electricity use, you could easily go over $175 a month.  But a few simple behavior changes can fix that problem.

[Ashcons]

It depends on both your utilities and your appliances. When we moved across town and went from one utility company to another, our electricity rates almost doubled! We still only pay about $100 at the peak of summer with AC set to 75 while we're home (programmable thermostat, so I have it set higher when we're not home), but that's sticker shock compared to what we had been paying when we were renting the apartment.

[Angelfishtitan]

Cooking, well water, clothes drying, central AC: My max has been $70 and that was due to having to constantly run a dehumidifier from recent basement flooding, it is normally under $60. CFLs only got put in last month. Of course it is just me and my wife so if you have children it will go up a little (but certainly not double-triple!). I don't live in a cheap electricity area either.

I'll give people that heat with it credit, but that's about it. Curious what mine is going to be come winter because I am planning on moving over to an electric heat pump.

[Hedge_87]

I work for the electric company and at the end of every month I have to take a few days out of my regular duties (rebuilding old lines and building new services making the system more reliable and the world a little better place) to collect on delinquent accounts. It always baffles me how many "regulars" I have. These people pay every month but they pay late. So they pay an extra $15.95. Then if they are not home I have to disconnect. That adds another $15.95. It gets even better when they call in after hours to pay and get reconnected. That cost $100. So it does not surprise me.


Take $80 in actual usage
     + $15.95 collection fee
     + $15.95 disconnect fee
     + $100 after hours reconnect

That gives them a grand total of $211.90!!!! And people do this every month!!!! Why they willingly pay almost x3 their actual bill!!! Talk about a face punch

[lisahi]

Cooking, well water, clothes drying, central AC: My max has been $70 and that was due to having to constantly run a dehumidifier from recent basement flooding, it is normally under $60. CFLs only got put in last month. Of course it is just me and my wife so if you have children it will go up a little (but certainly not double-triple!). I don't live in a cheap electricity area either.

I'll give people that heat with it credit, but that's about it. Curious what mine is going to be come winter because I am planning on moving over to an electric heat pump.

I can only get in the $60 range during the winter. Honestly, it really depends the type of environment you live in. I've got extreme heat and humidity to contend with in the Spring, Summer and Fall. 100-110+ degree weather, and humid to boot. If I weren't to have air conditioning running, my house would be sweltering and humid. Not only would this be extremely uncomfortable, but it's not all that great for the longevity of the house. Open a window and all you're doing is letting hot air in. In the winter, however, the weather does get cold (down to around 40 degrees most years), but I would turn on the heat far less than I turn on the air during the summer. The house would get down to around 60 degrees without heat, so not that bad. Besides, I can use blankets in the cold. There's only so much I can take off in the heat.

Everything in my house is electric. I've taken to washing larger loads clothes in cold water, showering in colder water, drying on a rack what I can, and combining loads for the dryer. I do run an electric mower, but it doesn't use up too much power (and saves me costs in other ways). I run overhead fans when I'm at home so I can set the A/C to a higher degree. I unplug devices when not in use. Lights are always off in unused areas of my home.

Still, my electricity bill was $133 last month. Why? The A/C. It takes a lot of work for the A/C to keep the house at around 80 degrees, even with efficient windows and thermal curtains. This is drastically reduced from what it was last year, so the changes I made did make a difference. But it is very, very difficult for some people to get the type of kWh that gets bandied about these forums as an aspirational consumption of power.

Now, if I still lived in Hawaii, my kWh cost rate would be astronomical, but my bill would be lower. No A/C, no heating, a tap water temperature that is sufficient for bathing, etc.

[amicableskeptic]

To get out the variable pricing component when comparing efficiency people should compare kWh's instead of dollars.  Check out wiki for kWh definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt_hour) but a simple way to get it is leaving a hundred watt bulb on for 10 hours is 1 kWh.  My 1300 sqft house uses between 100 and 170 kwh/month, but we don't have A/C and we heat our house and our water with gas.

For people who have electric water pumps a big savings could come from switching all your stuff to low flow.  MMM's $800 gift (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/30/an-800-gift-from-me-to-you/) might be a multi-thousand dollar gift to families who are pumping their own well water up at a high cost.  Switching to low flow heads on faucets, low flow toilets, and potentially added pedal faucet controls (so people don't leave water running when it isn't needed) could all be good investments.  You should put a kill-a-watt on your electric water pump and see how much energy it is really using, then you can do a real cost benefit analysis on these options (low flow heads on faucets and showers will be total no brainers cause they are so cheap, low flow toilets and pedal faucets might make sense if you are wasting enough money on pumping/heating water).

Another thought, if high energy spending is due to heating/cooling you have more incentive to upgrade your insulation.  If you could save $100-$1000 a month on heating bills you can invest a whole lot in insulating and still come out ahead in a year or two.  Even if you are renting you could buy and install weather stripping, interior storm windows and other stuff and more than be paid for your purchases over the term of your lease (and you could potentially get your landlord to help pay for improvements which improve the space and may help rent the place out in the future).  And of course don't ever forget about the oil well you have in your pants (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/01/the-oil-well-you-can-keep-in-your-pants/)

The final advice I have is look at your fridges.  Do you have 2 or more?  If so try and clean out the 2nd and live a month with it unplugged to see what it was really costing you and how doable living without it may be (lots of people think they save money by buying in bulk and freezing, but realize that they are actually wasting money operating a big inefficient freezer once they see it's true operating cost).  Do you have a fridge built before 1990?  You will likely save 100-300 kwh per month by upgrading it to a new efficient model (saving $100-500 per year depending on how bad your old fridge was and how much your power costs).

[dragoncar]

You guys may appreciate this.  My boys share a bedroom, and it has a ceiling fan with four light bulbs.  It also has a sink (for jack and jill bathroom) that has three light bulbs.  They enjoy using both the sink light and the ceiling light when they are playing in their room.  I swear I am changing out their light bulbs all the time!  So, yesterday I had to put another one in and I announced that it was the last new light bulb they get this year.  I don't care if they get down to one bulb in there!  This morning, what do you know, another light bulb was out.  It drives me crazy to leave it that way, but it just has to be done.

Sounds like you could use compact florescents or LED bulbs?

[TrulyStashin]

CFL's aren't designed to go on-off, on-off for short bursts.  So that might account for why they're burning out faster.  I like your lesson for the boys, though.  They'll learn.

[Angelfishtitan]

I can only get in the $60 range during the winter. Honestly, it really depends the type of environment you live in. I've got extreme heat and humidity to contend with in the Spring, Summer and Fall. 100-110+ degree weather, and humid to boot...

Agreed, and I can bet my bill is actually going over $70 this month due to the crazy heat wave and having some family staying over for a week and a half. I'd rather have to spend a little more on A/C though like you do than on all the oil I need to heat my house : )

For people who have electric water pumps a big savings could come from switching all your stuff to low flow.  MMM's $800 gift (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/11/30/an-800-gift-from-me-to-you/) might be a multi-thousand dollar gift to families who are pumping their own well water up at a high cost.  Switching to low flow heads on faucets, low flow toilets, and potentially added pedal faucet controls (so people don't leave water running when it isn't needed) could all be good investments.  You should put a kill-a-watt on your electric water pump and see how much energy it is really using, then you can do a real cost benefit analysis on these options (low flow heads on faucets and showers will be total no brainers cause they are so cheap, low flow toilets and pedal faucets might make sense if you are wasting enough money on pumping/heating water).

Isn't well water cheaper than municipal? Either way changing to low flow is great savings and honestly has little to no effect on your enjoyment. My showers actually got better with a low flow head because the pressure stayed more consistent as my well resevoir drained.

[SisterX]

I live in Alaska, where we have some of the highest energy costs in the nation.  (I think in my town, our electricity prices beat out any comparably sized town anywhere else in the U.S., but not entirely sure.)  A couple of winters ago my husband and I got a CRAZY electric bill of over $300, in a holiday month when we'd been out of town for two weeks.  (Our winter average hovers around $175--for comparison, our fridge alone costs us at least $8/month to run.)  I called the electric company and they insisted that it wasn't a problem on their end.  So I talked to my neighbors (live in a duplex) and asked if perhaps our bills had been switched.  When I said the amount, my neighbor laughed and said that their bill is NEVER that low.  Even with 5-6 people regularly living up there, wow. 
It turned out that the issue with our bill is that we were apparently paying for all of the outside outlets, and they had four cars plugged in 24/7.  Once they were notified they did start running extension cords inside to a plug that was going on their bill, but still.  I've never gotten over the way she laughed at how low a $300 electric bill was.

[SisterX]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

[show me the money]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

[No Name Guy]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

[Angelfishtitan]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

[show me the money]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

[chicagomeg]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

Try clicking on the user name to actually read the person's other posts next time.

[show me the money]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

Try clicking on the user name to actually read the person's other posts next time.

if they are all like that, then how would i know he was being sarcastic

[chicagomeg]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

Try clicking on the user name to actually read the person's other posts next time.

if they are all like that, then how would i know he was being sarcastic

I see you still didn't actually read them.

[show me the money]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

Try clicking on the user name to actually read the person's other posts next time.

if they are all like that, then how would i know he was being sarcastic

I see you still didn't actually read them.

nope

[SisterX]

Wow, my comment about the trolling really took off!  To clarify, that comment (sarcastic or not) does fit into the definition of trolling provided by Wikipedia: "a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." 
I would say that posting something like that is both inflammatory and extraneous, as well as disrupts the normal discussion since it doesn't actually further the conversation.  Am I wrong?

[Le Dérisoire]

^^^ Oh goodie, a troll!  :P

yeah i was gonna reply with something about that i hope he was joking, then i remembered
"don't feed the troll"

Ahem.....I think that was 100% grade A sarcasm by Shadow - as in totally mocking the typical person who does those things.

Hyperbole is usually a good giveaway that it isn't a troll.

that was the problem, there are tons of people out there like this so i couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, or hyperbole.

Try clicking on the user name to actually read the person's other posts next time.

if they are all like that, then how would i know he was being sarcastic

I see you still didn't actually read them.

nope

This post needed another quote-ception.

You can ban me now moderator.

[Mr.Macinstache]

Yes, they are CFL, and I'm hoping to try out LED after we go through the ones we have.

The CFL are a joke. I've heard they don't last long at all and they put out some serious dirty electricity.

I still the old incandescent that are still working for 4 years, amazingly. I stocked up on the 100w back when you could still get them. I guess eventually I'll go LED. They are clean and are supposed to last very long.

[galaxie]

Yes, they are CFL, and I'm hoping to try out LED after we go through the ones we have.

The CFL are a joke. I've heard they don't last long at all and they put out some serious dirty electricity.

What do you mean here?  CFLs use electricity, they don't put any out.

[jrhampt]

CFLs have been great for us - we rarely have to replace them, and they save us a ton on our electric bill.  When they do wear out, we will start replacing them with LEDs as those prices are coming down.

[CB]

CFLs have been great for us - we rarely have to replace them, and they save us a ton on our electric bill.

Same here; they're even better on electricity consumption in hot climates as there's the indirect effect of less heat for the same amount of light.  We started the transition to CFLs about five years ago and have yet to replace a single bulb.

[Mr.Macinstache]

Yes, they are CFL, and I'm hoping to try out LED after we go through the ones we have.

The CFL are a joke. I've heard they don't last long at all and they put out some serious dirty electricity.

What do you mean here?  CFLs use electricity, they don't put any out.

I was speaking in terms of this video... there are similar reports out there.... any feedback about it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjZkRPvrXw

[chicagomeg]

Wow, my comment about the trolling really took off!  To clarify, that comment (sarcastic or not) does fit into the definition of trolling provided by Wikipedia: "a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion." 
I would say that posting something like that is both inflammatory and extraneous, as well as disrupts the normal discussion since it doesn't actually further the conversation.  Am I wrong?

Have you read MMM? He's sarcastic, inflammatory, and uses hyperbole all the time. It's not trolling to make a point using that method. This is not a grandma forum where we all hold hands and sing kumbaya and personally I prefer that it has some personality, within reason of course.

[StarryC]

The CFL are a joke. I've heard they don't last long at all and they put out some serious dirty electricity.

I, and another friend, have had the worst time with CFLs!  I am all for them, don't mind the light color, hate changing bulbs, etc.  I moved into my apartment 3 years ago and as bulbs burned out I replaced them with CFLS.  Well, so far, in 3 years, I've had to replace at least 3.  Even if I put them in on day 1 that would mean they lasted well less than 5 years as stated.  Also, no one is home during the day, so they are on for about 1 hour in the morning and 3 hours at night.  That is not abnormally high usage.  My friend started writing the date of install on the base and found that many didn't last even a year.  Bad luck?  Bad electoral wiring?  I worry about the mercury.  I figured it was balanced by the lower electricity and less waste with replacement, but if they are being replaced every year, it will add up. 

[Chris]

Yes, they are CFL, and I'm hoping to try out LED after we go through the ones we have.

The CFL are a joke. I've heard they don't last long at all and they put out some serious dirty electricity.

What do you mean here?  CFLs use electricity, they don't put any out.

I was speaking in terms of this video... there are similar reports out there.... any feedback about it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjZkRPvrXw

I believe what the meter in the video is displaying, but I am skeptical that it is a cause for concern. Electromagnetic waves are all around us, and I will wait for hard scientific data that supports it being harmful to healthy people at levels in the typical household.

[CB]

I believe what the meter in the video is displaying, but I am skeptical that it is a cause for concern. Electromagnetic waves are all around us, and I will wait for hard scientific data that supports it being harmful to healthy people at levels in the typical household.

From sciencebasedmedecine.org:

The notion that EMF or dirty electricity causes a health risk, and that CFLs are a significant source of exposure, is not based upon any compelling science. Further, such claims stem mostly from a single researcher who appears to spend most of her time spreading fear about EMF than producing quality research. The media and the public should not be confused by this lone researcher on the fringe into believing that “experts disagree.”

Rather, while there is always room for more research, there is already extensive evidence for the safety of non-ionizing radiation. Special cases, like long term (>15 year) use of cell phones, where the source of EMF is held right up to the skin, are still under investigation.

Exposure from EMF in the home, from light bulbs and other sources, pose no credible health risk. The media needs to do a better job of putting claims for health risks into the proper scientific perspective.

[DougStache]

Everyone on facebook is bitching about gas prices... and I'm just sitting here riding my bike.

[rocklebock]

Ugh. I feel so judgmental about this, but I have to get it out. I posted a little brag on FB in June about paying off my student loans, and a friend said she was jealous - she thinks she and her husband will be paying theirs off until their kids are in college. I thought, well, fair enough - I think they both have graduate degrees, plus the kids, plus the husband has been unemployed for over 2 years. Well, soon after that, he got a job! I thought, wow, that's awesome! Then she posted that now they have two incomes, they've eaten out more in the last few weeks than they had in the past two years. Soon followed by a post about - you guessed it - the new car they just bought. I guess I should be glad they're happy?

[rocklebock]

No. Why did they buy a new car? The car payments could have gone to their student loan.

Yup. What bums me out is that it seemed like they got really good at keeping expenses low while they had one income - handmade gifts, no eating out, fun and free kid activities, etc. Then the lifestyle inflated as soon as there were two incomes. It's like, they were soooooo close and then they missed.

[viverl]

This is not from facebook but from ONTD (ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com) - I like reading some of the stuff they post but in the past days some posts about food occured.

One was about Jamie Oliver who has a new cook book for poor people.

And instantly the thread (not for the first time) was taken over by users who cried foul.
-How could anyone dare to make suggestions how they could improve their lifestyle and eating habits!
-YOU have no idea how it is like to be poor!
-I don't want to cook after standing all day / I don't want to buy groceries on my one free day... etc.

All I could think was: and that is WHY you are poor and WHY you will stay poor forever!

[ender]

I particularly like Dave Ramsey's thoughts on broke vs poor.

"Poor is a state of mind. Broke is, 'I'm just passing through.'"

[bacchi]

I was speaking in terms of this video... there are similar reports out there.... any feedback about it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjZkRPvrXw

The meter is reading non-linear electric consumption, which means that the device measured doesn't use a pure 60Hz sine wave from the utility. As stated above in another post, there's no evidence that a complex wave ("dirty" electricity) causes health damage.

Most electronics cause such distortions, from desktop computers to TVs to air conditioners to refrigerators. Some pure reactive uses ("clean" electricity) are incandescent bulbs, toasters, and space heaters. Even the clean electricity filters (capacitors) cause their own distortion.


Edit: NRC meta-study summary on household interference : http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=5155

"Specifically, no conclusive and consistent evidence shows that exposures to residential electric and magnetic fields produce cancer, adverse neurobehavioral effects, or reproductive and developmental effects."

[lifejoy]

Yikes. Some people are overly comfortable with their debt.