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ELF-GS3030B Digital EMF/ELF Meter

» Measuring Equipment » [Overview] [Acoustimeter] [Pro] [ELF 3030B] [Dirty Electricity]

£113.40 (inc. vat)
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The ELF Meter

The ELF meter measures power frequency electric and magnetic fields (ELF EMFs) in your house and workplace. The ELF meter will be able to help you check if you and your family are too highly exposed, at home, at school and at work. It is a sensitive meter with a magnetic field range from 1 to 1999 nanotesla (0.001 to 1.999 microtesla, and electric field range from 1-1999 volts/metre. The UK average residential magnetic field is about 50 nanotesla (0.05 microtesla). Ideally electric fields should be 10 volts per metre or less. Magnetic fields under high-voltage powerlines and near transformers will often exceed the range of this meter.

ELF-GS3030B Digital EMF/ELF Meter - Further Information

Technical specifications

Easy to operate, easy-to-read display
Audio output to represent field strength
Measurement range: 16 - 2000 Hz
Electric sensitivity: 1 - 1999 V/m
Magnetic sensitivity: 1 - 1999 nT (0.001 - 1.999 microtesla)
Accuracy: ±2% at 50 / 60 Hz
Power source: 9v PP3 battery
Comes with a 2-year warranty

Electric field measurements using the ELF-3030B

Turn the meter on and select "E" fields.

Even using very expensive meters and equipment, reliable and accurate measurement of electric fields (E-fields) is always 'challenging' - you will see that the person holding the meter affects the reading, and it is also common for E-field measurement readings to change dramatically when moving the meter only a few centimeters.

Your 3030B is accurate and is properly calibrated - it was calibrated to an international measurement Standard based upon ground-potential-e-field-measurements, with the meter earthed/grounded.

We feel that the earthing lead is best used only when you are trying to detect the causes and sources of high E-fields. If the meter, with the earth lead attached, shows high e-field readings near the floor, then this is a significant source of electric fields for you - especially if you stand near earthed objects such as metal water pipes or radiators.

If the crocodile clip supplied with the earthing lead is too small to attach to the house earth, you might want to cut it off and attach the end of the lead to the earth pin of a standard plug as pictured on the right.

However, using the earthing lead to measure your personal exposure will provide unrealistically high readings; so when you are measuring near your bed or desk for instance, always hold the meter in your hand (do not put the meter on the bed and take a reading) and do not use the earthing lead. When you are holding the meter you will not usually be earthed, so you will see the measurement of the field strength that you are experiencing - this is the measurement you should use. Sometimes, the source of the electric fields is from the cables under the floor you are standing on and the return "earth" is a metal radiator - you are effectively acting as the source. The electric field will flow up through your body and then back towards any earthed object.

Your 3030B provides "single-axis" measurements, according to where the meter is in space. Move it around and point it in all directions to find the highest reading for that location.

In the majority of homes levels of less than 50 V/m (ideally less than 5 V/m) electric fields from internal house sources should be reasonably achievable over most of the living areas when measured on the 3030B. The fields will be higher close to most walls, lights and electrical equipment. Electric fields inside buildings are not usually influenced by external sources such as powerlines, although it is possible if the powerline runs close to a window, which do allow electric field penetration.

Differences between the ELF3030B and the EMFields PRO meter

The EMFields PRO and the Gigahertz 3030B can give different electric field readings, with the 3030B often presenting a figure around twice that of the EMFields PRO. This is not a calibration error or inaccuracy, but is instead due to a different method of assessing the electric field.

The 3030B is designed and calibrated to measure the electric field at the end of the instrument in direct relation to ground. This is why they recommend using the earthing lead they provide with the instrument, and using this lead is required for your measurement of the electric field relative to ground to be accurate with respect to the ground. This will always give a considerably higher measurement reading, unless you are standing with bare feet on an earthed conductive surface.

The EMFields PRO is designed to measure the electric field level which your body is experiencing, so it is relative to your body, instead of to ground. This was intentional as we believe that it is the actual fields that your body is experiencing that matters most.

An example of the difference is that birds can perch on very high-voltage powerlines without being injured. This is because they only have a low number of volts actually across their body. However, they are technically sitting at hundreds of thousands of volts relative to the Earth. In this situation, the 3030B would read hundreds of thousands of volts (way over scale and it would be permanently damaged), but the PRO would read only a few hundred or less.

The 3030B can be used like the PRO (without the earthing lead), but if used this way it still gives higher readings. If held in the same manner as the PRO (at the bottom, around the battery compartment) then it reads roughly twice as high as the EMFields PRO.