Having a “low EMF house” is an important factor when you consider the criteria for a healthy home. When building or choosing your house, you should consider the kind of roofing that is used. Metal roofs are very common because they are affordable, chemically safe, and they keep moles away. You might wonder when considering roof types, “do metal roofs block or attract EMF?”
Metal roofs tend to reflect EMF by shielding or blocking radio waves from outside. If you also have shielded doors and windows, then no radio waves will get inside the house. It is important to note that because it is effective at blocking EMF radiation, any EMF radiation generated by electronics inside the house will also bounce back from the walls and stay inside.
If you have electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), you may be more affected by the radiation inside the house if you have metal roofs, because there is nowhere for the EMF to escape.
If the wiring in the house is not properly done, it allows stray currents to flow through metal structures such as the metal siding, roof, or the metal studs. As a result, it creates both electrical and magnetic field radiation inside the house.
Building a well-structured metal house will reduce radiation impact to those inside who are sensitive to electromagnetic fields that are outdoors, for example, a cell phone tower. Metal roofs do block EMF radiation from entering a house, so this will repel waves of EMF that are in the outside airspace.
Over the decades, roofs have been made of steel and aluminum materials which act as a good electrical conductor. Roofs made of aluminum provide better shielding against microwave radiation, while steel provides a better shield from low-frequency EMF radiation.
Because of its low cost, steel building materials are the most popular in commercial, agricultural and industrial building roofs. Aluminum material can also be used but it’s more costly. You can use aluminum foil to cover the walls and ceilings to provide you with a shielding against radio waves.
Do Metals Attract Radio Waves?
There are cases when holding a radio against a metal surface or steel stud improves radio reception. Based on this, we can say metals do attract and conduct radio waves. If the metal roof is exposed to EMF radiation, some current may pass through the metal. The amount of radiation that passes through depends on the type and thickness of the material. For example, iron is the most resistant to radio waves passing through it.
If the current passing through is very weak it may not be much of a problem. As the current flows, it emits both electric and magnetic fields.
Problems You May Face with Metal Roofs
There are various problems you may experience when you use metal roofs in your house, especially if you have EHS. Some of these problems include:
- Bouncing of EMF: Metals do reflect EMFs making them good for building and roofing a house. They provide shielding against radiation from wireless devices such as smart meters, cell phones and Wi-Fi coming into your home. However, if the wireless devices are inside a house with metal walls, the radiation from these devices will bounce back off the walls into the house. As a result, it increases the amount of radiation inside the house compared to having a non-metal house.
- Microwaves: Microwave ovens and other wireless transmitters that radiate constantly contribute to a high amount of radiation inside a metal house. To reduce the amount of radiation in the house, you can avoid using microwave ovens and other wireless devices that transmit high amounts of radiation.
- Electronic devices: Electronic devices producing low amounts of electric and magnetic fields will not experience much of the bouncing effect, so they are more safe to use inside a structure that is made of metal.
- Metal sensitivity: People who are hypersensitive to metals may be affected by metal construction materials such as roofs or walls. The metallic odor from the steel or aluminum material used in the roofing may be bothersome to some people when used on a large surface. Metal surface coatings can make the odor more tolerable.
- Stray currents: Metal roofing can act as the path for any stray electric currents. Though the current may be too weak to cause shocks, it emits electromagnetic radiation inside the house. Stray current generates a higher amount of radiation than the current flowing through a cable because it is high-frequency transient, or dirty, electricity.
Measuring EMF Radiation Inside Your House
There is a lot of metal roofing material you can use that blocks EMF radiation from outside and inside. To know how much radiation you are exposed to, you can use EMF meters to measure radiation inside and outside the house.
Different types of meters can be used to measure different kinds of radiation in your home. Some people are very sensitive to specific types of radiation. Therefore, if your readings show a low amount of radiation, it’s not a guarantee the house is safe. An individual can be sensitive to a specific type of radiation, so it’s important to measure all types of EMF in your house.
Other metal materials you can use for shielding include metal sheets, metal foam or metal screen.
Summary
Metal roofs have been very popular due to their ability to block EMF radiation from outside. This is most effective when you also have shielded doors and windows. They also shield your house from electric field radiation resulting from the wiring of the house.
There are cases where sensitive people cannot be comfortable living inside structures made of metal. This is because either they have a sensitivity to metal, or because the amount of devices inside the home that produce EMF is high. When you trap all of the EMF in the home because it can’t escape through the metal roof and walls, it simply bounces back off the walls into the home, which can cause an overabundance of EMF in your personal space. If you have EHS, this may be a problem for you.
The metal you use for your roofing may depend largely on availability and cost, but you may also want to consider using a metal roof to protect you from EMF.
