In just about all of my posts, I talk about the importance of having a quality EMF meter. A tool like this will allow you to know how much, and what kind, of EMF radiation you are being exposed to at home and at work. Have you ever wondered though, can you get a quality EMF meter at your local hardware stores like Home Depot or Lowe’s? Well, it turns out you can, but it might not be the best place.
In this post, I want to show you what EMF meters you can get, what you can use them for, and a better place to buy them.
First, let’s just talk a little bit about what options are likely currently available at your local Home Depot
EMF Meters At Home Depot
As of the writing of this article, home depot only really carries one true EMF meter, The Extech 8Ghz Tri-axis EMF meter. Now, this is a good meter, but it is quite expensive. Also, it may or may not be available at your local store. Since it is really the only EMF meter that home depot carries though, let’s talk a little bit about it.
Extech 480846 8Ghz EMF Gaussmeter From Home Depot Review
The Extech is a very high-quality EMF meter that is suited primarily for professionals. It can measure frequencies up to 8Ghz, which is much higher than you would need for your average home use. Obviously, like any quality EMF meter, it can accurately read radiation from your WiFi router, local cell towers, leaking microwaves, smart meters, etc. It does have a triaxial measurement probe (the orange globe on top) which is nice because the direction the meter is pointing will not affect the reading. Some cheaper meters have to be pointed in a certain direction for accurate readings.
The Extech does have a Max hold function as well as displaying averages. It can also store up to 99 datasets which is a great feature for a professional EMF consultant. The meter also does have an audio function that will turn on at thresholds the user decides which is great.
Ok, now let’s take a look at some of the technical specs of the Extech 480846.
Frequency Range
10MHz to 8GHz (optimized for 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2.7GHz, 3.5GHz & 8GHz)
The bottom line with the Extech meter from Home Depot (or anywhere else you might pick it up) is that it is not ideally suited for the average user. In fact, in my experience, it is not even often preferred by professionals. Although the quality is high, it lacks the features and usability of other quality meters.
So, let’s talk about what I think is the absolute best EMF meter you can get on the market right now, and why I think it’s right for you.
Best EMF Meter Option
Over the years I’ve tried out just about every popular EMF meter on the market, and I still own quite a few of them. What I can tell you is that I always fall back on my Trifield Meters. It used to be the Trifield 100XE, but they stopped making it. Now, I use the TriField TF2. I don’t want to go too in-depth into the specifics of what makes this EMF meter so great, because I wrote a very comprehensive review of the product that you can check out.
However, I’ll just quickly cover a few of the reasons I like the meter so much, and why it’s probably a better option than you’ll find at Home Depot, Lowe’s, or any other hardware stores.
Low Cost – The price is about (at the time of writing this) 1/4 the cost of the Extech meter.
Measures All EMF Types – The Trifield TF2 Measures every kind of EMF radiation, including electric field, magnetic field, and radio frequency radiation. You’ll find that this is super important when determining how much radiation is in your home or at your office.
Simple To Use – With the digital screen, all the numbers you need are easily displayed. There is also a simple dial that you just turn to the type of radiation you are trying to measure. This makes it extremely simple to understand and use for the average user, or the professional.
Quality – For the price, you won’t find a higher quality EMF meter. Trifield has been making great meters for a very long time, and you’ll find that they are the highest reviewed meters on the market.
Also, if you’re looking for a good entry level EMF meter that is really inexpensive, I’d recommend the Meterk (read my review). Read my review if you want to know more about it, but for the price, it is a great meter. Just beware that it only measures electric field, and magnetic field radiation, and not radio frequency. For many home users this shouldn’t be much of a concern, but just want to point that out.
Does Lowe’s Carry An EMF Meter?
As of the time of writing this article, Lowe’s does carry one EMF meter by the same company as Home Depot, Extech. According to the Lowe’s website, it is only available for online purchase, and it is not your typical EMF meter.
Lowe’s carries the Extech 480826: Triple Axis EMF Tester. Let’s talk about a few of the features:
Remote Tri-Axis probe makes it easy to use when measuring power lines or remote appliances.
A wide range of measurements displayed in both micro Tesla and milligauss.
Nice LCD Display
Comes with hard carrying case.
This is a quality EMF Meter, but it is not by any means a good fit for the average user. It is more expensive, harder to use, and has fewer features than the Trifield TF2 for example.
Final Thoughts
It turns out that although you may be able to find an EMF meter or detector at your local hardware store like Home Depot or Lowe’s, it is certainly not the best place to get one. The meters carried at these stores are made for specific professional uses. Amazon has a number of great EMF meters that you should consider checking out if you’re thinking of getting one, but the one I recommend most highly by far is the Trifield TF2.
Concerned about EMF radiation? me too! Take a look around EMF Academy, and if you’re not able to find your answer, feel free to email me personally at [email protected]!
I created and currently manage EMF Academy, one of the premier sources for EMF safety knowledge. I am so passionate about spreading this crucial information. If you need anything, just shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'll do everything I can to help.
