Refrigerator and Microwave

Hi,

My 31 year-old refrigerator needed repair. Repair person tried to convince me it would be cheaper to buy a new one, but I said no because all the new ones have wireless transmitters (RFID chips) in them. That's true, isn't it?  

Also, I had to replace my small microwave with another one like it, both 700 watt.  I started feeling extremely dizzy to the point of vertigo just standing by it when it wasn't operating, but it was plugged in.  I tested it holding my Coronet meter at the back of it, and got spikes on the reading, but now I wonder whether it was  the neighbor's smart meter a few feet away on the other side of the wall.  

Does anyone know if they are putting wireless transmitters in all small kitchen appliances now?  I never had dizziness standing by my other one which was about 5 years old. If so, is it possible to disable or remove the transmitter?  What would it look like? Would there be more than one?  I emailed the manufacturer but got an AI generated reply that just said "checking".  (Gotta love tech, right?)

Thanks!

They are not putting wireless transmitters in all new appliances.  I bought a new refrigerator a few years ago, and it was fine.  And there are others on the Facebook group who have more recently bought a new refrigerator, and it was fine for them as well.

Although one still needs to be aware that any new piece of electronics may cause issues, so there is no guarantee that any given piece of electronics is going to be acceptable to a specific person.

When I checked a few years ago, the majority of refrigerators and ovens did not have wireless functions, and there were many complaints about the ones that did because of their poor response to commands.

You can look online at Home Depot or Lowes wide selection of appliances and look under "Specifications" of each.  When I last checked they were identifying the "smart" appliances that used Wifi, so that it was easy to pick one without.

Microwave ovens have been banned from my house.  Just standing near one when it was plugged bothered me and EMF meters indicated it was the magnetic field and not RF when it wasn't operating that bothered me.

Here are YT links on how to disable wireless in appliances - although the refrigerator transmitter may not be as accessible as the one on this man's smart fridge:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZBo38uNono

https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-disable-smart-appliances/   

Marc and Fog Top:  I have very much appreciated your replies, and the videos.

I am sooo out-of-date on information.  I was under the impression that transmitters were being put in appliances to communicate with smart meters.   I recall back when they were rolling out the installations of smart meters, that someone on the eSens forum said that manufacturers were denying that were putting chips in appliances.  I had assumed those were chips that sent wireless signals to the smart meters to record when they are being used so the power companies could charge time-of-use rates.  Now I realize that I don't know how smart meters are getting that information.  Is it that the smart meters are reading electrical signatures on the inside wiring, and then are transmitting  the usage to the power company via the smart meter's wireless signal?  In other words, there is no wireless signal being sent from the appliance to the smart meter via a wireless transmitting chip ?

As I understand it, the wifi-enabled appliances only use a wifi network, and are only for communication between the user and the appliance, so for example a refrigerator can send a message to the user that the door is ajar, or the user can changes the temperature settings on the fridge via their phone or computer.

The only refrigerator I've found that will fit in my small kitchen in my 1950's house with narrow doorways and not enough clearance space to open the doors (57" needed) of an over/under model, is a side-by-side that has a variable speed compressor in the top bak part of the fridge side, and electronic temperature controls on the outer door, but no wifi.  I suspect it's impossible to determine if I'll be able to tolerate it unless I get it.   However, I'm wondering if anyone has heard of anyone's personal experience with a either a variable speed compressor and/or electronic controls in a fridge?  As you pointed out, Marc, new electronic may cause issues and we're each individual in our tolerances.

I think if you wanted to have your appliance communicate with a smart meter, then it'd be advertised as a "smart appliance".  But I don't think anyone here would buy that, and the stores charge more for that "feature".