EMF?

A homeowner building a new house asked whether it's a problem that the electrical service entrance sits on the outside wall of the den, right where the family plans to put a couch and watch TV with a young child nearby. The house is already framed and wrapped, so the location can't be moved at this point.

An expert who designs large-scale electrical systems for data centers and telecom sites answered plainly: don't worry about it. The two "hot" wires coming in from the utility carry current that's out of phase with each other, so their magnetic fields largely cancel out. If those wires run through steel conduit, the metal acts as a shield and blocks almost all of the magnetic field from radiating outward. He noted that people who work around far more powerful electrical equipment their whole careers, including multiple generations of the same family, don't show any pattern of health problems from it.

For anyone who wants extra peace of mind, adding some sheet steel around the area (even thin gauge steel) can block more of the field, though the expert said it isn't necessary. He also pushed back on the idea of "dirty electricity" and products marketed to fix it, calling that concept unfounded and not worth spending money on. The bottom line for a home electrical service entrance: it's not something to lose sleep over, and no special remodeling is needed to address it.