More than 1000 electric appliances have been investigated regarding their emission of magnetic fields. It was found that complex frequency spectra are common and single frequency emissions are rare. Since exposure assessment requires frequency-weighted sums, root-mean-square values are not appropriate for comparison with exposure reference levels. It could be shown that they may underestimate emissions up to two orders of magnitude. Analysis of device groups showed a wide span of emission values of up to two orders of magnitude with only weak associations to power consumption. This demonstrates that there is a considerable potential to reduce fields without loss of performance. Exposure to magnetic fields of electric appliances are not negligible in daily life. Many devices considerably exceeded permitted reference levels and would require a closer analysis to demonstrate conformity with basic limits.