I am not here to get into the discussion of a haunting or not. Here to discuss the issues of power and devices coming on.
While I have a interest in the paranormal, and a believer, I am always skeptical of reports of electrical devices being affected. Unless of course when/if something comes on if unplugged. Even then, lights and possibly other devices can be affected with no apparent power source.
Power "spikes" are often misunderstood. Technically, a "spike" is a voltage swell, voltage increases to an abnormal level, a low voltage event is called a voltage sag.
Above a certain level, voltage swells are called transient voltage. Certain conditions in a home can cause a voltage to increase to an abnormal level, but never more than the highest voltage in the system, typically 240 volts. Other conditions can cause much higher voltages to be impressed onto a circuit very briefly, less than a cycle.
Nearby large motors starting, capacitor banks switching, lightning strikes, even miles away, static electricity are the popular reasons for spikes. They all invariably do damage when they occur.
Often someone will see lights blinking and call it a spike, actually the voltage sagged, went lower than normal, the light went off briefly due to a low voltage condition and came back to normal when the voltage rose to normal level. We actually have a value called Flicker that we can record and measure when doing power quality investigations.
A true "spike", or voltage swell, can happen, not as often as one would think, but can do damage to the device when it does happen, as a true spike is very high voltage for a very brief period. We can record and measure these events for both level and duration.
Now I am not exactly sure how switches in electronic devices are arranged, but there needs to be a physical open connection to be spanned to complete a connection and cause something to come on.
With electronic devices, I can imagine this open connection space is very small, and a spike perhaps can cause an arc to span this space and cause something to come on. However, if a spike is large enough to jump an open connection, damage will occur, so it may happen once, and that it, the damage is done, the open connection is fused or welded together, and will not open again.
I have done power recordings at many locations, heavy commercial and industrial locations, and looking for the suspected "spikes", and almost never find them. I have systems in place with permanent transient suppressors that will record any event, most have not seen any events happen.
So, I am not saying spikes are not the issue, just they do not happen often, and when they do, permanent damage occurs. There is equipment available to find these events, and suppressors to eliminate any damage if they do occur.
Something coming on at a specific time leads me to believe there is a physical normal reason. RFI, Radio Frequency Interference is a popular reason. Strong radio signals can cause equipment to come on. RFI can cause a fluorescent lamp, and other HID lamps, to glow, even while being held in your hand.
Here is a tester that uses a radio signal to induce a lamp to glow:
Greenlee Products - Greenlee A Textron Company
Magicians have used this technique to make a lamp glow while being held in their hands while on stage, and no wiring going to the lamp.
TV's with remote controls can be affected by random IR and RFI signals.
Then the issue of EMF, Electromagnetic Field, and the EMF Fear Cage, and the affect on humans.
Since I agree that a spirit is some form of energy, I could agree that detecting EMF could be an indication of a spirit, however, all other normal sources of EMF must be eliminated first before coming to that conclusion.
I get a kick out of a paranormal team detecting a small amount of EMF coming from an outlet, wiring, a small doorbell transformer, and calling it a EMF Fear Cage. They use apparently sensitive equipment, that can detect small amounts that truly exist, and pass it off as a possible spirit. Considering the fact that there is so much electrical devices, wiring, appliances around, plus RFI from nearby or even far off radio and cell phones towers, and the fact that the earth is a large object with a magnetic field, leaves me to be skeptical of this phenomenon. Metal objects can retain a normal magnetic field indefinitely.
I personally, along with many other people, have been in rooms surround by metal conduits and wiring, large transformers, switchgear, using an EMF detector would cause the unit to go off the scale due to such high levels of EMF, and never have I, and others, felt any effect whatsoever of this EMF.
I did have a service call once where the landlord reported a garbage disposal would be found running in an empty apartment. I checked it out, not much to check out, simple wall switch on the counter backsplash, seemed to be fine, no definite shorts in the switch box. He then tells me the previous tenant was found dead from a heart attack slumped over the counter with his hand on the wall switch. I changed the switch, as it may have been defective, and told him to let me know if it occurred again I would suggest calling in a priest. He never reported a problem again, and I had worked for him many times at other locations for this customer.
I would be thrilled to join a paranormal investigation. I have the opinion that at least one person on the team should have complete knowledge of building construction, mechanical systems, etc, as there are so many systems, switches, automatic devices running that can cause noises, bumps, clicks, EMF fields, breezes, etc, to explain most if not all apparent "experiences".
I am of the opinion that all power should be turned off in a building, all heating and cooling allowed to get to room temperature, eliminate all normal possibilities of noises, EMF fields, etc. before an investigation.
I even have at my disposal an Infrared camera. And I would say a good one, cost $50,000.00 made by the Flir Corporation. So many teams I seen using one on TV have no idea how to use it, adjust or focus, adjust the color palette, etc. and look at existing mechanical systems or respond to normal reflectance and be mislead or come to incorrect conclusions.
Just my two cents on the topic. And I have had my own personal experiences to lead me to believe in the possibility of the paranormal, just need to be careful with assuming when normal conditions are involved.