[gfmucci]

Many of us have been made aware of several facts that have converged to create some concern about the safety of some homes with gas lines installed in the attic. These facts include the following:

- The rapid destruction of the home that burned down due to a lightning strike
- Gas lines installed in the attic
- The materials (CSST) of the gas lines in the attic
- The nationwide incidence of perferation of these materials via lightning strikes
- The recognition of this part of Florida being the lightning bulls-eye of the western hemisphere.

I have a call in to Mike Farrington (referred by Kim in the Ocala Offie) of TECO. Mike is over all the TECO service techs in this area. His number is 352-401-3417. My questions to him will include:

1) Is there any significant difference in level of safety of gas lines installed in the attic compared to ground mounted gas lines in a lightining prone area.

2) What modifications have been made to the gas connections in the attic over the years in The Villages to increase their safety.

3) How can I be sure that my attic gas line installation reflects that latest improvements and safety measures?

4) Are there any measures that can or should be taken by the homeowner to improve the safety of this system, given our lightning-prone environment?

Any other good questions you can think of to ask are invited.

Here are two enlightening (no pun intended) articles about the attic mounted gas line materials (corregated stainless steel tubing (CSST)) particularly subject to rupture by lightning strikes: http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp...Type=Printable and http://hawkeyehomeinspects.com/docum...ST-DANGERS.pdf

It appears that this type of material is used in new homes with attic gas line installations in TV. The question is: Is proper grounding sufficient to prevent perforations from electrical discharge from lightning? Or is replacement with black iron pipe or a lightning diversion system safer alternatives?

My admittedly unscientific conclusion after reading the above articles is this:

Grounded or not, CSST serves as an effective lightning-attracting ground - like having a lightning rod in your attic. With the older, thick-walled "black iron" pipe used for gas transmission, a lightning strike does not perforate its thick wall, and the mega volts are conducted harmlessly into the ground. In the case of CSST, a lightning strike will perforate its thin wall as it is conducted disasterously into the ground.

Comments and critiques from you electricians, electro-mechanical engineers, physicists and other logical types out there?
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[Note to admin: I repeated this excerpt of a previous post due to the importance of this issue. I hope you agree.]