You can say all you want that insurance will cover the loss but it can take a year or more to re-build your home in the current construction environment. In addition, when lightning hits your home, it will most likely punch a whole in your roof and start ricocheting around the attic and the interior of your home like a bullet looking for ground. If you or anyone in your household gets in the way, the lightning will kill you. I don't think that situation is coverend by insurance. In the strike in this post lightning found ground at the water meter and exploded the meter on the utility side and part of the driveway in addition to making a hole in the roof and starting a fire. Luckily someone was home to call the fire department right away. The people in Linden who's house was hit by lightning weren't so lucky because they were not home and the house burnt to the ground by the time someone noticed the fire and called for help.
A typical lightning protection system costs anywhere from $2,000- $2,500 depending on the size of your home. Larger homes will cost more. Get an estimate from a UL certified installer like A1 or Triangle Lightning Protection. Well worth the cost given the alternatives if you get hit.
As far as surge protection, you are correct it will do very little if you house takes a direct hit but that would be the least of your worries if that happened. The ensuing fire, smoke damage, potential loss of life outweighs your TV or refrigerator burning out from the strike.
What many don't know is even cloud to cloud lightning near your house can cause distructive power surges that can destroy electronic equipment. Even if a single surge doesn't destroy your TV or A/C over time multiple surges will damage electronic devices and appliances. This is why you hear people say their TV or A/C just stopped working without any events. Could have been from power surges over time. So what do you do? Spend the $500 and get Pike or Lenhart or whichever electrician you like and have them install an Eaton CHSPT2ULTRA surge protector at your circuit breaker panel. This will protect surges from entering your home from outside and protect from the ongoing surges from inside your home. This plus point of use power strip surge protectors at you computer, TV, etc.. will give you excellent protection from power surges. If you want to go further you can also add the Seco Meeter Treater surge protector installed at your electric meter but that mainly protects power surges from your power line which is not as common but surge protection is a layered system so the more the better.
I'm part of the Villages Lightning Study Group led by Len Hathaway who gives talks on lightning in the Villages, publishes articles in the Villages News, and who keeps all the data for lightning events in the Villages for the past 15 years.
Getting lightning protection is an individual choice. It's like deciding to get flood or sink hole insurance. Your decision will be based on your tolerance for risk. That said, you need to have all the facts so you can make an intelligent decision and that's what the Villages Lightning Study Group does. If you have any questions please PM me.
You also need to remember, when you see cloud to ground lightning strikes off in the distance, that lightning is hitting the ground somewhere. It could be in an open field, golf course, water or someones house. With the population density in the Villages growing there are vastly more homes now that can and will be hit by lightning which is why we are hearing more and more reports. The home here struck in DeLuna was an open field last year so no one would have known about the stirke.
There is also an excellent web site created by Frank Cristie, another member of the study group here ->
Lightning Protection Systems - Lightning Protection The Villages
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