Quote:
Originally Posted by Lightning
When a stroke leader begins its millisecond journey down to earth from the thunder cloud it is seeking the least resistance path to ground. It makes no difference if a structure has electricity or not the strike may cause a fire in combustible materials. In 1752 Benjamin Franklin did his famous kite experiment that led to the birth of lightning rods. Lightning was a problem for the colonists and the Europeans as well. Lightning rods were first installed on buildings in Philadelphia in the summer of 1752, and would soon be adopted in some European counties as well. Franklin reported years later that his own house was struck and saved by his own invention.
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Interesting........Last week I had lightning damage twice in the same week. My computer got hit and it most likely came in thru the cable. I also lost my sprinkler timer/controller. I had it replaced and called Seco since I had a whole house surge protector installed and was told each electronic item had to have an individual surge protecter. So.....I had a surge protecter they sent me and plugged my new sprinkler/control into it. That same day it got hit again. I wouldn't have known it but my garage door wouldn't open and is on the same GGI outlet which was tripped. After resetting it my door opened, but the timer was dead. Seco came to my house to file a claim and after checking out the surge protector told me the protector was good and the surge from lightning probably came in through the water pipe and the claim would probably be denied. He also told me of many refrigerators that were hit coming in thru the water line supplying the icemaker. It's interesting because the sprinkler guy told me lots of luck filing a claim with SECO because they can claim many reasons why they are not responsible.
I'm not saying we don't need lightning rods on our homes but in my last two experiences they wouldn't have helped. I would guess lightning rods would protect your home from total damage of the home but not the devices in it.