[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Lightning

Research and history has demonstrated that Lightning Protection Systems (LPS), commonly called lightning rods, do work if they are designed, installed, and maintained according to the national standard on lightning published by the National Fire Protection Association in NFPA-780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems. 2014 edition. Studies have shown that when they don’t work as designed it is due to a lack of maintenance or neglect over time. LPS have no moving parts and only three components; air terminals, down conductors, and driven ground rods – usually 3 or 4 of 8 ft in length. Homeowners with LPS should have the installer check them out every 3 to 5 years but immediately if you have added on (including a pool cage), re-roofed, had extensive landscaping around the foundation, or if you believe that you took a lightning strike.

If you want to learn why they work you should go to the NFPA website and bring up NFPA-780 that is a read only format. Then go to page 57, Principles of Lightning Protection that addresses research models, the positioning of air terminal, the physics of lightning attachment, and the cone of protection.

Here are other references:
• The Art and Science of Lightning Protection by University of Florida professor Dr. Martin Uman, that can be found in The Villages Library.
• The Basis of Conventional Lightning Protection Technology by the federal interagency user group.
• The Report of the Committee on Atmospheric and Space Electricity of the American Geophysical Union of the Scientific Basis for Traditional Lightning Protection Systems, chaired by Dr. Vladimir Rakov of the University of Florida.
• American Metrological Society also published a position paper on LPS that can found on line

The National Fire Protection Association is an industry trade group. So it makes sense that they would naturally promote lightning protection systems. It's hardly an unbiased source on which to base one's research.