Lightening Protection System
 

Why is it that not one home here in The Villages with LPS, Lightening Protection System, has not been damaged by lightening? (Notice I did not say hit by lightning.)

What are Lightening Protection Systems? Do blinds, curtains, and shutters qualify?

Why has no home here with an LPS *not* been damaged? Are you aware of homes with an LPS that *have* been damaged? In one or more of the multiple threads on this topic it has been stated that 17 strikes on protected homes have resulted in no damage.

Lightning does not need to hit the LPS on a house to cause damage within.
The strike can happen near, and blow out your irrigation, appliances, technology, cable, pool equipment.

It happened at the coastal home. LPS didn’t have a strike so we were told. But traveled to the home only taking our irrigation. Since nothing else was plugged in no other damage.

Interesting. How did those 17 know they had been hit with lightening? Would love to see that article/thread about this. Please share.

LOL. It reminds me of the comedian, Steven Wright, who said that he left his house and when he returned all of his furniture had been stolen and replaced with exact duplicates.

The statement was made by someone at least loosely associated with the Villages Lightning Study group. He can provide more information.

I remember reading that at least one of the homes showed damage to the lighting rod but not the house.

LPS is like insurance:thumbup: no guarantee it will pay off, BUT it’s usually better to have it and not need it than wait for something to happen :throwtomatoes:.

Here is a first hand story from a Villager who gave me permission to post his experience.

>>>>>
At approximately 6:30 PM on June 10, 2014, our house sustained a direct hit by lightning. The thunderstorm had passed, the skies were clearing, we had left for a meeting when the strike occurred.

While at the meeting, a neighbor three houses down the street called me and said his house was struck by lightening and asked for a reference for an electrician, as several of his circuit breakers had tripped wouldn’t reset.

We finished our meeting and headed home. When we turned onto our street, we noticed many of the neighbors standing in their front yards. When we pulled into our driveway, the garage door didn’t work. Uh oh.

Turns out it wasn’t our neighbors house that was hit… it was ours. And the strike blew out circuit breakers up and down our side of the street.

When we entered our home and investigated, we discovered our telephone point of interface had been blown off the outside wall (damaging the neighbor’s vinyl siding), so the telephones were dead, and many lights were out.

On further investigation we discovered our SECO whole house surge protector was totally destroyed, the Eaton whole-house surge protector was tripped, and most of the circuit breakers were tripped. Several of the circuit breakers couldn’t be reset. I checked in the attic, and there was no evidence of fire or structural damage.

SECO arrive that evening and replaced the SECO whole house surge protector and our electrician replaced the bad circuit breakers and checked the house wiring. We also three satellite receivers and a modem destroyed, all of which were connected to the unprotected telephone lines, a washing machine circuit card, and the garage door button.

The following day the lightening protection system technician came and inspected our lightening protection system. The system was unharmed, except for the top air terminal which had 1/4 to 1/2 inch burned off the top. The technician replaced that air terminal, which I subsequently gave to Len Hathaway.
<<<<<<

Other stories are where a Villager was sitting on his lanai during a storm and saw the lightning strike the air terminal on his lanai. In another case, the homeowner heard the "bang" and upon inspecting his home he saw one of the LPS cables scortched a bush.

I know I'm being picky, but can we please use the word:

LIGHTNING when referring to an electrical storm; and

LIGHTENING when referring to what Michael Jackson did to his face

I am still not sold on these systems. Why is it there are so many homes struck here in The Villages? I have a friend in Ocala and I'm not aware of this many strikes there.

Homes may have been built in places where there is a lot of lightning. Ocala may have less lightning activity.

Construction differences may increase the chances of a fire in homes here. If construction was different in Ocala then the number of fires may be less.

There might be more attention here. We have the local paper and a couple of prolific posters here pointing out the fires caused by lightning. Perhaps there are as many fires in Ocala but fewer individuals drawing attention to them.

Hold on, my man. Our house in Glenbrook has a complete lightning protection system. When I got a new roof, I had to have the roofers come back and make the little antenna vertical again. Have had no problems with the system.

My knee jerk reaction may be that there are more mature trees in Ocala surrounding the homes there and thus take the brunt of strikes. All of Florida has the same iscocronic level of 100. Other then groves of old oak, TV’s pretty much strips everything else away to build up the ground elevation level to build above flood areas.

Speaking of lightning the house in my area still has Hugh 1/3 hole in roof rain to poor in, now I guessing there going to big mold problem? You would think it would have been trapped to try keep rain from pouring in?

If the owners don't live there maybe they don't know.

Thank you! It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up to read people pontificating on lightning when they cannot even spell it correctly.

How many houses have rods? 1 in 50 or less? Too small of a sample size to prove their efficacy to me. My house hasnt been hit and it is green - maybe the green paint works as protection? By all means, though, keep selling those systems.....It looks like there is some agenda here to me.

There are roughly 1400 homes per square mile in The Villages. Ocala has 530. The Villages has roughly 50% more homes.

So a lightning strike is almost 3 times as likely to hit a home in The Villages. One could reasonably expect 50% more home strikes per year in TV.

This does not argue for or against installing LPS. It only explains why you are more likely to hear about strikes in TV.

The "agenda" is simple. Create awareness on the subject so Villager's can make an informed decision based on their tolerance for risk.

I know I've mentioned this before. I've spoken to several Villagers who's homes were severly damaged by lightning, who had no idea of this risk here in Central Florida. Most told me they would have appreciated this information. I also can tell you there are many here in the Villages that feel as you do, but in most cases, as soon as a neighbor's home is significantly damaged or destroyed, they run out and order a system.

As far as surge protection, so many Villagers installed the Eaton Ultra or PSP Vortex, when speaking to my electrician contact, they said they ran out of these devices for a while last year there was so much demand.

So, all this said, Villagers are getting awareness and making whatever decisions they feel are good for them and their family and that's a good thing.

Could also be that most homes now have metal studs. Just a tongue in cheek observation.

Any chance someone can translate the above?

My observation following these LPS forums. Lightning has a mind of its own. It strikes when and where it wants to strike. Having a LPS, or not, seems to NOT matter when/where/damage from a strike that may occur. It appears your house will have a higher chance of surviving a lightning strike, with a LPS installed. Tho it does not/will not guarantee no damage. As it seems the structure will survive better, tho the electrical system may still take a hit.
No whole house surge protection will help with a direct hit on the dwelling, as a direct strike has bypassed those devices, and may still fry them on a direct house strike as the electricity try’s to back feed out of the house.
Bottom line? For me, I will have a house LPS installed by next rainy season. While a direct lightning strike may cause issues with plugged in equipment, a LPS seems to at least help in not getting catastrophic damage to the dwelling. Catastrophic damage usually leave you homeless while insurance takes their time, then finding a reputable builder to actually FIX the damage.
I will not get the Ring, as a new build already has a whole house surge protection device already installed by Code. I will be installing a point of use surge protection on all expensive devices plugged in. TV’s, refrigerator, oven, washer/dryer, water system, the HVAC will have its own surge protection on its outdoor electrical box.
Clear as mud, I know.

My guess is those you have spoken with no prior knowledge of weather in Florida, must have lived in states with extremely low weather events. Or never traveled to parks during summer breaks.

We didn’t live in tornado alley yet 15+ tornadoes could devastate neighborhoods every summer.
Straight winds of 80-100mph does just as much havoc.
Lightning/thunder storms were abundant striking homes with Gas, trees, and starting fires.

I can’t imagine moving to any state permanently and not do any kind of research.

As far as lack of Eaton or PSP Vortex last year, because of high demand was that just the electrician you recommended or total wipe out in all the state of FL.

How does the low inventory warning of 2024 equate to 2025?

You can go to “live lightning and see where lightning strikes just as many when lightning thunderstorm over Ocala or anywhere else.

Real Time Lightning Map :: LightningMaps.org

Lightning Protection Statement
 

The statement concerning "No Lightning Protection in the Villages" is NOT correct!

Many homes DO HAVE Lightning protection installed. Look on/at the roof tops on homes - and you see those with protection will usually have small rods located usually on the corners and other points along the roof.

There is a local company that install the systems - and they are certified by a National Lightning Rod association.

Also, SURGE protection is NOT the same thing as Lightning protection.

You may consider calling "Triangle Lightning Protection" at: (352) 483-7020 to see if they may help you.

There's also is extensive lightning protection across The Villages as required by Florida building code for critical infrastructure, major commercial and public facilities:

* Pumping stations,
* Fire headquarters, fire stations not in metal buildings,
* Most building in Lake Sumter Landing,
* The Sharon,
* Savannah Center,
* Glenview and Lopez CC,
* Hospitals,
* Independent living facilities,
* Major churches,
* Schools,
* Hotels,
* SECO & Duke substations,
* Middleton and Eastport (?),
* and probably more.

These facilities have likely been struck many times by lightning with no critical damage. Len Hathaway stated a Federal Aviation Administration study showed that the Tampa control tower recorded 25,000 lightning strikes with no damage. The Orlando control tower experienced 20,000 lightning strikes with the loss of one telephone line.

Florida building code includes the following:

Section 2703 Lightning Protection

2703.1 Lightning Protection. A lightning protection system shall be provided for all new buildings and additions in accordance with NFPA 780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems, UL 96A, Installation Requirements for Lightning Requirement, HBP-21 or other alternative equivalent standard for the installation of lightning protection systems.

2703.2 Where additions are constructed to existing building, the existing building’s lightning protection system, if connected to the new lightning protection system, shall be inspected and brought into compliance with current standards.

2703.3 Surge protection devices shall be installed for all normal and emergency electrical systems in accordance with NFPA 70, National Electrical Code.

Exceptions:

1. One- and two-family dwellings

2. Lightning protection shall not be required for any building or addition where shown unnecessary by evaluation using the Risk Assessment Guide in NFPA 780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems or an alternative method approved by the authority having jurisdiction.