Lightning.
 

We went to a presentation on lightning last night. It was arranged by our village and they invited a person who posts on this forum who calls himself "lightning".

This man is a villager, does not sell anything, and became interested in protecting his home after realizing that seven homes in TV have burnt to the ground due to lightning strikes in the last eight years..

He did his due diligence exploring the matter and contacted The University of Florida who has experts on the subject. He and a friend who is also not involved with selling any lightning protection have put together a power point presentation on lightning. Central Florida is the lightning capital of the United States. Their presentation involved myths commonly held and much factual and new to me information.

I dreaded going, thinking that it would be boring and also thinking the bottom line was that he owned something that would benefit him monitarily. NOT so. It was very informative and helpful and if you have a chance try to get him to come and speak to your group.

I learned that properly installed lightning rods can almost always protect your home from severe damage. I learned that secondary strikes were a different kind of lightning and required a different kind of protection.

He never mentioned any companies by name to contact during his talk but warned of door to door people who would offer you lightning protection that was inadequate or downright useless. He said they knew of three ethical companies in the area that were approved by Underwriters Laboratories (??) and the University of Florida but did not mention their names.

He recommends reading a book that is in our library here, written by the Lightning experts at University of Florida.

If any of you have questions for him, you can PM him. His name on this forum is Lightning.

He has written good articles about the subject for the POA and also the VHA newsletters. He is an ethical speaker with no hidden agenda in my opinion.

I hope he will read this and reply. I think his name is lightning but not 100% sure.

Our storm season starts June first. I just got an email that tropical storm 01 is now forming out at sea.

Modern Marvels on H2 (on Comcast channel 388 in HD) is showing a program tonight at 11PM called "Most Shocking" that has a section on lightning. I'm recording it.

Thanks for the info, Gracie!

Good Job Gracie thanks for the info

Our neighborhood social club also had a presentation by the same individuals, Gracie. It was very informative and enlightening. I do believe we had lightning rods Installed prior to the presentation, but it was still worth attending! Glad you enjoyed it as much as Mike and I did.

ahhh Pooh
 

it was enLIGHTENING hahahahaha!

LOLOLOL ....aren't I clever.....:icon_wink:

Good information. Thanks for sharing!!

Thanks, Gracie, for sharing this info! :-)

If you observe or learn of a direct or indirect lighning strike causing damage in or around The Villages please let us know on this web site. Sometimes we contact the homeowner to determine if there are new lessons learned for use in our Power Point presentations, Lightning Tips for Villagers.

I'll bet the next thing you'll tell us is that his last name is Rod! :duck:

Waste of money
 

I've lived in Central Florida since 1984 - 20 years in the Tampa Bay area, 6 years in Sarasota, 1 year here. I have never met anyone, or know anyone who knows anyone, who's house has been damaged, much less burnt down by lightning.

Could it happen? Yes. Is it a smart investment? No. Just my opinion...

Joe. Pay attention. That is his FIRST name.:popcorn::icon_wink:

The economic payback may indeed be subject for debate. However, had you been here for longer than a year you would certainly know of houses here in TV that have indeed burned to the ground from lightning strikes. Two burned down our first summer here three years ago.

Here in The Villages. There have been seven homes burnt to the ground in the last eight years. We live smack dab in the lightning capital of the U.S. However we can protect ourselves from direct strikes by getting lightning rods installed by an expert.

That makes sinkholes/catastrophic ground collapse seem like a non event! :laugh:

Every place on this earth has it's natural disasters.

Easy to do your self if handy, get the parts here, not rocket science.

I figured it out before I think it cost about $250.

Or add the cost of a handyman for days labor.

basic layout

According to my back door neighbor who himself owned a large electrical contracting business, it is a little more involved than you might think. We need four grounds and one will be tied into the ground that comes with the house. They go into the ground at least ten feet. He says copper is better than aluminum.

We are right now evaluating people to do it and getting prices.

I won't let Sweetie climb on the roof anymore. I am too young to be a widow.

Hmmmm, let me see.

1. Lightning capitol of the US

2. Sink Holes

3. ???

Lordy! Why did you have to go and tempt fate like that. You know what they say. Things happen in threes.....

Ummmm, my wife holds the ladder.....wonder how tight :ohdear:

There is enough literature online to get a good proper layout, If you get quoted more than $750-$1000 ask for more info like how many man hours does it take etc.

To pound a few 8' rods into the sand there isn't to much of a task.

According to Andrew Blechman....STDs.

Go for it.

we are lucky the folks on either side of us bought the sales pitch and have them. The odds were against us getting hit in the first place. Now with two sets of lightning attractors on either side of us....we should be golden.

btk

Can you get insurance coverage for "???"? :duck:

I thought so too..but..

And remember, these guys don't sell Lightning protection and will not give the names of people who do during their very well researched and presented summary of lightning . They are villagers who became interested in the subject when they moved here and found that the University of Florida has done a lot of studies on the subject and have been involved with those educators. You can call them later and they will give you three names of UL contractors but will not tell you who to choose.


According to the expert, Lightning, who was half of the team that gave the presentation, having homes on either side with lightning rods, didn't help several of the houses struck. AND all of the houses that burnt had gas lines.

... Or that he electrified the audience.

I read the unprotected house is often damaged by side-flashes.

Yes. He discussed that as well and said that you needed to have a surge protection on your electrical box to protect from that form of lightning, bought or rented, and individual ones that were on each appliance.

You can PM him. His name is Lightning on this forum. He is very well versed and selling nothing.

Graciegirl or Lightning is the book called:
Lightning: Physics and Effects by Vladimir A. Rakov, and Martin A. Uman?

tks, I will when I'm closer to building.

Driven
 

SKY!!!!!!! you are soooooooo Bad!

To tell you the truth I myself though Lighting Rods were a very good idea but that topic usually gets you zapped to death by anti- ROD -posters

???
 

??? Cougars
??? Gators
??? Coyotes

Graciegirl is right on. The installation of a lightning protection system is more complex than you think. You must have a working knowledge of NFPA 780, Standard for Lightning Protection Systems, LPI-175, Design - Installation - Inspection of Lightning Protection Systems, and UL 96 if you are going to install a code compliant system. I know of only once case of a do-it-yourself LPS installation and that was by a former electrcian. Working on the roof is not easy and can be hazardous. Last year my golf instructor (in his 40s) was doing repairs to his roof, fell off, needed an operation, and was out of work for over 7 months. Play it safe and leave it to the professionals - especially at this age.

Lightning Strike
 

A good friend in Hadley had his house struck by lightning last night.
Took out all his electronics.

My best friend dated a guy that installed the lighting rods....he told us that it was a scam, they sell and install them cause people get so scared that they buy them....he said that the rods are designed to attract the lighting.....I lived in Fl for 12 yrs, my friend hads been here for 48 yrs.... we have not heard of anyone get hit, just the ones with the rods on top of their home......Just saying....and, by the way, she does not go out with him anymore, she did not like the fact that he ripped people off.... just wanted to put in my two cents

Lightning rods are perplexing to say the least. If you notice, all the major structures in the squares have them. All the structures at Disney World have them. It seems that if they didn't work, why would the developer and the powers that be at Disney World go to the extra expense. On the other hand, your home owners insurance will not give you a discount if you have them installed. 'Tis a puzzlement!

They are not a absolutely must have item, but the piece of mind to some maybe worth the investment.

It's the type of add on that after it's installed you never look at like wood floors, landscaping or granite counter tops.

Installers get perhaps $1500-2500+ to do the work.

If you have the extra cash.......it will get you a "cone of protection" in the lightening capital of the US.

In the interest of adding some more 'officiall' info to the discussion, I found the following:

The Straight Dope: Did they ever prove whether lightning rods work?

It's 'old' (2008) but, to me, the conclusion makes sense and echoes some of the other posts that state - how to get a proper install is the most complicated part of the decision.......