To all retired electricians and electrical engineers. Do Lightning Rods work?
 

Do Lightning rods, properly installed, safely direct lightning strikes that hit your home down into the earth near your home?

Or is this a scam?

They work, but they are not worth the cost. Your homeowners insurance will cover lightning damage.

The POA had a series on lightning rods a couple of years ago with expert input. The result was they can be effective IF properly installed by a certified tech.

Yes they work, but if lightning hits one, everything electronic in your house will be toast anyway.

No first-hand knowledge but the consensus seems to be that they work.

Insurance will cover much of your damage, and maybe all. What insurance will not cover is the hassle to deal with the damage and damage to any irreplaceable items.

There are a lot of houses in the Villages that have never been hit by lightning so chances are good you won't have a problem. I have never won the lottery but I keep on trying because there's always the chance that next time it will be me.

Most of the time they work. However the electrical strike must dissipate somewhere, usually in the long steel ground rods alongside your house. The near-strike can still fry electronics, appliances, AC units.

Bottom line, recommend buying good homeowners insurance

You may get a small discount on your insurance, maybe 3 percent.

If your next-door neighbor has one high enough and on your side of their house you are already protected.

if they don't have one already, I would drop them a hint about how much THEY need one.

Lightning looks for the least resistant path to the ground (lightning rod) and the one that is closest to where the lightning is coming from - high lightning rods are very yummy to lightning.

For the most part, they are not worth it, good homeowners insurance will cover damage less expensively than the lightning rod.

Best to buy one for your neighbor

I will regret posting this BUT!
If your house gets hit by lightning, start play the lottery! The odds of a lightning hitting your house is in the millions.
Furthermore why would you want to attract lightning to your home with lightning rods on your roof!
Its a personal preference and a waste of money!
Being all sand in Florida the conductivity to ground is minimum!
Furthermore your footer in your home has rebar around throughout your footer that your main electrical panel home ground rod is hooked too.
Now if you get a direct hit you would be electrifying your home electrical system.
Either way Bye Bye to all your electrical equipment.
Just be sure your insurance on the home is well covering your expensive electrical equipment and invest in a main panel surge suppressor and APC on your electrical Equipment.
I will not answer or elaborate further, there are to many know it all here and will debate this!
This is coming from 42 years in the business with electrical engineering background.
Let the negativity start LOL

OMG! On this site that is like inviting a vampire into your home:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Recent Villages Presentation-what I recall
 

Check my information. People installing lightening rods do not need to be licensed so the work done may not be proper. Installers should be listed with UL-underwriters laboratory-passed tests etc.

Cost depending on size of home etc is about 3,000. It should be inspected. regularly.
Surely a new roof, a paint job etc may mess it up.

Does not make sense to me but, I thought I knew that lightening will take the easiest path to ground. Yet, they directly said being next to a water tower for example that are high and have lightening rods on them does not protect you-nor does your neighbor having lightening rods.

Those serge protectors, the ones that you plug your TV into and cost like $20 or $30 do have some value. Mistake that most people make, INCLUDING ME, for your computer, TV etc you want to buy one that also protects the coaxial signal cable.

Things we all think we know. Lightening can and does strike in the same place. Just cause you home was hit once, the odds of being hit a second time are exactly the same.
A car is not likely to be struck but, truth I did not understand this, it has nothing to do with rubber tires and insulation. A bike, this is Florida lightening capital, you are a prime target for a lightening strike. As I often ride my bike, I've been often caught in the rain.
Golfers-you are prime targets. Old trick. You can hear lightening coming on an AM radio,does not work on FM.































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Florida is not number one for lightening strikes in the US.
Somewhere in the Midwest has beat us for number one. Nebraska? It is close. Should we try harder?

Just Sayin'
 

According to the National Weather Service, a person has a 1-in-15,300 chance of getting struck by lightning in their lifetime, defined as an 80-year span. That makes your odds of getting struck by lightning nearly 20,000 times higher than hitting the winning numbers for this week's jackpot.Jan 14, 2021

Even if you get lighting rods I think it has to be tested every so often to make sure we are working. Not just one and done

Lightening
 

Oklahoma