[barb1191]

[Excerpted from JMAX Tips]

It is the season for LIGHTNING in The Villages. Is your computer protected?

Lightning Protection

The letter from Mark Lamendola, 2002 IEEE Outstanding Member, Region 5, was an interesting and timely message for Villagers. With my experiences regarding the requirements for recognized lightning protection systems, I have seen way too many homes with less than acceptable systems installed.

However, with due respect to Mr. Lamendola, my experience and research into the topic tells me that his message was a bit misleading, contained some misguided emphasis, and omissions that need to be clarified.

To begin with, there are three (3) organizations that have established recognized Standards for installations of lightning protection systems that provide detailed requirements for effective protection:

· UL (Underwriters Laboratory) Standard 96A

· NFPA (National Fire Protection Agency) Standard 780

· LPI (Lightning Protection Institute) Standard 175

These Standards define all aspects of a proper lighting protection system, including such things as electrical measurements necessary to demonstrate effective dissipation of energy from a lighting strike; how to determine size of wire to use in the system; material composition of wire, air terminals, air terminal mounts, ground rods; and every aspect of an effective system installation.

Of interest is the fact that LPI is the only agency that actually tests and certifies contractors specifically for proper installation of lightning protection systems. Their web site lists companies/contractors who have Certified “Journeyman” (as a result of passing 2 tests), “Master Installer” (as a result of passing 4 tests), and “Installer Designer” (as a result of passing 5 tests).

The UL web site has listing for recognized contractors. However, UL does not test nor assume responsibility for certifying these contractors. The UL listings only provide a list of contractors who have agreed to use UL Certified parts and components exclusively. Although this is an essential element for compliance with the noted Standards, it in no way provides any confidence that the listed contractors can perform the job of installing an effective and Standards-compliant system.

And I might point out that IEEE does not have any Standards or contractor testing programs in place associated with proper installations of lightning protection systems.

Mr. Lamendola makes reference in his “Note” at the end of his discussion to “hire a licensed Master Electrician to come to your home to check your grounding system.” In Item 1 at the beginning of his discussion, he suggests that “it’s economical to hire someone who knows the right way to do this rather than to guess at it and burn things up.” It is unfortunate that Mr. Lamendola makes no distinction regarding appropriate qualifications of contractors for installation of lightning protection systems.

1. The very first thing that should be considered is hiring a contractor that, if not certified by LPI, is at least listed under UL for installation of lightning protection systems, but most importantly, will accept responsibility for having UL inspect and provide a “Master Label Certificate,” or at least sign an agreement that they will repair and make correct any defects in the installation that a UL inspector finds while conducting their inspections regarding compliance for a “Master Label Certificate.” Any contractor who does not know what a “Master Label Certificate” is, or refuses to be held accountable for any deficiencies identified by the UL inspector should be summarily dismissed. He obviously does not know what he is doing and can not be trusted.

2. Generalizations are inappropriate regarding what needs to be done associated with a proper installation of a lightning protection system, such as installing 10 foot ground rods. Actually, the depth of any rod into the ground is dependant on the soil composition and level of the water table at the home site. We had to bury the ground rods 30 feet deep at each corner of our house to get acceptable conductivity readings (which are required for a UL Master Label Certificate). In addition, the wire gauge to be used depends upon the class of the installation (Class I or Class II) as well as the length of the wire runs from air terminals to ground rods.

3. I personally would not only recommend using the assessment exercise that Mr. Lamendola suggests (www.harger.com/lightningprotection.htm), but also assess any instances of lightning strikes anywhere near your home site. Since our area in the Marion County section of The Villages has had two (2) homes totally destroyed by lightning strikes. In addition, we also had a home two (2) doors down from us suffer a glancing lightning strike that caused minor physical damage and loss of several electrical appliances. This was enough to convince us that we needed to take action. The Harger assessment would lead us to believe that it is not a necessary expense. In addition, I would caution readers to not lose sight of the fact that the Harger web site is a commercial for Harger parts and contractors who install systems using their parts.

4. Whole house surge suppressors and point-of-use surge suppressors will have absolutely no affect in protecting the home in the case of a lighting strike. These items only protect appliances, TV’s, computers, etc. from surges within the electrical distribution system alone. The only possible protection from lighting strikes is a properly installed lightning protection system.

5. One area of concern in my observations of lightning protection systems in The Villages relate to the following points:

o Height of air terminals (the actual lightning rods mounted on the exposed high points of a building) shall be absolutely no less than ten (10) inches tall. I have witnessed houses that appear to have six and/or eight inch high air terminals.

o An air terminal located at the leading edge of any house structure (dormer corner as an example) must have a down-lead (copper wire) going directly to an earth ground. The error I have witnessed is that the grounding wire from the house top-most air terminal dead-ends at a dormer air terminal. Lightning surges can not go back onto itself; therefore it needs a clear and easy path to earth ground.

o Although aluminum wire is acceptable (if it is of the correct gauge), however it does not seem to be a very good choice here in Florida. Aluminum will corrode too easily, and anyone familiar with use of aluminum wiring in house interior wiring knows that it suffered with rapid deterioration when used for heavy current drain appliances such as refrigerators, resulting in houses burning to the ground due to wiring failures.

6. If an individual is truly interested in safety and protection, the use of whole house surge suppressors and spark gap arrestors should be avoided. The utility most likely will be using lowest-cost/poor quality parts and systems, and will not, as mentioned in Mr. Lamendola’s article, be honored by the utility company. Again, use of a licensed Lightning Protection System installer is the only sure way of getting your moneys worth.


I hope that this provides a little better guidance regarding what needs to be evaluated regarding an effective and efficient lightning protection system. I might that our having used a “Certified Master Installer: and “Certified Installer Designer” actually resulted in a lower cost from what I heard other people taking about regarding the cost of such as system for our home. Most contractors I had initially contacted indicated that a system would cost around $2000. Our system, which has been certified by UL, only cost us just over $1000. Not a bad savings and we have some comfort that UL had actually certified the installation, so we know that it is conformance to the above mentioned Standards.

John L. Wright, Sr.
Resident of The Village of Chatham
The Villages, Florida

[Sidney Lanier]

We had a whole house surge suppressor installed, and we installed in addition lots of smaller surge suppressors on things like televisions and computers. However, in no way did we think this was protection against anything other than minor or even significant fluctuations in voltage, and certainly not against a direct lightning hit. In light of the situation of the house in Poinciana, maybe we need to think more seriously about what's involved in setting up a house that is truly protected against lightning. Given the covenants and restrictions in our deeds, are lightning rods even acceptable? What are the alternatives? Are there warranties covering any system that is supposed to protect a house against a lightning strike? The Poinciana thing should really provoke some food for thought; thank goodness no one was hurt there, but imagine returning home to a leveled house....

[JohnN]

This is an incredibly interesting thread and thanks to Mr. Wright for posting it.

However, I've seen a lot of conflicting advice and unsure who/what to believe.

Mr. Lamendola says not to use the utility company surge protectors. His obvious interest is in selling his lightning protection systems. Not saying he's wrong, just saying he is not a disinterested party.

Somewhere else on TOTV, I think it was said the fire dept said NOT to put up lightning rods, which seems the opposite of Mr. Lamendola (again, I may be wrong).

This isn't my specialty, but it seems a big enough problem in Florida that there'd be a consensus on "best practices"?????

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by JohnN

Somewhere else on TOTV, I think it was said the fire dept said NOT to put up lightning rods, which seems the opposite of Mr. Lamendola (again, I may be wrong).

In the "Fire in Poinciana" thread someone said the fire department (I guess they really meant one of the firemen) said "don't put up rods as they attract lightning". It seems the official position of the fire department is a little different though.
Guess who has a lightning protection system installed? Yes that's right, THE FIRE HOUSE does! See for yourself - on Bonita right off Buena Vista.

I think these systems are definitely worth considering, and if you think deed restrictions are an issue look around. I did, after the fire, and there are houses EVERYWHERE with protection systems.

[Donna]

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_...stallRods.html

[Sidney Lanier]

SteveFromNY: Do you have any info on particular lightning protection systems with recommendations (this one is good, that one is better to stay away from, and so forth)? If you do, can you please post it? Thanks!

[gfmucci]

The following quote excerpted from the original post reduces its' credibility ...

Originally Posted by barb1191

[Excerpted from JMAX Tips]

26.*If an individual is truly interested in safety and protection, the use of whole house surge suppressors and spark gap arrestors should be avoided.* The utility most likely will be using lowest-cost/poor quality parts and systems, and will not, as mentioned in Mr. Lamendola’s article, be honored by the utility company.**

No reason or logic is given for "avoiding" whole house surge supporssors and spark gap arrestors.* The purpose of these devices is totally different and separate from the purpose of lighting arrestors.* If he had stated "...the use of whole house surge suppressors ALONE will not reduce the damage to the structure of your house (as distinguished from the electrical system and anything connected thereto) from a lighting strike", then that is believable.

In addition, the SECO whole house surge protection system, whether owned or leased, provides a 10 year warranty on the system and connected components. http://www.secoenergy.com/surge.html

Insofar as lightning rods (arrestors) being allowed in TV, check out most of the buildings in the Town Squares.* Even the pavillion and gazebos have them.*

Keep this thread going.* I, too, want more information since we are located in "the lightning bullseye of the western hemisphere."

[SteveFromNY]

Originally Posted by Sidney Lanier

SteveFromNY: Do you have any info on particular lightning protection systems with recommendations (this one is good, that one is better to stay away from, and so forth)? If you do, can you please post it? Thanks!

I have only started researching since the strike last week. I started with the google question "Do lightning rods work?" and got an amazing amount of information. I read thru that and familiarized myself with some of the basic concepts (much of which is also stated above). I was a "non-believer" until I did this research.

I have a personal reference from someone on TOTV for a company that looks like they really know what they are doing - their commercial reference list alone is impressive. Their website goes into a lot of detail about what they will actually do to help prevent damage. They are www.a1lightning.com , and I have absolutely no affiliation with this company, but I will be discussing protecting my house with them shortly.

[Sidney Lanier]

SteveFromNY: Thanks for the info; I will check them out too! Do you have any idea of their pricing, as I can't find anything about it in the website. And if anyone has any other company to recommend (or avoid...), please post it.

gfmucci: I am in absolute agreement with you regarding that self-serving comment about the utility company's whole house surge suppressor. In fact, I am sufficiently turned off by the comment that I would not even consider pursuing contact with that company.

[JohnN]

Steve, let us know what else you find out and what you do, please

[SteveFromNY]

I don't know about pricing yet. I have a call into them and will be finding out soon.

[pili]

Yes, please let us know. I went to the site but there is no information on pricing. Thanks for the link.

Pili

[Sidney Lanier]

I just spoke to the owner of A1Lightning; he's away at the moment and phoned me back from the message I had left at his office. He explained that every house is unique not just in terms of size but also its setting and its landscaping; they have to remove plantings to install the grounding wires/rods/whatever they are into the ground and then replace the plantings. In other words, he explained, a house with only grass is less labor intensive than one with extensive landscaping (which makes sense to me). He said that he's done probably a thousand houses in TV. He sounded knowledgeable. Anyway, I gave him our address in TV; he said he will check out the house (even though we're not there), see what's involved, and then get back to me late this week or early next week. Will post when I know more.

[samhass]

A-1 did my home. I thought they were excellent. Those guys walked the beams of our birdcage and ran rods all over it as well as on the main structure..

[JohnN]

verrrrrry interesting