[jrref]

During the recent storm we had Friday night into Saturday morning three homes in the Villages were struck by lightning. One serious with a fire and the other two no fire.

Too see and read the article on the terrible strike in Charlotte Google "lightning-strike-punches-hole-in-roof-of-home-in-the-villages" and click on the first article by the Villages News too see all the pictures.

Lightning is unpredictable and it looks like these people are not going to be living in their home for a while since there are probably not a lot of contractors waiting around to rush and repair this home and it takes a while for the Insurance to assess and pay for the damages. I'm also assuming with a strike this large that several neighbors around this home had major power surge damage to their electronic devices and appliances.

The reason why I'm posting this is because we live in one of the lightning capitals of the world due to our proximity to the east and west coast weather here in Florida. Random lightning strikes is something we need to live with, especially with all the new homes. Last year a lightning strike in one of the new areas would have occured in a field. Today, there is a home there.

The Villages Lightning Study Group has been giving free community service non-commercial educational presentations in The Villages on lightning since 2009. They address personnel lightning safety indoors and out, surge protection, lightning protection systems (LPS), and dispel many of the myths and misunderstandings about lightning.

One of the misconceptions they dispel is that lightning protection systems do not work. Lightning protection systems have been proven effective for over 200 years and they do work if they are designed, installed, and maintained according to the National Fire Protection Association-780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems, 2023 Edition. The Principles of Lightning Protection are discussed in Annex B. They also suggest that only firms listed by UL with craftsmen who have met the Master Installer criteria of the Lighting Protection Institute be considered when selecting a contractor.

Another reference used in their presentations is The Art & Science of Lightning Protection Systems, by Dr. Martin Uman, from the University of Florida who has been studying lightning for over four decades.

Over the years there have been may studies that have proven the advocacy of LPS. One such study was conducted at the University of Florida's International Center for Lightning Research & Testing at Camp Blanding.

Lightning Protection Systems are used world-wide and locally have been installed on all water & sewage stations, every building in Sumter Landing including your former retail store, all the sales centers, the Sharon, Savannah Center, most churches, the new schools, the hospitals, the developer's own homes, and many Villagers have chosen to protect their own residence.

I mention this NOT to sell Lightning Protection and power surge systems but to make everyone aware that there are free presentations being given in the Villages giving the facts so homeowners can make a more informed decision based on their tolerance for risk and their specific situation. Nothing man made is 100% effective but there is a good chance if these homeowners had a Lightning Protection System installed by a certified UL listed company that they may have been spared this unfortunate event.

[justjim]

I don’t believe there are any lightning systems installed in my immediate neighborhood. Most do have some type of surge protection. Maybe they are too expensive to install and maintain?

[jrref]

Originally Posted by justjim

I don’t believe there are any lightning systems installed in my immediate neighborhood. Most do have some type of surge protection. Maybe they are too expensive to install and maintain?

The price will depend on the roof size of your home, how many roof peaks you have, if you have a bird cage, gas, etc.. But most systems for a designer home will be between $2,000 to $3,500.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by jrref

The price will depend on the roof size of your home, how many roof peaks you have, if you have a bird cage, gas, etc.. But most systems for a designer home will be between $2,000 to $3,500.

As far as maintenance, every 3-5 years you call them and have them come out and check the connections and the status of the grounding rods. Cost $100-$150.

If you get a new roof, they will uninstall the system and re-install it at a nonimal cost.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I have a metal roof. My risk is minimal without any fancy extra doodads and gizmos.

[villagetinker]

I would like to see a discussion of lightning protection (sharp pointy objects) on your roof, versus the devices SECO uses at some of their substations, these look like a large Dandelion bloom. I worked in this industry and these are designed to DISSIPATE the charge and avoid the lightning strike. Sharpe pointed objects then at ATTRACT lightning strikes. These are applied to ATTRACT the strike to the protective wiring and away from the roof. May point is why not have the devices that dissipate the charge installed?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

[djlnc]

I see CMCE lightning suppressors advertised that say they will "eliminate the threat of lightning strikes". Sounds too good to be true.

Question - there has been discussion of the cheap gas lines in attics with the never ending goal of reducing costs. I wonder if they would run a length of non-conductive (PVC?) line up to the attic so the attic line would not be grounded - would that lessen the chance of lightning hitting the gas line?

[Dotneko]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I would like to see a discussion of lightning protection (sharp pointy objects) on your roof, versus the devices SECO uses at some of their substations, these look like a large Dandelion bloom. I worked in this industry and these are designed to DISSIPATE the charge and avoid the lightning strike. Sharpe pointed objects then at ATTRACT lightning strikes. These are applied to ATTRACT the strike to the protective wiring and away from the roof. May point is why not have the devices that dissipate the charge installed?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

Does that mean my neighbor, who has a higher roof than i do and has lightning rods will protect my house from a strike? Im going with that theory.

[MikeVillages]

Originally Posted by djlnc

I see CMCE lightning suppressors advertised that say they will "eliminate the threat of lightning strikes". Sounds too good to be true.

Question - there has been discussion of the cheap gas lines in attics with the never ending goal of reducing costs. I wonder if they would run a length of non-conductive (PVC?) line up to the attic so the attic line would not be grounded - would that lessen the chance of lightning hitting the gas line?

I don't think PVC can be used for gas. The lawsuit of several years ago the Weather Club talks about every year was the thin gas flexibility gas pipes from the gas manifold to the various gas appliances. The best solution is to have thick pipes as my previous home up north. The previous owner of my home took the money from the lawsuit and had the lightning medication system put in. There is also a grounding wire from the manifold to Earth.

Maybe someone from the Weather Club will have additional information.

[MikeVillages]

Originally Posted by Dotneko

Does that mean my neighbor, who has a higher roof than i do and has lightning rods will protect my house from a strike? Im going with that theory.

NO, it will not protect your home!!

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I would like to see a discussion of lightning protection (sharp pointy objects) on your roof, versus the devices SECO uses at some of their substations, these look like a large Dandelion bloom. I worked in this industry and these are designed to DISSIPATE the charge and avoid the lightning strike. Sharpe pointed objects then at ATTRACT lightning strikes. These are applied to ATTRACT the strike to the protective wiring and away from the roof. May point is why not have the devices that dissipate the charge installed?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

TOTALLY AGREE!

lightning prevention versus lightning damage minimization expecting to be hit.

Lightning rods are great if the structure is a high probable target, not so much with very low probability targets. . . Low probability should have lightning strike prevention, not lightning strike damage minimization. .

then I am willing to listen and act

[jrref]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

I would like to see a discussion of lightning protection (sharp pointy objects) on your roof, versus the devices SECO uses at some of their substations, these look like a large Dandelion bloom. I worked in this industry and these are designed to DISSIPATE the charge and avoid the lightning strike. Sharpe pointed objects then at ATTRACT lightning strikes. These are applied to ATTRACT the strike to the protective wiring and away from the roof. May point is why not have the devices that dissipate the charge installed?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

The Villages Lightning Study Group did do research on this type of device and the data is inconclusive on if it actually works. The theory is good and there are a lot of entities testing these devices. There is some thought that conventional lightning rods can and o "bleed off" some of the charge in the air potentially preventing a strike but only if the charge is not great enough to jump and strike.

Conventional lightning rods used today do not attract lightning in the sense that if the ionization of the air over your neighbors house was prime for a strike, the lightning charge would not divert and hit your house with lightning rods instead. It just doesn't work that way. We have actual case data on strikes here in the Villages where homes were hit with a home next to them and across the street with lightning protection systems. We also have cases where a home was hit with a very large tree behind it in the yard. Lightning struck the house and not the tree. The problem when analysing lightning strikes is its unpredictible. It depends on the ionization of the air at any given time above your house during a severe storm. All the lightning protection system does is, if lightning strikes, instead of punching a hole in your roof and then ricocheting around your attic like a bullet destroying everything in it's path searching for earth ground, the low electrical potential of a lightning rod on the roof will send the charge safely to ground.

If you are interested, next time we do a presentation, come by and see what the group has to say and you can speak to John Shewchuk our resident meteorologist about the conditions where lightning strikes.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by djlnc

I see CMCE lightning suppressors advertised that say they will "eliminate the threat of lightning strikes". Sounds too good to be true.

Question - there has been discussion of the cheap gas lines in attics with the never ending goal of reducing costs. I wonder if they would run a length of non-conductive (PVC?) line up to the attic so the attic line would not be grounded - would that lessen the chance of lightning hitting the gas line?

What would happen to PVC gas line In a fire?

[jrref]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

TOTALLY AGREE!

Lightning rods are great if the structure is a high probable target, not so much with very low probability targets. . . Low probability should have lightning strike prevention, not lightning strike damage minimization. .

then I am willing to listen and act

I'm not sure how you can classify one home in the Villages more of a target than another. In all the cases the study group has documented, there was nothing that would indicate one home being more volunerable than another. In fact the strike in Osceola Hills last month was just an ordinary large designer home.

If there were some technology to prevent lightning strikes that would be great but until there is something like that, that's proven, its best to just install a lightning and surge protection system which is better than doing nothing.

Just to be clear. Eventhough your home is insured, the insurance company is not going to quickly pay a very large claim like this especially if the strike causes a large fire and does a lot of damage. Also, there are not contractors waiting to rush and fix and or rebuild your home. We have documented case information from actual homeowners here in the Villages who can colloborate that it's a life changing event if your home is struck by lightning and it causes a lot of damage. Some of these homeowners have not been able to return to their homes for over a year and in some cases rebuilt as best they could and sold the home. So all this said, you need to determine your tolerance for risk then decide to do what you can or nothing and play the lottery since we live in one of the lightning capitals in the world and there is no denying that fact.

[Topspinmo]

While talking about lightning strikes for those interested here real time lighting strike map for next thunderstorm.
Real Time Lightning Map :: LightningMaps.org