[jrref]

Originally Posted by Altavia

Understood, and good to be sceptical and get a second opinion.

However, based at least on my education and experience, and how much lightening we get here, I agree that a surge was a likely cause. The service tech probably had the same guidance from their experiences/training.

My general rule of thumb is if the cost to protect was more than 10% of the cost to replace, I'd probably not go for it.

Maybe higher if it risks going without air conditioning in August

We will never know for sure but the company the tech worked for has probably seen and above average amount of failures and some may have been from an induced power surge which is why he brought it up. He probably should have told the homeowner to get a whole house surge procector like the Eaton Ultra and pointed him to an electrical contractor like Pikes or Lenhardt. Putting a surge protector on the air handler will only protect that one device while the whole house surge protector would protect everything.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Altavia

The Villages installs LPS on critical infrastructure including many buildings in the squares, emergency response buildings, pump stations, etc.

You're most likely to see residental LPS near homes that have previously been stuck by lightening

I'm aware of at least three homes within 3mi of Everglades Rec center stuck, two severely damaged by fire, and repair had not started over a year later.

Homes south of 44 have metallic flexible gas lines in the attic. Strikes have occurred at the front corner of the garage where a steel pipe connects gas from there meter to flexible gas line in the attic.

There's other threads with more info if you want to search.

Lightning Strikes in The Villages

5775 Henry Loop Linden Isle, June 2023

There are many sad stories like this one where a home was totally destroyed by lightning. We have documented stories where the homeowners were home when the strike happened and were able to call the fire department and prevented the house from burning down where as this one I believe the homeowners were away during the event and by the time the neighbors saw the fire, it was too late. Many will say that there insurance covers everything which is true but it can take a year or longer to have you home re-built and there is no recovery for the loss of all your personal or family items. I can tell you though, when this kind of tragedy happens people realize the risk is real and get a Lightning Protection system. Then they usually have to wait becasue the few certified installers get overwhelmed with work.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Play

“This morning, Waltham Firefighters responded to reports of multiple fires in Waltham due to a power surge,” a statement on the city’s website read.

The Boston Globe reports that the surge caused a fire in a single-family home on School Avenue. They also say that no one was injured, but 6 people were displaced.

⚠️𝘼𝙇𝙀𝙍𝙏! Eversource has experienced a power surge that has impacted various areas of Waltham. Traffic signals have been effected – Use caution! If you've experienced an outage, do not reuse power strips/surge protectors. More info will be relayed as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/1VbsP6odmu

— City Of Waltham (@CityofWaltham) June 19, 2023
The blaze started when two light fixtures located near the front of the house exploded due to the surge and spread to the house, the Globe reports.
--------------------------------------------------------------

hmmm. . . . . might be something to consider since it does happen with electricity occasionally, even without lightning. .

but if you only consider your own personal experience, yours might have an insignificant sample size.. .

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Play



hmmm. . . . . might be something to consider since it does happen with electricity occasionally, even without lightning. .

but if you only consider your own personal experience, yours might have an insignificant sample size.. .

May or may not protect you but for us we figured it was cheap insurance so why not.

[photo1902]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

May or may not protect you but for us we figured it was cheap insurance so why not.

Same here.