[Lightning]

Many respondents on this tread have pointed out the obvious that the chance of your home being struck by lightning is low. That is true but Emeritus Distinguished Professor Dr. Martin Uman, who heads up lightning research at the University of Florida has been studying lightning for over four decades. In his book, The Art & Science of Lightning Protection, he puts in these terms.
“A typical house in Florida will be struck by lightning about once every 50 years. Said another way, one out of 50 houses in Florida will be struck each year. Often there is little damage ; sometime there is total destruction.”
It is difficult to predict uncertain events with insufficient information. Most people would rather deal in absolutes rather than probabilities.
This would suggest that if you are living in the Lightning Capital of the USA you may wish to do your own due diligence to determine your tolerance for risk. A good place to start would be to read the above book that can be found at the Sumter County Library and to research the National Fire Protection Association’s website for NFPA-780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems, 2023 edition. See page 70, Annex B, Principles of Lightning Protection.
Another alternative is to invite the Study Group on Lightning for a non-commercial free presentation called Lightning Tips for Villagers as discussed elsewhere on this thread.

[sounding]

Originally Posted by Sparky1959

And neither does the fire department.

People don't live in fire departments - but they live homes - until they burn.

[HappyTraveler]

Originally Posted by sounding

People don't live in fire departments - but they live homes - until they burn.

Uhmm, you completely missed his point. He meant the fire houses don't have LPS - which is an interesting point and indicator, if true.

As did the commenter who thought someone might not install an LPS unless they got an insurance premium discount. No, the person asked about that because it is also a worthwhile indicator of how home insurers view both the risk of strikes and/or the probability of an LPS making an important difference in the whole scenario.

Until someone can produce data evidencing otherwise, I'm going with the reality that it's the gas lines that cause the majority of the damage in a strike on a house. Not the strike itself.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by HappyTraveler

Uhmm, you completely missed his point. He meant the fire houses don't have LPS - which is an interesting point and indicator, if true.


...

Villages fire stations not in metal buildings have LPS.

As do other critical Villages infrastructure such as pump stations, storm water control and many commercial buildings in the squares.

Knowing the Villages does not spend a nickle unwisely was a key factor in my install a LPS investment decision.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by sounding

People don't live in fire departments - but they live homes - until they burn.

I'll see your one burned home and raise you 100+ that are not.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Lightning

...
“A typical house in Florida will be struck by lightning about once every 50 years. Said another way, one out of 50 houses in Florida will be struck each year.

Statistics.....

With about 6,000,000 homes in Florida, one out of 50 means about 120,000 homes are struck by lightning each year. That's a large number but I'll have to take the word of the man who has been working in the field for four decades.

Often there is little damage ; sometime there is total destruction.”
...

According to the Insurance Information Institute, which claims association with Lightning Protection Institute, there were 4,780 insurance claims for lightning damage in Florida in 2024 which was down from about 6,000 claims in a previous year. I don't know nearly enough about this institute but *IF* that information is correct then it means:
- Over 114,000 lighting strikes did not cause significant damage
- Only 1 strike out of 20 caused enough damage to file a claim.
- There could have been enough lightning strikes that caused little or no damage to explain the high number of documented LPS strikes

OR, the 1:50 ratio is incorrect

OR, the Insurance Information Institute is understating its numbers

It's been very difficult to find statistics on the number of homes hit by lightning in Florida. In several places I've seen the statistic that says there were 60,000 insurance claims across the country and from that, the 4,780 claims in Florida seems reasonable. I'd like to be able to confirm the 4.780 (or 6,000) number and if I do, I'll add the link to this post.

[HappyTraveler]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

Statistics.....

With about 6,000,000 homes in Florida, one out of 50 means about 120,000 homes are struck by lightning each year. That's a large number but I'll have to take the word of the man who has been working in the field for four decades.....

Thanks for the info, Bill. Very useful and matters much more than excessive promotion based on cherry-picked info or fear-induced decisions.

This is random but, as a researcher, I think you'll appreciate it. A few years ago I was thinking about my grandmother who died in the 1980s by choking to death on a piece of food. It was bugging me b/c it's such an atypical way to die. So, I decide to do some online research and can you believe that I found statistics for how many people died in America, by age group, in the year that she died - 1985. Amazing! Great info is there to be found.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I'll see your one burned home and raise you 100+ that are not.

But that could be your house right? You just will never know who's next and that's the problem.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by HappyTraveler

Uhmm, you completely missed his point. He meant the fire houses don't have LPS - which is an interesting point and indicator, if true.

As did the commenter who thought someone might not install an LPS unless they got an insurance premium discount. No, the person asked about that because it is also a worthwhile indicator of how home insurers view both the risk of strikes and/or the probability of an LPS making an important difference in the whole scenario.

Until someone can produce data evidencing otherwise, I'm going with the reality that it's the gas lines that cause the majority of the damage in a strike on a house. Not the strike itself.

The evidence is homes without gas, only electric, still burn to the ground from a lightning strike. Homes with gas burn down faster because in almost every case, the gas line ignites and now your have a fire that's fueled.

Come to the presentation and I'll show you what actually happens to the gas pipe and you will see for yourself.

[jrref]

Originally Posted by LookingAtTV

jrref, thank you for all your posts on LPS and the way you handled questions/comments from others. Definitely a valuable service provided in regard to homeowners learning about LPS or considering whether or not to invest in such a protection device.

You are welcome. The focus is not to scare people but to make them aware. Unfortunately, lightning is a scary topic because of the devistation it can cause and the only way for people to think about the risk is to show how "real" it is at least here in Central Florida. Once you understand the risk then at least you can make an informed decision to get a system or take your chances. There is no right or wrong everyone has a different tolerance for risk.

I'll tell you a story that happened last year. There was a strike here in the Villages and although it didn't burn down the house, the resulting fire caused enough damage that the homeowners had to live somewhere else for a year until the house was gutted and rebuilt. I remember talking to the owner a day later and all he could say while staring up at the sky was "how could this happen to me?". He couldn't believe his house was singled-out and struck by lightning. This homeowner was very successful in life and he could have easily afforded a LPS sytem which most likely would have saved his home and that life changing event he and his wife had to endure. But a lightning protection system wasn't ever talked about between him and his wife from what I understand. It was never on the radar. We are living in paradise here in the Villages right? Nothing bad can really happen. We are busy playing Golf and Pickleball, helping others and having fun. If they were aware of lightning and had thought about, given their situation, I'm pretty sure they would have had a system installed. After the home was rebuilt, they now have an LPS system installed. After their strike, many people on that same street had lightning protection systems installed.

Here is a picture if their family room and bedroom from the fire. No gas in this house BTW. I saw the home a couple of months later and they had to strip everything down to the cement block and rebuild. Some of the roof structure had to be rebuilt as well.

[Catfishjeff]

Originally Posted by Aces4

Like I said, I'd cancel my home insurance if I subscribed to that thinking.. I most likely will never need it.

We had to rebuild our home in California after the 1994 Northridge earthquake so having full insurance coverage helps us to sleep at night. I suspect there are lightening rods in our future.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by jrref

For some factual information on Lightning and Surge Protection see this link Nextdoor

There was an article in the other online news source here this morning, seemingly using PR from the lightning rod association, that said there had been ten lightning strikes in The Villages in the past twelve months, but it was actually over this summer and last summer, so really two years, not one year. That makes the problem seem twice as bad. I think the article said there have been four strikes here this year, which would mean six last year.

One thing the article stressed is that lightning rod installers are not licensed, so there are a LOT of scam artists out there. You would do well to use Angie’s List to get a reference to a company that has done a lot of them with high ratings.

A copper or copper-clad ground rod for a lightning system is supposed to be driven into the soil at least eight feet deep. In sandy soil, it usually needs to be deeper, or there need to be more rods. I saw one ground rod here a couple years ago that seemed to be about two feet long. Hey! With 60,000 or so houses here, your chance of getting hit is tiny, so if the rod is too short, chances are you’ll never know, and if you are struck by lightning, you may have a hard time finding your installer, right?

[jrref]

Originally Posted by MandoMan

There was an article in the other online news source here this morning, seemingly using PR from the lightning rod association, that said there had been ten lightning strikes in The Villages in the past twelve months, but it was actually over this summer and last summer, so really two years, not one year. That makes the problem seem twice as bad. I think the article said there have been four strikes here this year, which would mean six last year.

One thing the article stressed is that lightning rod installers are not licensed, so there are a LOT of scam artists out there. You would do well to use Angie’s List to get a reference to a company that has done a lot of them with high ratings.

A copper or copper-clad ground rod for a lightning system is supposed to be driven into the soil at least eight feet deep. In sandy soil, it usually needs to be deeper, or there need to be more rods. I saw one ground rod here a couple years ago that seemed to be about two feet long. Hey! With 60,000 or so houses here, your chance of getting hit is tiny, so if the rod is too short, chances are you’ll never know, and if you are struck by lightning, you may have a hard time finding your installer, right?

Typically, grounding rods for a residential lightning protection system are three to four 10ft copper clad rods driven into the ground around your home. Some companies use 20ft ground rods. Although 10ft rods will work fine for homes here in the Villages, the deeper the better for the long term but the 20ft ground rod system will be about $800 more. In either case, at the conclusion of the installation a LPI and or UL Certified installer will take ground readings of your system and give you a copy. Grounding is very important becasue if you don't have a good ground, your system will not work properly. For an additional cost you can have UL come out and inspect your installation and give you a certificate that's good for I believe 5 years if they find it installed correctly.

There are only two companies that do work here in the Villages who are Lightning Protection Institute certified and also UL Certified. They are:

Triangle Lightning Protection: 352-483-7020
A1 Lighning Protection: (352) 465-1773

There are other lightning protection companies working here in the Villages that use UL parts and may be UL certified but best to go to the LPI web page and choose from there. Find a Contractor - Lightning Protection Institute

The article in the Villages News today was written by Len Hathaway, the head of the Villages Lightning Study Group. The Villages Lightning Study Group is a non-profit group here in the Villages that gives presentations to clear up myths and give factual information on the subject so Villagers can make an informed decision on this topic.

For more information on lightning and power surge protection see this link -> Nextdoor

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by sounding

One home in Calumet Grove and the other in Sabal Chase - and neither had lightning rods.

I've never seen an answer on this. I see the lightning rod groupies and the non (which I definitely am) yet I have not seen anyone WITH a rod system that HAS been hit by lightening on that system.

Those are the people I want to hear from. Early in my IT days I worked for an Electrical engineering firm, based on the basics that I learned from those guys these little rods and little cables aren't enough to handle a normal bolt of lightening. If you are one with a rod system and never has been hit, trust me it's NOT because of the rod system, it doesn't work like that.

So where are the ones that have been hit and have the system?

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by jrref

But that could be your house right? You just will never know who's next and that's the problem.

I look at this statement as try to send someone screaming into the night. it COULD be MY House. This would be my reason to not used recommend business in this thread.

Better observation

While lighting strikes are rare, sometimes a little extra protection could help you sleep as Lightning Storms approach.

I don’t do fear factor, one excepts whatever is put in front of you.

If you live for fear of what May come, one may never leave their bedroom.

While we are considering rods, even though our insurance company doesn’t give discounts. I will explore through BBB and recommendations from a few insurance adjusters, I am close to

I get passion about something, your thread would definitely scare my in-laws into adding this protection.