How Important Is Grounding Your Home Against Lightning?

[Lady Tonka]

Western Washington seldom gets the kind of lightning storms the Midwest is famous for, so the recent event in my area was something to see:

Flashy storm slashes area, wakes up many in Tri-Cities | Tri-City Herald - The News Tribune

So naturally I had to go and read the Comments section on that site and a couple of others that talked about the dangers of lightning strikes and how you can even be struck dead inside your home while washing your hands or using the land-line phone if your house isn't properly grounded. :shocked:

Please excuse my massive ignorance as a lightning newbie. How do you tell if your house is grounded correctly? An electrician friend of a friend said something like "Oh, the house should already be grounded if the place isn't too old. A lightning arrestor costs about $500 for materials and the labor to put it on roof plus connect it to every duct and vent and pipe in the house."

Huh? Translation, please, and/or some suggestions about what I should look for on the roof or can do myself for mitigation? Those of you with lots of experience with lightning storms, has your home ever been hit?

Thanks! (I never miss the opportunity to be OCD about some new perceived threat.)

 

[lockhaven]

your electric company should be able to let you know about grounding it should be at you service entrance. Unless you are at the top of a hill with no other things higher then your house not much to worry about. Use common sense stay off the phone turn off all electronic things computer tv stereo. Lightening can and will strike any where only caution will prevent injury, do not take a bath during a storm.

 

[boggen]

not much a lighting person. many farmers non directly hit by lighting. lighting would hit a field fence, and send the charge down the line, nocking them off tractor or away from fence.

proper regular grounding of a home and nearby homes. can be a big deal. have heard more stories of stray electricity form bad grounds. and problems with stuff. breakers tripping, fuses blowing, GFCI recepticals tripping, other electronics sensitive to static electricity dieing.

on another thought, have read stories setting up lighting rods. is more like trying to invite a lighting hit.

static electricity, can be a problem. at different friends houses over years you can almost feel the static electricity build up. and move some as you watch folks hair stand on end.

i see/hear more notes/stories of trees getting hit by lighting strikes than a house.

there are many ways to properly ground. and some of the ways, allow for grounding to a metal water pipe in the house. to be used as a ground rod or secondary ground. (bunch of do's and do not's)

 

[lockhaven]

your electric company should be able to let you know about grounding it should be at you service entrance. Unless you are at the top of a hill with no other things higher then your house not much to worry about. Use common sense stay off the phone turn off all electronic things computer tv stereo. Lightening can and will strike any where only caution will prevent injury, do not take a bath during a storm. I have lost a TV and had a charge bar get sacrificed but it saved the computer, brave little thing it was. live free of fear look at the odds of lightning striking your home:lightningbolt: oh ****

 

[lockhaven]

boggen I have never seen this you split my post must be the lightning

 

[dex3361]

There are ground test meters that can tell you if your ground rod is making good contact with the earth. Here is the model that I use. You place clamps (similar to amp clamps) and the meter will read the actual the connection to earth in Ohms. I shoot for 3 ohms or less to ground.

 

[Branchchipper]

Lady Tonka- you do not need to ground your house for lightning west of the Cascades!

We have so little lightning compared to the midwest and SE that it is statistically nonexistent.
If your home was built to code your electrical system is grounded already, and it or your plumbing (if you have metallic pipes) will take a strike to ground if it occurs (albeit not without some damage).

My job took me to a number of lightning strikes here over the past 30 years, but I can count all the homes (or other buildings) hit on one hand, and none of those involved injuries.

Go buy a few Lotto tickets- I'd say your chances of winning something are quite a bit higher than your chances of being harmed inside your house by lightning in western WA.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

There are ground test meters that can tell you if your ground rod is making good contact with the earth. Here is the model that I use. You place clamps (similar to amp clamps) and the meter will read the actual the connection to earth in Ohms. I shoot for 3 ohms or less to ground.

That's a really good ground. Code for a service ground is 25 ohms.

 

[wyeguy]

Be aware that lightning arresters do not guarantee protection. The utility I work for used to offer them for placement at the meter. This basically protected them from anything that got through the utilities protection system. One customer that had one installed took a shot of lightning on their metal shed, downstream from all the protection. Maybe the arrested clamped the surge coming back from the customers side, but not after it fried a bunch of their appliances, etc.

 

[jonyyuma]

Regardless of your home grounding, you will be better protected if you use a surge arrestor type strip to plug in your computer and televisions. I certainly hope you have grounding recepticles too..