The probability of your home getting struck by lightning may be fairly low. However, recent data suggests that US homeowners had over 70,000 lightning damage claims, making it essential to be prepared regardless. Besides the physical damage, lightning can cause an electrical surge to your electronics and appliances and potentially cause a home fire. Being proactive with your lightning protection can save you from hefty repair costs and headaches. Below are a few ways to protect your home against lightning strikes.
Unplug your electrical gadgets
Lightning may harm your home’s electronics and create structural fires. According to experts, lightning may cause a power surge if it reaches your electrical wiring as its main or secondary path. An electrical surge might damage even non-electrical appliances. A simple yet effective way to protect your home and appliances from harm is to unplug electronic gadgets or appliances before a storm.
Unplugging idle appliances can also save you money on electrical costs while extending your possessions’ life. The more unplugged objects you have throughout the house, the more likely it is that an unexpected power surge may damage your equipment. And this leads to the next point.
Get a surge protector for your entire home
Although lightning is generally the most damaging, a power surge can happen in many ways, including power cuts and short circuits. A surge is a sudden increase in voltage in your electricity supply. You can suffer lightning damage even though it didn’t directly hit your house or any property nearby. For instance, the surges can travel along nearby power, phone, or cable lines.
Significant surges might harm your appliances immediately, while smaller surges may gradually damage them, causing them to fail. For this reason, installing a whole-home surge protector is best for protecting your entire electrical grounding structure.
Install a lightning rod
Lightning generates a tremendous amount of energy and heat. Due to this, commercial and residential structures use lightning rods to securely redirect such currents. Depending on the size of your home, you may have to install several rods and connect them to the metal rod buried underneath. Installing metal rods at the peak of the house and linking it to a copper cable that travels down to the earth is prudent, as electricity can safely spread into the earth via this method.
However, lightning rods are not fool-proof and may not redirect all the energy at certain voltages; some go down into your exposed home. Therefore, engaging an expert would be best since poorly installed lightning rods offer little protection.
Protect your home exterior
Since lightning rods alone cannot protect your home from lightning, it is advisable to think of other ways of guiding strikes away from your home. Because lightning frequently strikes the ground, experts recommend keeping tall trees in your backyard a good distance from your house. You may also bring in an expert to fully inspect your home and garden to guarantee proper lightning protection.
Meanwhile, building components like your roofing have been shown to offer some protection against lightning. For instance, metal roofs are ideal for homes in lightning-prone areas since they will not spark and flare into flames when a lightning strike hits them.