This Is Why People Are Investing In Lightning Protection

A Lightning Protection In Murrieta!

Lightning protection is an affordable amenity that offers protection against a leading cause of property damage. The purpose of protection of lightning is to intercept the lightning strike and carry it to ground. Lightning protection is a great investment and an inexpensive component of the overall security.

As a rule of thumb, lightning protection is typically less expensive than other building systems and amenities like security, plumbing, generators and specialty lighting fixtures.

Should you invest in lightning protection?

The lightning protection system provides a path for lightning to go to the ground without damaging your home. Aluminum or copper Lightning rods are installed on your roof. Those lightning rods are connected to aluminum cables, which take the electricity safely around the home and down into the ground.

“It’s just looking to dissipate and looking for whatever metal it can find to get to ground or whatever will conduct it best, and that’s what the copper will do. The cooper will conduct lightning straight to ground to avoid any physical damage to the building,” Northeast designer Seth Beecher said,

The technology has improved over the decades. More than 20 years ago, it was thought that having a sharp tip on the end of the lightning rod was best for providing a good strike point, but now they go with a rounded tip, which has better success. Lightning rods are designed to be hit over and over again. Check more here.

How Lightning Protection Works

How does lightning come into play with this hi-pot test? We know that the product was tested to be good to 2300VDC in the case of our controller. Remember, we tied the plus and minus wires together and applied a very high voltage to the circuit. Because we had them all tied together, it did not cause a problem with the low voltage parts in the product.

Even though there was a high voltage applied, the difference between leads of the individual components is zero. That is until there is a breakdown in the insulation or air gaps designed to withstand this high voltage. When there is a breakdown, the hi-pot machine will only put out 3 milliamps. This usually does not hurt the product. The breakdown point gets corrected, the product gets tested again and hi-potted again.

Now when a real near lightning strike is induced into the wiring of a system, a very similar thing happens as the hi-pot test. The lightning will continue to rise sometimes to 100,000 volts. There are no consumer products made that can withstand that high of induced voltage. They typically have about 10 to 20% margin of safety over and above the 2300V requirement. It costs money and space to have a higher breakdown voltage, so design margins are typically slim. Read more here.

Protection of lightning can be installed for existing structures and new construction, as options are available to incorporate installation at just about any phase of construction.

Why do we need lightning protection?

The effects of a direct strike are obvious and immediately apparent – buildings damaged, trees blown apart, personal injuries and even death. However, the secondary effects of lightning – the short duration, high voltage spikes called transient overvoltages can, and do, cause equally catastrophic, if less visually obvious, damage to the electronic systems inside a building.

Protecting electronic systems
We are continually meeting people who have structural lightning protection for their building, but have suffered damage to the – unprotected – electronic systems within. Simply stated, a structural lightning protection system cannot and will not protect the electric systems within a building from transient overvoltage damage.

A total solution
A reliable lightning protection scheme must encompass both structural lightning protection and transient overvoltage (electric systems) protection. That’s why we advocate a Total Solution approach to lightning protection – to ensure complete protection of your employees, the fabric of your building and the electronic systems therein. See full article here.

Lightning Protection Can Work For Your Home Or Business

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