C4-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 11, 1986
Protecting your home from lightning
NEWARK. DE - Thun
derstorms and lightning are
common occurences this time of
year. Once lightning strikes it’s too
late to avoid damage, but the
proverbial ounce of prevention is
well worth the more expensive
pound of cure.
According to University of
Delaware extension building
specialist Dr. Jim Scarborough,
many people experience lightning
damage to their homes, appliances
and trees that could have been
prevented.
Over the entire earth lightning
strikes about 100 times a second.
The continental United States gets
about 90 million strikes a year. “In
the Delaware area, our 45 days of
thunderstorm activity annually
average between 50 and 60 light
ning strikes per square mile,” says
Scarborough.
“It’s time to dispel the myth that
lightning never strikes the same
place twice,” Scarborough says.
“Just the opposite is true. A tower
house once hit by lightning is more
likely to be hit again than one that
has never been struck.”
How can you protect yourself?
The expert says, “If you’re in
doors, stay away from the TV,
radio and electrical appliances.
Better yet turn them off. Lightning
can enter through electrical wiring
if an outside line is hit. An outdoor
antenna or TV cable gives even
better access.
Also stay away from your
fireplace, wood stove or chimney.
Often the chimney is the highest
part of a house and thus the most
susceptible to lightning strikes.
Soot deposits inside the chimney
are good conductors to the inside of
a house. Probably the best place to
be during a severe lightning storm
is the middle of your bedroom.”
If you’re outside, seek shelter in
a large store or building. These are
usually metal frame structures
with adequate built in protection.
One of the safest places to be is
inside your car with the windows
and doors shut, as long as the car
has a metal roof.
If you’re caught in an open area
such as a field or golf course, lie
down in a depression such as a
ditch or culvert. On a golf course
put your clubs into the bag-don’t
wave around your own personal
lightning rod. Stay off the green
and away from isolated trees.
Stay away from pools, lakes and
rivers, and get out of the water if
you are swimming-lightning is
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ORGANIC CENTER
217 S. Railroad Ave., New Holland, PA 17557
Ph. 717-354-*7064 Horn* Ph. 215-273-2683 6-6:45 A.M.
Not open full time in mid-winter, Drop a card for literature or a
visit or appointment.
attracted to water, and you don’t
have to be in it to be hurt. If
lightning doesn’t find a ground In
the water, it will travel to the
closest ground or shore, possibly a
beach umbrella.
Lightning protection for a house
or farm should be installed by a
professional contractor
specializing in this type of work
and using Underwriter’s
Laboratories-approved equip
ment, Scarborough says. This is
not a job for a homeowner since
specific guidelines for placement
must be followed and the cables
must be securely bonded together
or the installation will be useless.
A protection system consists of
the following components:
• Air Terminals-These metal
tubes or rods are installed at every
high point of a building such as roof
peaks, dormers, gables, chimneys,
ventilators and silo tops. These
terminals are 10 to 24 inches long
and spaced about 20 feet apart
along the roof peak or perimeter of
a flat, roof. They are clamped
directly to the conductor cable.
(Avoid ornamentation or weather
vanes on terminals or cables as
they may weaken the terminal
mounting.)
* Conductors-These are heavy
copper or aluminum wires which
connect the air terminals and any
antennas (such as for the TV) with
the ground. Conductors are
fastened to the roof about every 3
feet. If you live close to the shore,
use only copper conductors as
aluminum reacts with salt air.
• Grounds-These provide
contact with the earth to dissipate
a lightning charge. Usually two are
needed for each building, but more
are required for larger and more
complex structures. Grounds
should be deep enough to reach
moist earth-about 10 feet in this
area. They’re usually a copper
clad steel rod, but may be a buried
metal plate or even a water supply
line.
* Lightning Arresters-These
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guard against damage that might
occur via electrical or telephone
lines. They’re available for the
main power line, the telephone and
the TV. '
* Bonds-These are in
terconnectors for metal parts
usually clamps. If bonds are not
installed properly, a high
resistance to electricity will occur
and a side flash of lightning is
possible.
Don’t forget the trees around
your house, Scarborough says.
They can be severely damaged or
ruined by lightning, and a tree
falling on your house is not the kind
of excitement you need during a
thunderstorm.
Trees can be protected by
securing one or more 10-inch air
terminals at the highest stable part
of the tree that can be safely
reached. Very large or wide trees
may need several air terminals.
Conductors are mounted with long
shank screw fasteners to keep
them from contacting the tree and
damaging it if lightning should
strike.
The ground rod should be sunk
beyond the tree’s branch line to
avoid damage to the root system.
This usually means burying the
cable. Consider protecting trees
close to the house, primary shade
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trees or ornamental trees, and the
tallest tree in a grove if possible.
How powerful is lightning?
“Think of your car’s electrical
system,” says Scarborough. “The
current in this system can give yor
arm a jolt if you touch it. Multiply
this by about one hundred times
and you have the current in your
entire house, which can kill you.
Household current multiplied a
thousand times can leap a 12-inch
gap. Multiply that by 100,000 and
you have the power of a lightning
bolt, which can explode a major
building.
Scientifically, lightning is the
electrical discharge that reunites
masses of oppositely charged
storm-generated ions. Scar
borough gives an example; “All of
us have had the experience of
walking across a rug and then
creating a spark when we touched
a doorknob. We’ve just generated a
type of lightning. Your body can
build up a charge of up to 7,000
volts; to release it a spark jumps to
the metal object with the opposite
charge. The jolt you get is from the
amperage, which in this case is
only in the millionths of an amp
range-very small.”
lightning is generated in a
somewhat similar matter, the
engineer says. Negative ions form
in the lower part of storm clouds
due to the formation of rain, up
drafts and other causes. The earth
has positive ions, and as the cloud
moves, these tend to follow it on
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the ground, over trees, up
buildings-always striving to make
contact with Ugfctou^fcarge.
According tothe'spaialist, when
a cloud charge is large enough to
overcome the insulation from the
air-such as when the cloud-to
ground distance is reduced-the
cloud sends down a stroke leader
which is jagged, since moving air
has different insulation values.
This stroke is only faintly luminous
and generally not visible. When
contact is made with the positive
ions on the ground, the highly
visible return stroke occurs.
To dissipate its electrical
energy, a lightning bolt must
eventually find an electrical
ground such as wet earth, a water
pipe or a ground rod. “Lightning
will jump long distances, blow
holes through concrete walls,
travel along electrical wires or
fences, even furrow through the
earth in order to find a good
ground,” Scarborough says.
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