Lightning Rod For House

Not every home needs lightning rod protection.

Lightning rod for house.

In areas of the u s. Although it is impossible to know who constructed and erected the first lightning rod it is believed that benjamin franklin was first responsible for the widespread use of. Without lightning rods also known as finials life would be a much more dangerous place to live especially if you are in a tall building during a ferocious storm. We hear this question a lot and the answer is not always cut and dry.

Lightning striking a house could cause structure fires as well as electrical damage to appliances and home electronics. It connects to a huge piece of copper or aluminum wire that s also an inch or so in diameter. Many people believe that lightning rods attract lightning. How lighting rods work.

Where thunderstorms are seasonal problems lightning rods on the house could be practical safety measures. If lightning hits the structure it will preferentially strike the rod and be conducted to ground through a wire instead of passing through the structure where it could start a fire or cause electrocution. A single lightning bolt carries 100 million to 1 billion volts of electricity. Lightning rods and the accompanying protection system are designed to protect a house or building from a direct lightning strike and in particular a lightning initiated fire.

In this installment we ll examine the variables helping you determine whether or not your home may be in need of lighting protection. The rod might be an inch 2 cm in diameter. Note that lightning protection systems do not prevent lightning from striking the structure but rather intercept a lightning strike provide a conductive path for the. A lightning rod us aus or lightning conductor is a metal rod mounted on a structure and intended to protect the structure from a lightning strike.