Know How to Protect Your Home From Lightning Strikes

It's an undeniable fact that many home's electrical and plumbing setup got affected till now by lightning. So, it holds a lot of importance to have proper protection in place. In many cases, this natural disaster caused damage to the electrical device, without any knowledge of the owner. So, here is a brief discourse on how to take precaution from a lightning strike.

How Lightning Affects Electric Devices in the Home?

In most cases, lightning hits power cables which are above or below the ground. The lightning feeds the excess voltage through the grid and affects the electrical circuits which are away from the strike area.

It is often heard that how people get affected by the voltage surcharge or spikes caused by lightning. However, the failed electrical system is responsible for such disasters. Here are a few ways as suggested by the electrical engineers in Sydney to prevent the problems from lightning-

1.Surge Protectors: Surge protectors are must to safeguard your electrical system from a lightning strike. As soon as it strikes, the first thing lightning does is a power surge and manage to get into your power system. The electrical power generated by the lightning is much powerful that your appliances can't handle and the entire electrical work gets fried. A single power surge can wipe out all the expensive appliances in seconds. So, a surcharge protector is a must.

However, lightning is the only thing that causes power surge to happen. Power surges can happen by putting too many appliances on one circuit. So, even if you don't live in a lightning prone area, ask your electrical engineering service specialist in Sydney to install the surge protector to stopping the excess electricity from being delivered by hooking up the electrical devices to the surge protector.

If you want to install a surge protector, there are 2 options available. You can ask professionals to install it on the individual outlet, or you can install it to cover the entire household.

2.Unplug Appliances During Lightning Storms: It's the best way to protect your appliances during the natural disasters by unplugging them. Even if the lightning strikes, your electrical wiring won't get fried.

3.Lightning Rods: Lightning rods are often called as air terminals, and used in individual homes as an extra layer of protection against lightning. The combination of aluminium and copper is used for lightning rods that act as a sacrificial layer for protection. Being attractive to lightning, such rods are extremely conductive of electricity. So, whenever the lightning hits home, it's drawn to the rod instead.

Though the tall buildings have their own built-in lightning solution, some residential apartments lack the same level of protection.

No doubt it's worthy of taking precautions, but it all depends on whether you want to take risk or not. When it comes to installing preventive measures, you will have to bear a bit of hassle and expenses. But, without the protection, you may get vulnerable to strike, where you need to do your wiring and piping done again spending more money to fix the damage.