The 2009 edition of NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code includes new requirements for lightning protection. If you only have conventional black pipe with threaded fittings, lightning protection is not required on your gas system. Lightning protection for your gas system is required when corrugated stainless steel tubing, or CSST, is present in the piping system. Or in other words, the system that needs lighting protection, in this case, the gas line, should be connected to the homes main ground system, usually found at the main breaker panel. Here’s what National Electrical Code 250.106 says about lighting protection: The lightning protection system ground terminals shall be bonded to the building or structure grounding electrode system. The home’s electrical wiring is just a path for the power to travel. Surges affect appliances, outlets, and light fixtures but they typically don’t affect wiring. Most of the time, when a powerful surge comes through you’ll find that certain appliances or items that were plugged in at the time of the surge no longer turn on or work the way they should. Surge issues tend to be pretty similar whether a nearby lightning strike has affected your home or it was directly struck by lightning. Since lightning takes the path of least resistance, a nearby strike on your property or in your neighborhood could cause surge issues in your home. What Happens When Lightning Strikes Nearby However, this type of protection doesn’t protect appliances like the washer and dryer, which could also be affected by surges. This type of surge protector is excellent at helping stop surges from affecting the items plugged into the strip. There are two types of surge protectors, the most common is the one that computers, printers, and other office equipment usually get plugged into. Of course, over many years we may not notice that an appliance lasted 10 years when it should have lasted 12 or 15. Over time these small surges can shorten the life of your appliances and electronics. Surges most commonly happen within the home, have you ever noticed that when the AC kicks on the lights dim down for just a second? That’s a surge flowing through your home, it also affects your outlets and appliances, but the light fixtures give us the most visual feedback. Whether the surges happen due to lightning, the power company sends a surge through the line on accident, or a surge occurs within the home a surge protector is a great product to install. When power has reached the earth or slab, it dissipates. The rods should be connected to a ground wire which goes directly to a ground rod (or two) to give the power a path of least resistance away from your home. Most people are probably familiar with the general idea of a lightning rod, a large metal post staked to the roof, so I’ll leave the details up to a lightning rod installation company. While we don’t offer lightning rod installation, some companies specialize in this area. Occasionally, you can see exactly where the lightning entered the home and struck wiring inside the home like this picture below that a customer sent in. It’s impossible to be 100% sure unless there are lightning scorch marks on the item that was damaged, a lightning strike nearby or a power surge from the utility company could cause the same damage to appliances. If enough damage has happened, you might talk to your home insurance company who will request documentation from an electrician stating that all of the damage was from a lightning strike. In a few cases, the heat from the outlet will affect the coating on wires coming into the outlet, when that happens the wires need to be cut back to an unaffected area typically it’s just an inch or two. If an outlet has melted the outlet needs to be replaced, but there aren't many concerns for the wiring in the home. Generally, the damage is pretty contained to those items. Since the home is all connected electrically, you may see some melted outlets, the tv no longer turns on, and while the oven works fine, the clock no longer works. Lightning could strike anywhere on the home, which could lead to fire but will most likely cause surge damage. If your home has been directly hit by lightning, first call the fire department to have them check everything out. What Happens When Lightning Strikes The Home
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