Replies

1. 
   Nuke | Feb 04, 2006 07:33pm | #1

   If you got a nearby neighbor how about installing them on their place instead? :)

2. 
   gstringe | Feb 04, 2006 08:02pm | #2

   Start here but do a google search on lightning protection and you will find all the info you need.
   http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/lpts.html

   I like your approach....now lets see your departure
3. 
   Rickie | Feb 04, 2006 08:07pm | #3

   The systems I'm familiar with have 'rods' about eight inches high at regular intervals along the ridge and atop a chimney mass or other high points. They do attract lightning, that's the point, but they attract it from the very immediate area, meaning it would hit the house and not the rods if the rods weren't there. With a properly installed system there is no risk of increasing the number or frequency of lightning strikes to your house. A whole house surge protector also fits in well with the basic objective of this system.

4. 
   FrankDuVal | Feb 04, 2006 09:26pm | #4

   I think they provide a cone of protection. Military installation use them to protect explosives from lightning strikes. They think it works!

   check out: http://www.loehrlightning.com/services.html

   Frank DuVal

   You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
5. 
   DanH | Feb 04, 2006 10:58pm | #5

   A proper system, properly installed, will definitely protect the building from lightning (though no such protection is 100% perfect).

   DIY protection would be pretty iffy -- it's a fairly arcane art, due to the bizarre way that lightning behaves.

   So the question is whether it's worth the (considerable) expense. One thing to do is to check with your insurance company to see how much of a discount you'd get.

   At the very least be sure to properly ground any roof-top antennas. Things like wood stove flues should probably also be grounded, with a substantial ground wire. (Generally, furnace flues will be grounded through the furnace wiring and ductwork, but an additional ground there wouldn't hurt. Most plumbing vents are now plastic and not a problem.)

   Also, of course, have a lightning arrester installed behind your electric meter or in the breaker panel.

   If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people

   happy?