Lightning Protection?

[sfx2000]

Protection was always about connecting to earth BEFORE that current can enter a building. As was well understood over 100 years ago.

yeppers... and even in the best laid plans, you'll find that odd hit that no-one ever considered when the site was initially laid out - trees grow, outbuildings built, new connectivity brought in.

 

[westom]

yeppers... and even in the best laid plans, you'll find that odd hit that no-one ever considered when the site was initially laid out - trees grow, outbuildings built, new connectivity brought in.

Exactly. Damage is directly traceable to human failure. For example, outbuildings must have their own single point earth ground. Any conductor between two buildings must always make a connection to each building's earth ground before entering that building. Otherwise a direct strike to one building is a direct strike to appliances in the other building.

Trees have acted as protectors. Since a tree can be a better electrical connector to earth. Some have indicated that white pines located on the western side of a structure provide protection since storms tend to approach from the west. Then a current that would otherwise find earth via a structure, instead, connects to earth via a tree.

When damage happens, a homeowner starts an investigation at a single point earth ground. What entered the building without first connecting to that earth ground? If no grounding mistake exists, then household appliances are undamaged.

In one case, lightning ignored single point earth ground because a better connection was via a graphite vein behind that house. How was the human mistake corrected? Single point earth ground was expanded by encircling that building with a buried copper wire. No more damage once the human mistake was corrected.

Informed humans discover a mistake after damage happens. Naive consumers spend massively on tens of times more expensive, ineffective plug-in protectors or cry, "Woe is me. Nothing can protect from surges."

Protection is always defined by how a surge connects to and is absorbed by single point earth ground. If a human does not make a mistake, then all household appliance remain undamaged. If damage happens, a human investigates to find his mistake.

All solutions center on this concept. A protector (or lightning rod) is only as effective as its earth ground. The 'whole house' solution should provide 99.5% to 99.9% of the protection. Nothing is perfect.