It's more likely that a home will experience different lengths of electrical spikes from transient to brownouts, etc. or a close lightning strike that goes through the ground and gets into the home than a direct hit. So the most you can do is layer protection even with lightning rods. This includes whole home surge, either behind the meter which your utility has to install and will charge for, or on the electrical panel. This is followed by surge protectors, but these differ in quality. SurgeX is about the best there is and the following link is educational, but go on their website, too. Other than that, unplug if and when you can. In a summer electrical storm when I know the lightning is intense and close, that's what I do, plus when I travel. See this:
@eisen0169 That is, of course, excellent advice. The problem I have here is that half the time lightning rolls in I’m either in bed or away and not expecting it. Not to mention the times when power goes out for reasons that have nothing to do with storms. Given the likelihood of lightning strikes near by, plus everything else I keep everything I care about on excellent surge protection devices AND if I’m traveling or aware of incoming storms I also take the time to disconnect the equipment. Also, in the case of the OP, unplugging all of his devices wouldn't have done him any good at all! |
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Panel surge suppression devices will not help in a direct strike situation. Your best strategy is to minimize likelihood of direct strikes by lowering the lightning profile of your house with properly installed “lightning rods”. I use “quotation marks” because they don’t actually divert lightning, but bleed off static charges that would attract lightning. The second part is a more prominent diversionary path for lightning to strike instead of your house. These are matters that require lightning specialists, not for your run of the mill contractor. |
@amitynick -- I'm glad you have that level of Contents Coverage. Just be aware, certain items we own or collect have built in separate maximum amounts of coverage under Homeowners Policies that don't go up to the $350,000 as in your case. Items I mentioned like jewelry, artwork, Coins, Postage Stamps, Watches, Vinyl Collections, etc., have to be covered and listed under Personal Articles Policies for accurate coverage. Be sure to ask your insurance adjustor what exceptions there may be for items covered up to $350,000. Here is an interesting article:
https://www.insuranceopedia.com/do-i-need-special-coverage-for-my-record-collection/7/5672#:~:text=Your%20records%20will%20be%20covered%20under%20your%20home%20insurance%20as%20personal%20property. |
Sorry to see all that damage. However, congrats on having such an excellent looking room for an audio system. High ceilings have worked great for me. Must have sounded great in that room.
Where I live, we have a big storm coming in a few hours. It will be interesting to see how the Grammy Awards will proceed on Sunday. |
wow thank you so much for your thoughtful and caring comments. We actually have a pretty good policy. I’ve got contents insured for $350,000 but it’s not going to be enough that’s OK this is like the ultimate decluttering exercise Some of the stuff really should not be replaced. I have clothing that I haven’t worn in 10 or 15 years and stacks and stacks of books I have already read and a hot air popcorn machine that I never use etc. etc. Anyway, you can bet my stereo equipment is going to be replaced ha ha |
@elliottbnewcombjr -- The other picture Nick posted of his attic is even more frightening. The hole in the roof from what I assume to be the strike looks like a meteor hit the roof! Just unreal. The sound in the house had to be deafening -- I would need an entire new wardrobe of underwear! @amitynick -- Sorry you are enduring this ordeal. One of your comments brings up a VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE for us in this hobby. You said:
I retired when I turned 55 after building an Insurance and Financial Services Corporation over 30 years. Another financial institution made me an offer too good to pass up. One of my "get on a soapbox and preach" situations occurred when I met individuals with valuable art, music, jewelry, gun, hell even baseball card, collections. Almost EVERY ONE of them had no idea that their normal Homeowners Insurance policy had very small limits of coverage for these types of collections. I mean, usually wouldn’t come close to touching the full replacement value. That’s what special Personal Articles Policies are for. Sure, they cost you extra premiums, but nothing compared to the costs if you lose everything and try to buy replacements. I have an Excel spreadsheet listing every vinyl album, Box Set, Bootleg, and CD that I own, along with updated sold prices. I keep the same info for all my Hi Fi gear, guns, jewelry, and Animation Cel Artwork collection. I have my State Farm agent update my Personal Articles coverage every 2 years and I have professional appraisals to back up my coverage claims. Being this diligent may seem to be "anal retentive"...but it might keep you from having to choose which albums or gear to do without after a disaster.
My thoughts and best wishes are with you, @amitynick, as you move forward. I’m glad you have a positive outlook and especially glad you and your Family are safe. That had to be a terrifying ordeal. |
Not that this is necessarily relevant to the OP, but I've been thinking about a roof replacement and reading up on metal roofs. They are no more/less prone to lightning than shingles but compared to asphalt shingles may be much less fire prone. Also, if installed with an offset can offer significantly better heat rejection. |
Those speakers look OK. Does any of the gear still work? When a lighting strike hits a house, I’d assume it always hits a portion of the roof or an antenna, but who has an antenna any longer? Does it automatically destroy anything plugged into an outlet? Does it destroy every electronic device in a house? |
San Antonio TX. Lost all my LP’s except for the boxed sets that were in a different room and didn’t get wet. Believe it or not this is now the 2nd time this house has been hit by lightning First time was 2000 when we moved in did minor damage. You guys would laugh if you could here me trying to explain to the adjuster that these are “audiophile” LP’s not run of the mill records and some are rare and collectible and worth several hundred $$ Then I told her the replacement B&W 801’s price and she just said “wow” I lost a lot of nice guitars too It’s going to be like a second job getting all of these replaced, and deciding which to choose not to replace because we’re gonna go over our maximum allowable limit
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for those of you who didn’t go to the photo on OP’s facebook site
Glad you and yours were all uninjured. Maybe scarred for life at the sound and sight of distant lightning. That looks like a direct strike, must have been LOUD! And the smell of all that melting plastic. Thank goodness you have good insurance. Have fun picking out new stuff. Did you ever take a walk after a big storm, come across a tree that took a direct hit, the smell of burning wood is memorable, bark, and damp inner wood cracked open. |
thanks to everyone for all the well wishes home when it happened and it was like an explosion I went straight up to the attic with a flashlight and saw and smelled and heard a major gas leak so like an idiot I run into the attic, trying to turn valves off when I noticed the fire in the corner and my daughter is screaming at me to get the hell out of there I totally could’ve gotten blown up i anyway we have really good insurance all replacement value they’re going to rebuild the house and I get all new upgraded equipment so it will be very stressful but kind of fun rebuilding a system
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Sorry for your ordeal. 63,000 amps as a peak current is not that much. I have two Siemens protectors in parallel mounted in panel - each rated 60,000 amps peak. The question is how they rated your surge, peak or average and if average then over what time (big difference in energy)? |
A good friend of mine had his house struck by lightning 3 years ago. The lightning only caused a fire on the roof and in the attic. The amount of water the fire department poured on the house ruined everything. They had to strip the entire house down to the studs. The house and contends were a total write off. Took 15 months before they were able to move back in. Read and understand your entire home policy. IMHO |
Was there a whole house surge protector installed ??? 🤣 I’m joking! I’m joking. Damn that looks terrible! What an exceptionally violent lightning strike, glad everyone is OK! While a surge protector would do nothing for this home, 99% of damaging electrical surges are not this bad. Good all around surge protection for home devices still makes sense. |
