Post by KeithL on Jul 17, 2024 10:03:16 GMT -5
There are very different things involved with "surge protectors" and lightning rods.
A lightning strike is a huge spark, which can be miles long, and contain as much energy as a small nuclear bomb...
A powerful direct strike can blow a hole in a cement wall or reduce a utility pole to toothpicks...
Nothing is going to stop a lightning strike... and that includes a lightning rod...
A lightning rod works because it is attached to a heavy electrical conductor that is very firmly connected to ground...
The lightning rod offers the strike a nice convenient path for it to take to ground instead of going through your house.
(The lightning rod is a big hunk of metal that is hard to damage... and easily replaced if necessary.)
The power grid, and the structures and poles that make it up, are both actually FREQUENTLY hit by lightning.
But the grid also contains the equivalent of lightning rods, and other extremely heavy duty lightning suppression gear, designed to carry current from strikes to ground.
What we call "a surge" is generally one of a few things:
1. It could be a tiny portion of a nearby lightning strike that "gets past" the heavy duty protection on the power grid itself.
2. It could be a jump in the local voltage due to something like a short or other malfunction on a nearby line or transformer.
3. It could be a jump in the power supplied to an entire area - possibly due to a generator malfunction.
4. It could be the result of a temporary "irregularity" when power is restored after an outage or blackout.
(For code and testing purposes a "typical surge" is considered to be "up to around 6,000 volts".)
Small relatively low cost surge suppressors generally work by "shorting the surge to ground".
These generally use devices called MOVs (metal-oxide varistors) to conduct the current entering local circuitry from the surge to ground.
It is hoped that they will either "ground out most of the surge", or "force a circuit breaker to pop", either of which will protect what's attached to them.
These sorts of surge suppressors are reasonably effective for small-to-moderate-sized surges that don't occur very often.
The MOVs these use are small and cheap, activate very quickly, and can carry a MASSIVE amount of current for a short time (relative to their size and cost).
The "catch" is that, with repeated "hits", they eventually weaken and fail (and they often "pop" or "blow" when they do fail.)
(The technical term for surge suppressors that wear out after repeated activations is "sacrificial" - they "sacrifice themselves to do their job".)
Better models of this type include an indicator to tell you when they should be replaced (and you really should replace them when indicated).
Low cost models that lack this should probably be replaced after "a known big hit"...
This makes them not the best option in areas where major surges are known to occur frequently.
There are better, and far more expensive, options for whole home protection in areas where major power surges are common.
These include options like series-mode suppressors, which DO NOT wear out, and can withstand almost unlimited surges...
(The catch there is that units with the overall capacity necessary to protect an entire home are quite large and very expensive.)
It is almost certain that a unit capable of protecting an entire home, but that fits inside a power meter, would be of the MOV type.
But, if you're worried about a direct lightning strike ON A STRUCTURE... then you want a lightning rod or similar "system"...
(A lightning rod will WILL NOT protect you from a surge; and a surge suppressor WILL NOT protect you from a direct physical strike.)
FPL and Peace River (PRECO) offer surge protected meters installs with a monthly fee... every so often they offer free installs; otherwise, it's like $24.95. I never looked into it, but it seems that lightning rods are still a thing... even in Florida.
www.floridalightningprotection.com/
A lightning strike is a huge spark, which can be miles long, and contain as much energy as a small nuclear bomb...
A powerful direct strike can blow a hole in a cement wall or reduce a utility pole to toothpicks...
Nothing is going to stop a lightning strike... and that includes a lightning rod...
A lightning rod works because it is attached to a heavy electrical conductor that is very firmly connected to ground...
The lightning rod offers the strike a nice convenient path for it to take to ground instead of going through your house.
(The lightning rod is a big hunk of metal that is hard to damage... and easily replaced if necessary.)
The power grid, and the structures and poles that make it up, are both actually FREQUENTLY hit by lightning.
But the grid also contains the equivalent of lightning rods, and other extremely heavy duty lightning suppression gear, designed to carry current from strikes to ground.
What we call "a surge" is generally one of a few things:
1. It could be a tiny portion of a nearby lightning strike that "gets past" the heavy duty protection on the power grid itself.
2. It could be a jump in the local voltage due to something like a short or other malfunction on a nearby line or transformer.
3. It could be a jump in the power supplied to an entire area - possibly due to a generator malfunction.
4. It could be the result of a temporary "irregularity" when power is restored after an outage or blackout.
(For code and testing purposes a "typical surge" is considered to be "up to around 6,000 volts".)
Small relatively low cost surge suppressors generally work by "shorting the surge to ground".
These generally use devices called MOVs (metal-oxide varistors) to conduct the current entering local circuitry from the surge to ground.
It is hoped that they will either "ground out most of the surge", or "force a circuit breaker to pop", either of which will protect what's attached to them.
These sorts of surge suppressors are reasonably effective for small-to-moderate-sized surges that don't occur very often.
The MOVs these use are small and cheap, activate very quickly, and can carry a MASSIVE amount of current for a short time (relative to their size and cost).
The "catch" is that, with repeated "hits", they eventually weaken and fail (and they often "pop" or "blow" when they do fail.)
(The technical term for surge suppressors that wear out after repeated activations is "sacrificial" - they "sacrifice themselves to do their job".)
Better models of this type include an indicator to tell you when they should be replaced (and you really should replace them when indicated).
Low cost models that lack this should probably be replaced after "a known big hit"...
This makes them not the best option in areas where major surges are known to occur frequently.
There are better, and far more expensive, options for whole home protection in areas where major power surges are common.
These include options like series-mode suppressors, which DO NOT wear out, and can withstand almost unlimited surges...
(The catch there is that units with the overall capacity necessary to protect an entire home are quite large and very expensive.)
It is almost certain that a unit capable of protecting an entire home, but that fits inside a power meter, would be of the MOV type.
But, if you're worried about a direct lightning strike ON A STRUCTURE... then you want a lightning rod or similar "system"...
(A lightning rod will WILL NOT protect you from a surge; and a surge suppressor WILL NOT protect you from a direct physical strike.)
www.floridalightningprotection.com/
