Does a Whole House Surge Protector Protect Against Lightning?

Lightning is one of the most dangerous events that Mother Nature can conjure up. While the odds of being hit by lightning are extremely low, it can do damage in other ways by starting fires and destroying equipment. Given all of the electrical equipment that is constantly working in your home, a direct lightning strike poses a significant threat.

So, will having whole house surge protection in place guard you against costly damage from lightning during a storm? That question will be addressed below. And, if you need to work with a Greensboro electrician for any reason, be sure to turn to the team at Berico for help.

What a Whole House Surge Protector Can, And Can’t, Do

Whole house surge protectors are an excellent safeguard against most forms of electrical surge. According to Berico’s Mark Onuffer, “It is known that in our area we have 14 to 16 power surges everyday in our homes.” These spikes can happen for a number of reasons, including random jumps in power coming from the electrical grid, or even large appliances cycling on and off. Dealing with these mild but frequent surges can stress your electronics and gradually wear them out over time. With a surge protector in place that serves your entire home, these ongoing threats will be mitigated.

Lighting is a different story, however. There is obviously a tremendous amount of energy contained in a single lightning strike, and that energy goes beyond what a standard surge protector is designed to handle. So, if a direct strike occurs, the lightning still has the potential to overwhelm the system and cause damage. With that said, not all lightning events are direct strikes, so your protector could help when a nearby strike sends some additional energy through your system.

Taking Other Measures During Storm Season

It’s a great idea to install a whole home surge protector for a number of reasons, including for at least some protection from lightning strikes. There are also other actions you can take during storm season, or in advance of a big storm arriving, that will reduce your chances of experiencing costly damage.

One simple thing you can do is unplug expensive appliances and other electronics when you know a major lightning storm is in the area. This might be a temporary inconvenience as you’ll have to live without those things for a short time, but they will be safe from a surge if they aren’t plugged into the grid at all. Also, before storm season, you could look into having a lightning rod added to your property. Lightning rods are designed to protect the structure by safely directing lightning energy into the ground, while whole-house surge protectors are designed to protect wiring and electronics from voltage spikes that travel through the electrical system.

Don’t Wait Any Longer

Hiring Berico for home surge protector installation is a choice that can benefit you far beyond the risk of a lightning strike. Home service expert Onuffer continues, “At Berico, we suggest a whole house surge protection, so that the power surges don’t do damage to your HVAC, well pumps, air purifiers, computers, televisions, etc.  Even with a whole house surge protector we would still recommend a surge protection strip for you in home electronics because they are very sensitive to power issues.” Having this safety feature in place will lend you great peace of mind and make it far less likely that anything in your house will be damaged by the grid. For more information, reach out today to chat with the friendly Berico team.