A lightning rod in a private home: how to organize the lightning protection of the house and land

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In Soviet times, the presence of a lightning rod (for scientific — lightning) in the house was mandatory. Diagram of lightning protection of the house were published in the books on Economics, encyclopedias of the household and even in school textbooks. To collect the simplest device could even child. Now the device of a lightning rod in a private home is not required. It is believed that if there are so many infrastructural facilities, they will certainly take the brunt. Pretty bold assumption.

AB Contour | Ksenia Litvinova G.

Why you need lightning protection
According to statistics, the vast majority of lightning strikes to the elements, especially near the cities, take on industrial objects — lightning rods on high buildings, masts, power lines, etc. Therefore, the issues of the lightning protection device in a private house in the list of homeowner worries went by the wayside. Requirement even withdrew from the norm in old Soviet “Instructions for installation of lightning protection of buildings and structures” (RD 34.21.122-87 sample 1987) was a line about objects that required lightning protection class III. In a more recent version of the Manual (so 153-34.21.122-2003) private houses and summer cottages places and not found.

But relax homeowners, alas, early.

Photo from stroikairemont.com

1. Lightning hit increasingly
Fires from lightning occur relatively infrequently (tens of cases per year), but year on year is not necessary. For example, in the summer of 2019, forecasters in the news constantly reported about the anomalous storm activity and frequent fires in different regions of the world. Meteorologists attribute this phenomenon to global warming. According to forecasts, the storm activity will only increase.

Architectural Bureau “NEEDLES”

2. Suffer wiring and electronics
Not all hits of lightning cause fires. But too often, thunderstorm electricity disables home electronics and electrical equipment, burns through the roof and breaks the chimney. And it’s not dozens, but thousands of cases per year in the region. In almost any case, the repair and restoration of property cost more than normally made by the lightning protection of private houses under the key.

3. Non-insurance case
The lack of lightning protection of the country house can give a reason for insurance companies to deny you compensation, if during a storm your property has suffered. This is an element of force majeure.

Jordi Folch

Who is at risk

  • Residents of areas with thunderstorm activity more than 10 hours per year. If you believe the maps of the Soviet era, in Russia’s all regions, except the far North and the Far East. And farther South — the more often raging storm. For example, as the long-term observations in different zones of the middle band of thunderstorm activity is 40-80 hours a year. It is constantly growing and, as we understand, will continue to grow.
  • Owners of houses standing in a field or on a high hill. Be prepared for the fact that your home will have to take care of all the discharges of thunderstorm electricity. Yes, they can get a tall tree or electric pole, but it is better not to rely on it.

VTrim

  • The owners of the highest homes in the area. Under the “most high” means not only the number of floors and the presence of heights: chimneys, antenna masts, towering above the ridge, finials, weathervanes, etc.
  • Homeowners with a conductive roofing. For example, iron or copper roof. The risk of lightning in such houses is much higher. Almost no difference, grounded to the roof or not.
  • Owners of single-storey buildings, seeking cover from the nearby buildings, too, should not relax. Not the fact that the neighborhood is a good lightning rod.
  • It turns out that lightning protection is necessary for all or almost all homeowners.

    There is the opinion that Some “experts” claim that the lightning rod is not needed, as it will collect all the lightning in the area. But, first, lightning element unpredictable. And second, the “invite” to the house of the zipper to meet with her need to prepare thoroughly.

Photo from stellait.ru

How to protect house from lightning
At the moment there are two types of lightning protection — active and passive.

Active lightning protection of a private house, appeared relatively recently. It is based on lightning (pictured), equipped with a special ionizer that their impulses “attracts” lightning and “provokes” her hit me. Install a lightning protection can only by certified professionals.

Passive lightning — the classic version of lightning protection, used widely. Equipment you can buy in the store and install yourself (or even make yourself).

A lightning protection device: three main parts
The most simple lightning protection for the private house consists of three parts: the lightning arrestors and grounding devices.

Scheme of the website stellait.ru

KAMEYA

Lightning takes on lightning, and is of three types.

1. Rod receiver (pictured above) is the usual metal pin which is fixed so as to become the highest point in the space. Such receivers are typically used to protect small buildings of simple architecture.

2. Cable receiver — rope attached to wooden poles and stretched across the length of the roof ridge. Used less often than the core receivers, mainly to protect the low buildings.

Scheme of the website orenburgelectro.ru

3. Metal mesh from steel, aluminum, etc. pull It over the entire roof area and fixed on a wooden or a special non-conductive supports. For protection of private houses practically applied.

Electrodes of the charge from the lightning to the grounding. Represents the same steel wire or metal strip with one end welded to the lightning, and the other to the grounding.

The ground — buried conductors, “descending” electric charge into the ground.

Igor K

In the diagram below: project lightning protection of a residential home.

Lightning protection is usually provided for by the project at home or cottage and is installed directly in the construction of the building. But if lightning protection system is missing or faulty (after lightning strike) — it can be purchased in the store or even make yourself.

Manufacturers of electrical equipment offer ready-made solutions lightning protection and grounding. The kit (pictured – an example from the site tdm-elektro.ru) includes lightning, grounding of corrosion-resistant materials (stainless steel and galvanized) and related elements: the fixture and the contact group.

The main advantages of ready-made solutions is the lack of “thin places” and the increased reliability of connections. The price of the kits lightning protection turnkey — from 8 thousand roubles.

Photo from ocenin.ru

How to make lightning at home
In my childhood, grandpa made the lightning rod for a country house with his own hands. And fires during thunderstorms in his SNT, where all the houses were equipped with lightning protection, it was not. In contrast to the neighboring array: there is a house not often, but it burned. A makeshift lightning rod in the private house of his grandfather, was a lightning rope of steel wire with a cross section of 5 mm (horizontally on the mast and over the roof ridge so as not touch the surface of the roof) and the ground electrode in the form of stakes driven into the ground a piece of rebar.

Photo from m-strana.ru

You can make it even simpler, using lightning steel rod (e.g., a piece of rebar) with a diameter of 10-18 mm and lengths from 250 mm.

Fact: Lightning rod (or rather his lightning) can be placed not only on the roof of the house, but close to home — on any high object: antenna mast, a pole, a tall tree. In the latter case the tree will also be protected, but the metal rod has to be elevated above the crown of not less than 1.5 m.

Kenneth M Wyner Photography Inc

Photo: in this project, the lightning set a tree growing in the house. If you look closely, you can see the collector coming down along the trunk

Roof turnkey

For a collector it is better to take a steel wire of diameter not less than 6 mm (or a steel tape with a thickness of 2 mm and a width of 30 mm). One end should be welded to the lightning, the other to the ground. If a house is built of non-combustible materials (brick, stone, etc.), the susceptor can be mounted on the outside of the building, away from Windows and doors.

Fact: the Number of electrodes depends on the type of lightning. Core enough of a collector, rope or mesh two.

Photo from amperof.ru

Old Soviet books had said to do a ground loop in the form of multiple connected conductors. Calculation of the characteristics of lightning and contour (length, section, depth) for large objects produced by complex formulas that take into account the configuration of the building, type of Foundation, the characteristics of the soil. In a country house are easier: lay a certain margin of safety to avoid misfires.

Photo from elnes.ru

For example, the use of ground dug or driven into the ground conductors of: steel rebar, angle, etc. Fit two metal rods connected by a jumper, buried in the ground for 2-3 m at a distance of not less than three meters from each other. Moreover, the jumper should be placed a little more than half a meter under the ground. This jumper and connect a current collector.

Important: Grounding must be located at a distance greater than 5 m from the entrance to the house, paths and tracks and more than 1.5 m from the foundations. In a thunderstorm to approach them dangerous.

Architectural Bureau “Alekminsky and partners”

To avoid misfires
Unfortunately, the lightning — not the case when “buried and forgotten”. Although the vast majority of cases you simply will not know that the lightning hit. Specialists, manufacturing installation of lightning protection in a private home, it is strongly recommended to regularly (no less frequently than every three years) to check all electrical connections. And once in five years to open, check and as necessary (in the case of corrosion) change of buried grounding. If everything is fine — you are under protection.

The Company “Artel”

Iron roof: to ground or not
Sometimes “handymen” offering to do the ground on the iron roof, explaining that it is lightning. Alas, it is not. And the effect can be reversed. Without external lightning you will really start to collect all lightning discharges with the neighborhood, and as a result risk getting a hole in the roof and burnt wiring. The problem is that the rules are read, but not read.

According to the “Instructions for installation of lightning protection of buildings…” (so 153-34.21.122-2003 p. 3.2.1.2), metal roof protected objects can indeed be seen as the natural lightning. But the iron roof should be 4 mm thick, copper — 5 mm. it is Unlikely that you on the roof is armor. Therefore, lightning protection and grounding of the roof is different. A lightning protection of a private house with a roof of metal should be performed exactly the same as any other.

Электро21Век

Internal lightning protection: what is it?
Lightning can not only get into the house itself, but also to “come” by wire in the form of a high voltage pulse that kills the wiring and any connected devices. For internal lightning protection in a private home used machines surge protection (device protection from impulse voltages), which is mounted in the switch Board on the front of the house. That’s enough.

IT’S YOUR TURN…
And your holiday home has a lightning rod and internal lightning protection? Tell us why you decided to make them and whether there were cases where lightning protection has saved

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