Owners safeguard homes with lightning protection

Every year the number of American homes struck by lightning increases as empty farm fields and other open spaces are replaced with houses.

According to the Insurance Information Institute, residential losses related to lightning strikes exceed a billion dollars annually in this country and represent almost 5 percent of all residential insurance claims.

Since a single bolt of lightning can carry more than 30 million volts of electricity, the damage such a strike can cause can be catastrophic, said Jeffrey Harger, president of HLP Systems Inc. of Libertyville, a company specializing in lightning protection for homes, commercial and industrial properties and even high profile trees.

"Lightning can rip through roofs, explode brick and concrete, topple trees and ignite fires," Harger said. "It wreaks havoc with computers, electronic equipment, televisions, appliances and even in-ground sprinkler systems and invisible fences."

The damage caused depends upon the intensity and duration of the discharge from that particular lightning bolt, he added.

"Years ago I saw a house in Buffalo Grove where the chimney was hit and that was all the damage on the house. But the explosion of brick from that chimney took out the whole side of the house next door," Harger said.

And one lightning bolt can even hit multiple houses or large trees.

"We sometimes protect large trees with a system, but that is usually only for landmark trees and large trees on golf courses where it would affect play if the tree were lost," he said.

Harger said the Chicago area ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of annual lightning strikes reported. In general, we get 30 to 50 lightning storms per year in this area, although last year we had many fewer, he said.

Compare that to Tampa, Fla., which gets approximately 100 such storms each year, and we look pretty good. But other areas of the country get many fewer storms than the Chicago region does.

"Lightning is very random and impossible to predict," Harger said, "and even if you purchase lightning protection for your home, it doesn't change the odds of your house being hit. A lightning protection system simply directs the dangerous lightning safely into the ground if it does hit, leaving the home and those inside it unharmed."

Dan Marks purchased a lightning protection system for his Libertyville home about 10 years ago when he first moved in.

"The previous owner of the home had the alarm system burned out by a lightning strike and since I have a higher end home with lots of electronics, I felt it was a good investment," Marks said.

There has been no maintenance needed on the system since it was installed and Marks said that unless you look closely, you cannot see the system's components - like the thick, tightly wound copper wiring that Harger's company hid behind gutters and downspouts and ran along ridgelines. All you can see are the rods.

"Unless you do major work on your roof, you never have to touch the system," Marks said.

And it did permanently lower his homeowner's insurance costs.

"I am very happy with the system and feel it was a worthwhile investment," he said. "Lightning is one of those things that you don't think about until it strikes and then it is too late."

According to the United Lightning Protection Association Inc., a trade organization, a professionally installed lightning protection system dissipates the dangerous electrical discharge to eliminate the chance of fire or explosion of nonconductive materials (wood, brick, mortar, tile, etc.). The system provides a specified path on which lightning can travel, to direct the destructive power into the ground.

That is why the correct components are so essential. ULPA stresses that a lightning protection system for any structure must include rods (strike termination devices), conductor cables, bonds, ground electrodes for termination and UL-listed transient voltage surge protectors.

All of the components are hidden from view except the rods and today those rods can be artfully disguised, and usually are, as decorative rooftop finials or weather vanes made out of highly conductive copper and aluminum alloys or bronze. They range in height from 16 to 48 inches and can be used to complement cupolas, dormers, ridge edges, turrets, pavilions and gazebos.

The systems are designed to last the life of the structure and only require attention when changes are made like a new roof, new electrical service, installation of a satellite dish, or the construction of an addition.

Installation is decidedly not a do-it-yourself project, the ULPA emphasizes in its literature. If it is not installed correctly, a system provides no protection.

Lightning is looking for the best place to get to ground so it will be more likely to hit a tall barn or a lone house in the middle of an open expanse, Harger said. But in a more crowded suburban area there is not really any attribute of a house or yard that attracts lightning, he added.

Lightning is not attracted to a swimming pool or hot tub or pond, but if you get caught in one of those places when lightning strikes nearby, you probably won't survive, Harger said. And certain outdoor electronics and systems like pool pumps, underground sprinklers and invisible fences will take the brunt of a direct or even a nearby strike if a home is not protected.

Harger particularly urges homeowners with isolated vacation homes to consider a lightning protection system for peace of mind.

"Since owners of these homes are away for extended periods of time, they want to know that should a storm pass through, they don't have to worry about a hole in the roof, a lost chimney or, worse yet, a structural fire," he explains on his website, hlpsystems.com.

Harger estimates that it takes a two- or three-man crew one day to install a system on an average house because the cables must be fastened every three feet. When they are installing a system on a home under construction, everything except the rods can be totally hidden in the attic. But if an existing home is retrofitted with a system, the copper cables are hidden behind downspouts and along ridgelines so that you have to look very closely to see anything.

The cost of a lightning protection system fluctuates with the cost of copper, he said, but he estimates installation on a typical 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot house would range from $2,500 to $2,800, whereas the cost for a 5,000-square-foot house would be more in the range of $4,000 to $6,000.

Harger's father, Robert, who is now deceased, started the lightning protection business in 1960 and the family has been active in the manufacture and installation of such systems ever since.

"I have been involved with close to 6,000 jobs and we travel as far north as Appleton, Wis., and as far south as Metropolis, Ill., touching on parts of Iowa and Indiana, too."

For more information on lightning protection, visit Underwriters Laboratories' website at ul.com/lightning. To reach Harger, call (847) 362-0777.