When the sky thunders and splits with lightning, some are fascinated by this grandiose natural spectacle while others will only feel a form of stress. Impressive, the storm is a force of Nature that could very well represent a threat: especially for your habitat.
This is why, over time, we have developed various devices to protect ourselves from the wrath of Mother Nature. Lightning arresters, lightning rods, man has no shortage of ideas to protect himself from lightning!
But how do these inventions, which you have certainly already heard of, work? What is the difference between a surge protector and a lightning rod?
We offer you a quick overview of the nature of surge arresters and lightning rods.
To direct lightning towards the ground: the lightning rod
Conceived in 1752 by the American inventor Benjamin Franklin, the lightning rod was initially a device intended to “drain to the ground the electrical fluid contained in the storm cloud and thus prevent lightning from striking”.
A lightning rod works by what is called a “point effect” in electrostatics. A rod is placed on a peak and is connected to the ground by a conductive element such as metal.
To say that the lightning rod “attracts lightning” could be a misnomer. It only makes it more likely that lightning will strike a specific point in a defined area: the lightning rod’s protection zone.
This is due to the peak effect that we mentioned above but that we will not go into further here, for more information,
To secure an electrical network: the surge protector
Not to be confused with the lightning rod, the surge protector is a very different device, which has an equally different purpose!
To put it simply, the principle of the lightning rod is to protect people and buildings from the direct impact of lightning. It helps prevent fires, for example. However, thunder is always accompanied by an indirect impact: a magnetic wave.
While it is rare to be struck directly by lightning, it is quite common to be damaged by the powerful magnetic wave released by lightning.
In our decidedly electronic age, the effects are felt through breakdowns in networks and devices that operate with electricity.
All this to say that a lightning rod does not protect electronic devices from a storm, quite the contrary.
Indeed, if it avoids suffering the direct impact, the wave, for its part, will be as close as possible to your electronic goods if lightning strikes the lightning rod. Moreover, the NF C 15-100 standard requires the installation of a lightning rod if a building is located less than 50 meters from a lightning rod (among others).
This is where the surge protector comes in. A surge protector is designed to protect an electrical network from surges that can be devastating. We won’t go into technical details, but its role is to divert surges generated by a powerful magnetic wave to Earth.
It protects all the installations to which it is connected, but not those that are not connected to it in any way. The surge protector often takes the form of a small box that is placed near the electrical panel of the home.
It is better to use a professional to install this type of device the wiring is technical and must be well done for optimal protection. For example, the length of the connection cables can have an influence!
In any case, for the protection of homes, it is possible to acquire a surge protection box quite easily.
Indeed, many sellers offer it, in-store or online. This is the case for example for ElectriciteBleu.com which sells surge protection boxes online.
It is an investment, yes… But in this day and age, can we take the risk of not protecting ourselves from a power outage? Even for the refrigerator, we quickly understand the inconvenience that this could cause!
One Comment