Things That Go Bump in the Night or Kaboom!

July came in with a bang with violent thunderstorms in the early morning hours. The microbursts of lightning lit up the sky with huge sound effects to follow. Our house shook from a lightning strike on a tree not far from the house and from a telephone pole on the street. The power surge blew out the ConEd transformer nearby, melted the cable pedestal from the street, fried the internet router (plugged in to surge protector) and did some damage to ancillary equipment, irrigation controls and a well pump.

What seemed like a near miss turned out to be more damaging than we first realized. As houses have become more high-tech with interconnected systems for wireless communication for lighting, AV, HVAC etc, it is even more important to protect your home from power surges. Simple surge protectors are not enough.

Even a lightning strike out on the street can impact your home.  It is important to talk with your electrician, AV company, internet provider about how they are managing surge protection at your home.  

 From IEEE Guide on How to Protect Your House and Its Contents from Lightning:

Removal of top 1/3 of tree hit by lightning

Special note: Thank you to the all-volunteer Mount Kisco Fire Department for their quick response at 5 am to help determine that the house was safe. From the booms, power loss, suspicious odors, and alarms after the lightning hit, in heavy rain, we needed to evacuate the house. We are grateful that the damage was not worse.

Images via, via, and Slice of Exurbia.