Advantages of Lightning Protection

Protect electronics from surges

By redirecting lightning around a home's electrical system, lightning protection systems also help protect the electronics in a home. This includes all of the following:

• The wiring in the home
• The circuit breaker in the home
• Any electrical appliances
• Any electronics that are plugged in

In homes that have corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST), lightning strikes can cause explosions. This type of piping is used in homes because it's flexible, but it's also particularly susceptible to being damaged by a lightning strike.

If CSST is damaged by lightning, the heat generated may cause the gas inside to explode. In homes that rely on gas appliances, sometimes using CSST is unavoidable. Measures can be taken, however, to protect the piping from the dangers of lightning.

Because lightning prevention systems are a type of home improvement, they can increase the value of a residential property. The exact increase will depend on a home's current value, neighborhood and condition, and the increase might not be as high as what remodeling a kitchen would yield. Nevertheless, a system can increase a home's value by at least a little.

Many homeowners use the increase in value to help pay for their lightning protection system. Even if the increase isn't equal to the full cost of installing a system, any increase in property value can help subsidize getting a system installed.