Are lightening rods obsolete? I've often wondered, as most new buildings don't have them anymore. We live on the prairie of SD, and all our buildings have lightening rods. I once asked our insurance carrier if they were still properly installed to provide us with protection, and got no response. We had just sided our house with permanent siding, so the entire house is now covered with metal. Also, we had sided our barn with corrugated tin sheeting several years ago, and I've wondered about lightening protection for it. Are these two buildings now just giant electricity conductors??

-- Lynn J. Bixler (ljbixler@dtgnet.com), August 22, 1999

Answers

Lynn, you have a valid concern in my opinion. The television show "This Old House" had a segment on lightning rods a year or so back. They were installing them on one of the renovation houses. Of course the salesman for the rod company seemed to think that they were still in demand. I noticed the other day that a local school near me has lightning rods on it. It is a rather new building, so I think the architects would not have called for them if they are of no value. If I ever build a new house like I want to, it will have them.

-- greenbeanman (greenbeanman@ourtownusa.net), September 02, 1999.

Send a large SASE to Lightning Protection Institute, 3335 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Suite E, Arlington Heights, IL 60004 for more info. While this is an industry trade association, they are not out to sell you anything but they do include a state-by-state list of dealers.

Also check out lightning protection that doesn't require a rod at www.alt-energy.com.

-- WK Grady (wkbg@pacbell.net), September 24, 1999.

I've been trying to find lighting rods too .We live in upstate N.Y. and during the summer we have severe thunder storms with high winds . Last year we took a direct hit ,which we believe came in through the telephone lines .It caught the house on fire ,welded plugs into the outlets ,welded my tin roof , arched fireplace tools and nails in the basement .I wonder with rods maybe we would have had less damage ? Also you may want to think about a surge arrestor that goes on your power panels ,its suppose to stop surges .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), January 08, 2000.

I personally would rather have lightening rods as we too took a lightening strike through the phone lines and luckily it just blew my computer and nothing else.

Here in Iowa, the state seems split. In eastern Iowa, most farm buildings have lightening rods and people swear by them. In southern Iowa everyone seems to think they are a waste of money. I guess logic says to me that since lightening tends to seek the highest point, I would rather that not be my house or barn or the fir tree in the front yard and if lightening rods will re-direct it - go for it.

Also while in eastern Iowa I lived in a huge farmhouse on top of a hill with lightening rods and never had a strike. Now we live in southern Iowa and while we are not the highest point, we had a strike.

-- beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), January 11, 2000.

I recently purchased a few lightening rods from an internet auction site. I also purchased a weather vane. We are adding a cupola to our roof with the vane and are wondering where to install the lightening rod. Does your home insurance change with the instalation of these items? thanks and I know we will enjoy our new and old added attractions

-- Patricia Evans (paetme@yahoo.com), April 26, 2001.