4 Tips To Protect Your Electronics From Lightning in Florida

 

If you live in Florida or have been in Florida during the summer (mainly the month of August) then you know that lighning strikes are a daily occurrence. Almost every afternoon dark clouds roll in bringing rain, thunder, (and the most scary) lightning. Down below we have listed 4 tips to help protect your home and electronics from potential lightning strikes.

 

Tip #1: Install Surge Protectors.

This is by far the easiest thing you can do to protect your electronics from lightning. A simple surge protector could save you a lot of headache from having to buy a new tv and whatever else was connected to it. A surge protector is easy to install and a relatively cheap way to protect your electronics. When searching for a surge protector you will want to find one that can take 6-700 joules or better. This will give it a better chance of rerouting spikes and saving your equipment.

Tip #2: Unplug Devices

This is another simple method. If you are home during a bad thunderstorm just unplug your devices. If none of your devices are plugged in they cannot get damaged from a surge. Another good practice is to unplug all teleco and cable equipment such as modems and cable boxes. The reason for this is because these devices especially routers are connected to wiring outside the home. This means that if lightning hits your cable or tv providers line it can still travel into your home. So as another good measure you should unplug any routers or cable boxes signal line from the wall as well.

Tip #3: Whole Home Surge Protection

This tip will require the assistance of others. Almost all electrical company’s offer surge protection plans that include surge protection devices. These devices basically act as an additional ground to your homes existing ground. So if for some reason the voltage by passes your original ground, it gives the lightning a second place to go besides in your home. These systems are usually not that pricy and you can usually add electronics coverage as well. You can also check with your insurance company to see what they offer and if you can get a lower rate for adding surge system to your home.

Tip#4: Have Grounding Checked

This is the final tip. One of the major things we see when it comes to surge damage is grounding. Usually something was not grounded correctly so it is important to have this checked. There are tools you can buy to check the electrical jacks in your home or you can bring out an electrician to check it for you. We also suggest having your cable and internet provider come out and check that the service line on the side of your home is grounded properly as well.

 

Now there is no guaranteed way to protect yourself from lightning strikes but hopefully these 4 tips can give your tv and other devices a fightning chance if it does.

 

 

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