A huge thunderstorm passed by the other night and lightning hit the condo building I live in. The fire department came out and inspected the attic, and removed the antenna that was hit.
Inside the condo unit, some of the outlets no longer seem to work, and the garage door opener lights up but will not open the door. The TV was fried despite being on a surge protector.
We have an electrician coming out to check a few of these things, but in general what things should I check after a lightning strike? Are there other things I should be aware of, or look to have fixed/replaced?
Best Answer
Lightning strikes can cause damage to many items in a house. The most suspectable items are GFI outlets, any electronic machines ( TV, computers, audio equipment etc.), dimmers, switches and elements of an electric range/oven, and yes, garage door openers.
Another area to check is to unplug any device plugged into a receptacle and inspect the metal plug prongs for any signs of burns. If you find dark pits, any melted metal etc, then the plug and outlet should be replaced.
Using an inexpensive outlet checker, check all outlets for malfunctions such as open grounds, neutrals etc. Open the circuit breaker box and do a visual check for any signs of arcing or burned wires.
If you are not comfortable doing these inspections yourself, ask your electrician to do a quick once over on the items I mentioned above. This should take less than an hour to complete and give you peace of mind.
Just a side note. Lightning rod systems are somewhat effective for direct hits, however in the large percentage of lightning damage cases, the surge of ultra high voltage enters the home via the grounding system of the house. Lightning strikes a tree, a transformer or the ground close to the house and energizes the entire ground and neutral system and conductors. The instantaneous voltage spike can easily exceed 50,000 volts. there is little you can do to defend your property from such a strike. Common surge protectors will fail most of the time. Computers connected to a UPS usually survive because they are isolated from the primary power source even though the UPS may be damaged.