How to Protect Your House and

It’s Contents from Lightning

 

This guide is intended to provide useful information about the proper specification and application of surge protectors, to protect houses and their contents from lightning and other electrical surges. The guide is written for electricians, electronics technicians and engineers, electrical inspectors, building designers, and others with some technical background, and the need to understand lightning protection.

 

Click here to download: This IEEE Guide for Surge Protection of Equipment Connected to AC Power and Communication Circuits

 

Mike Holt Comment: This document is an excellent, but I have a problem with the statement

“High surge currents impinging on a power distribution system having a relatively high grounding resistance can create enormous ground potential rises, resulting in damage. Therefore, an evaluation of the service entrance grounding system at the time of the SPD installation is very important [2.3.1]”.

 

Grounding. The contact resistance of the electrical system to the earth (ground resistance) plays an insignificant role in reducing ground potential rise (GPR) of surge protection devices at a residence. It’s unfortunate that all surge protection writings make the same statement, because this gives the impression that ground resistance of the grounding electrode system serves a purpose in surge protection, that it doesn’t.

 

If you feel that the contact resistance of the electrical system to the earth does reduce ground potential rise, please send me a copy of a study that supports your position.

 

Bonding. Now I do agree that a low-impedance path from the surge protectors to the source, such as the equipment grounding conductor, or the neutral conductor at service equipment is critical in reducing ground potential rise. But this really has to do with bonding, not grounding!