# Lightening Rods For A Private Residence. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532 "2017-07-05T11:40:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/1 "2017-07-05T11:40:21Z")
Something I’ve wondered for some time now. Why don’t they make lightening rods for private residences? I know they certainly get hit by lightening too. :):)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/2 "2017-07-05T11:59:52Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Why don’t they make lightening rods for private residences? [Don’t they?](https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=residential+lightning+rods&spf=1499255845652) I don’t think lightning rods are designed sold specifically for commercial buildings - it’s just that there’s less at stake for a single-family $200,000 home than for a multi-story $5M apartment building or office building, so most homeowners consider the issues and say “not worth the cost/hassle.” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/3 "2017-07-05T12:05:20Z")
Good question. My guess is that the risk is so low for residences that it wouldn’t be worth the investment. I’d like to have one, though. (after extensive research)… Well, whatta ya know, Amazon really does sell [everything](https://www.amazon.com/Home-Lightning-Protection-Residential-Petex-M/dp/B01GKE9ND4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1499256122&sr=8-2&keywords=lightning+rod). mmm ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/4 "2017-07-05T12:21:06Z")
I see a lot of [farm house with lightening rods](https://www.houzz.com/photos/query/lightning-rods), not so many in town unless they are on big house with a huge yard. The reason is that farm house often stand alone on top of a hill around an open field, so they are often the tallest structure around. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/5 "2017-07-05T12:42:32Z")
Larger old houses and historic building in the British Isles and Europe usually had conductors once Prokop Diviš invented the idea — as to whether homes should have them now, depends I imagine on whether builders think it worth protecting bungalows at all. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/6 "2017-07-05T12:45:31Z")
What would a _lightening_ rod do? Whiten the color scheme? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/7 "2017-07-05T12:52:21Z")
I was thinking more of decreasing the weight burden on the foundation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/8 "2017-07-05T13:02:13Z")
> [@Jim\_B](#): > > Something I’ve wondered for some time now. Why don’t they make lightening rods for private residences? I know they certainly get hit by lightening too. > > :):)🙂 They do. My brother-in-law sells and installs them. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/9 "2017-07-05T13:20:53Z")
You mean your single family homes don’t have a lightning rod? Huh. My childhood home had one as did the other homes in the same development, though it was a neighborhood strung along a ridgeline. I thought it was pretty much standard. Maybe just in areas with a relatively high number of lightning strikes. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/10 "2017-07-05T13:28:48Z")
When my spouse decided to play around with amateur radio and we installed a mast for the antennae on the roof we also installed a lightning rod. After it was vaporized during a storm we replaced it. Got a nice fulgarite out of the strike. The do make lightning rods for private residences and you’re welcome to install one of your own. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/11 "2017-07-05T15:43:59Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Larger old houses and historic building in the British Isles and Europe usually had conductors once Prokop Diviš invented the idea — as to whether homes should have them now, depends I imagine on whether builders think it worth protecting bungalows at all. Actually, you have to remember lots of churches and cathedrals _were_ gravely damaged, occasionally to collapse, by lightning right up to the High Middle Ages; and no doubt Roman buildings as well although they were rarely as high as a cathedral. So, lightning rods were a godsend. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/12 "2017-07-05T15:46:29Z")
My grandparents had lighting rods on their farmhouse. They didn’t help when lightning struck the telephone pole, came in the house on a poorly grounded line and knocked my grandfather across the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/13 "2017-07-05T16:30:15Z")
Tell me if I am wrong, but all the houses on my block are surrounded by trees that are quite a bit taller. Doesn’t that give protection? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/14 "2017-07-05T17:21:57Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Tell me if I am wrong, but all the houses on my block are surrounded by trees that are quite a bit taller. Doesn’t that give protection? Depends on the geometry. [The common model of risk for lighting strike is to imagine a sphere, 300 feet in diameter, rolling across the landscape and making contact with everything it can.](https://www.google.com/search?q=lightning+rolling+sphere&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilmbv90vLUAhXLFj4KHY5FAAQQ_AUIBygC&biw=1051&bih=872#imgrc=_&spf=1499275101001) As it rolls across the tops of the trees, if it can reach down and touch your house, then there is a risk of a direct strike. This model helps to explain the choice of spacing and height for lightning rods on large buildings Note also that lightning may strike the top of a nearby tree, but then jump out of the tree before hitting the ground and travel through something else instead (like a nearby house). ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/15 "2017-07-05T17:25:51Z")
Yes, as others have stated, they most certainly do make them for private residences. You can get some rather ornate ones as well. Also, the rods are much smaller now a days. If you are expecting like five foot ones then you won’t see those so much. Most I have seen are like a foot. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/16 "2017-07-05T17:37:56Z")
I’ve owned three houses, in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. They all had them. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/17 "2017-07-05T22:31:25Z")
Mark Twain discussed the subject in great detail: [http://www.twainquotes.com/Galaxy/187009a.html](http://www.twainquotes.com/Galaxy/187009a.html) ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lightening-rods-for-a-private-residence/790532/18 "2017-07-05T22:44:26Z")
Add another to the list of “my childhood home had lightning rods”. In a suburb, not at a particularly high point. Just because.