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You Cannot See Them, But They Are Working

>> Have you lost items in your home due to lightning? The problem could lie in the ground ... literally. Although you cannot see them, ground rods serve to protect your home from lightning. Insufficient grounding can result in significant damage to items inside your home.

While a licensed electrician can install your ground rod system, it is something you can do as well. Check with your county's planning and zoning requirement for performing electrical work on your own home. Before you purchase your grounding materials, make sure you only use copper products for best results. Steel or galvanized materials will corrode in the ground. (58486-01)

Ground rods are eight or ten feet, copper-coated steel bars. They are driven into the ground near your home's electric meter and connected to the rest of the system with a bare copper wire and a copper compression-type clamp or an "acorn" clamp. Ground rods should be located beyond the drip line of the building's roof in moist soil. To be most effective, they should be placed one foot apart for every foot of rod. For example, if you have an eight-foot rod, you should place the ground rods eight feet apart.

Ohm is a measurement of resistance to ground. For proper grounding, you want a measurement of 20 ohms or less. Without a sound ground rod system, lightning will find another path. Unfortunately, it may lead to your home's electrical system.  

Your best defense against lightning damage to your appliances and electronics is a sufficient ground system coupled with Surge Guard products from Tri-County EMC. <<

>> Ground rods are eight- or ten-foot, copper-coated steel bars. <<