Country houses are usually built of combustible materials, and the fire station is far away. Yes, and you can drive up not to every building, but from strong wind accompanying any thunderstorm, nothing good should be expected either.
Sometimes lightning strikes Entire suburban communities burn out.
Let's talk about how to make an effective lightning rod on your own and negate the risk of a direct hit of a "heavenly discharge" in the house.
Simplified, the physics of the process can be described as follows: source lightning are cumulonimbus clouds.
During a thunderstorm, they turn into a kind giant capacitors. A huge positively charged potential of ions accumulates in the upper positive part in the form of ice crystals, and negative electrons collect in the form of water drops in the lower negative region.
During the discharge (breakdown) of this natural battery, lightning appears between the earth and the thundercloud - huge electric spark:
This discharge will always flow along the circuit least local resistance electric current. The fact is well known and proven. Such resistance is usually found in high-rise buildings and trees. Most often it is in them that lightning strikes.
The idea of a lightning rod is to arrange it next to the house area of minimum resistance so that the lightning discharge passes through it, and not through the structure.
If you do not have a lightning rod in your dacha, it's time to think about its construction. The cheapest and easiest way to make it is to do it yourself. What do you need to know for this?
So, a lightning rod (lightning rod) is a lightning protection device (lightning protection), ensuring the safety of the building and people's lives located in it, from the destructive effects that can occur in a thunderstorm with a direct lightning strike.
it corrosion protected, a bare conductor - that is, a material that conducts electricity well as much as possible and has a large cross section (minimum 50 mm²).
A lightning rod (lightning rod) is assembled from thick copper wire or steel rod, pipes of the required section or from steel, aluminum, duralumin rods of various profiles, corners, strips, and so on.
Steel materials are better to use galvanized. Since they are less susceptible to air oxidation.
What lightning protection consists of: device
Lightning rod (lightning rod) the simplest design comprises 3 parts:
(descent).
Let's talk about each element in more detail.
A metal conductor fixed on the roof of a building or on a separate support (tower). Structurally divided into three type: pin, cable and mesh.
When choosing a lightning rod design focus on material that covers the roof of the house.
1. pin(or rod) lightning rod device is a metal vertical rod towering above the house (see the figure below).
Suitable for any roof material, but still preferable for metal roofing. The height of the lightning rod should not exceed 2 meters. And it is attached either to a free-standing supporting support, or directly to the house itself.
Materials for manufacturing:
Steel pipe (20 -25 mm diameter, with wall 2,5 mm thick). Its upper end is either flattened or brewed into a cone. You can also make and weld a special plug in the form of a needle to the upper edge of the pipe.
steel wire (8 -14 mm). Moreover, the current collector must be exactly the same diameter.
Any steel profile (for example, angle or strip steel, not less than 4 mm in thickness and 25 mm wide).
The main condition for all these steel materials is the section minimum 50 mm².
2. Rope lightning rod device - it is stretched along the ridge at a height of up to 0,5 m from the roof cable with a minimum cross section 35 mm² or wire.
Usually galvanized steel wire is used. This type of lightning rod is suitable for wooden or slate roofs.
It is fixed on two 1-2 meters) supports made of wood or metal, but insulators must be installed on metal supports. The cable is connected to the down conductor with the help of die clamps.
3. Mesh the device of the lightning rod system is a mesh laid over the roof with a thickness 6 -8 mm. This design is the most difficult to implement. Used for roofs tiled.
4. Well, very rarely used covering device lightning protection is when metal structural elements the house itself (roofing, trusses, roof railing, downpipe).
All considered designs of lightning rods securely connected by welding with a down conductor and through a down conductor with a one- or two-sided ground electrode welded seam minimum 100 mm in length.
(descent) - the middle part of the lightning rod, which is a metal conductor with a minimum cross section for steel 50 , for copper 16 and for aluminum 25 mm square.
main purpose down conductor is to ensure the passage of the discharge current from the lightning rod to the ground electrode.
Ideal path for electrical current to pass is the shortest straight line pointing straight down. When installing the lightning rod, avoid turning under acute angle. This is fraught with the occurrence of a spark discharge between closely located sections of the current collector, which will lead to inevitable ignition.
The most popular material for down conductor- uninsulated steel wire rod or strip. He is being held only on non-combustible surfaces. Metal brackets should be installed on combustible walls, which themselves, being in contact with a combustible surface, will protect the down conductor.
Minimum distance from wall to down conductor 15-20 cm.
You need to lay it out so that there were no points of contact with such elements of the house as a porch, Entrance door, window, metal Garage Doors.
We know that it is better to connect parts of the lightning rod by welding, but if this is not possible, it is allowed to pair the current collector with the ground electrode and the lightning rod using three rivets or two bolts. The length of the current collector overlay on other parts of the system with a riveted connection is equal to 150 , and with bolted - 120 mm.
The end of a non-galvanized wire rod and the place where the wire down conductor is attached to steel parts to ensure reliable contact need to clean up, and galvanized enough to wash from dust and dirt. Then, a loop or hook is made at the end of the wire, put washers on both sides and tighten it all with a bolt as much as possible.
The joints (if it is not welding) also need to be wrapped in several layers with electrical tape, then with a coarse cloth, twisted over with a thick thread and covered with paint.
To improve contact, treat the ends of the wire with tin and sleep.
(ground electrodes) - located in the ground, Bottom part lightning rod, providing reliable contact of the down conductor with the ground.
How to properly equip grounding is described in GOST ah and SNIP ah, but for the simplest option, at least one meter from the edge of the foundation is enough and no closer 5 meters from the entrance to the building to bury P-shaped design of metal conductors.
Able to cope with the task conventional ground loop(it's made for household electrical appliances).
it 3 clogged and buried in the ground electrodes, interconnected at the same distance by horizontal ground electrodes. Burying the grounding structure should be below the maximum level of soil freezing. From 0,5 before 0,8 meters deep.
For grounding take rolled steel section 80 mm, less often copper section 5o mm square. Vertical ground electrodes are 2-3 meters in length, but the closer the level ground water, the shorter they are.
If the soil in your country house is constantly wet, then a meter or half meter pin will suffice.
On the how deep to hammer and how many electrodes will need to be found in energy service at the place of residence.
It must be remembered that the quality of grounding depends on the size of the contact area of the ground electrode with the soil and the resistivity of the soil itself.
Grounding conductor for lightning rod need a separate, you should not ground the lightning rod to the household circuit. Categorically we do not recommend experimenting. It is fraught with consequences.
We offer you to watch a video with a visual diagram of lightning protection installation:
According to regulatory documents, for private residential buildings installation of lightning protection systems optional. And only you can decide whether it is advisable to install a lightning rod (lightning rod) in the country. We hope this article will help you make the right decision.
Many private homeowners don't pay enough attention to protecting their property from lightning strikes until the rooster crows. One of the reasons that prompts you to equip a lightning rod in a private house with your own hands is a lightning strike in the courtyard. And it’s good if it’s not a house, but some less important object.
Lightning rod: to do or not?
Physical deterioration of the power networks of the old residential sector, electrical installations in need of repair, operated in rural houses growing exponentially country buildings make the problem of lightning protection quite relevant. At the same time, the owner of any form of ownership must clearly understand that the life of loved ones and those around him depends on the timely decision and its practical implementation.
Lightning protection is considered to be the prevention of damage by a direct lightning strike of people, communications, buildings, as well as the manifestation of its secondary signs. about durable and safe operation houses should be taken care of even at the stage of its design. Using the established standards (GOST R IEC 62305-1-2010 "Protection against lightning" Part 1 and Part 2), you can decide on the choice of protection, its economic benefits. One thing is certain: a lightning rod for country house, cottage, country building will be the more reliable, the more expensive it is.
Attention! A frivolous attitude to the issue of manufacturing and installing a lightning rod, a lack of knowledge and experience can only aggravate the situation. Therefore, it is better not to make any lightning rod than to make it wrong.
Types of lightning protection
Prevention of direct lightning discharges into a structure (building) is considered external lightning protection. Keeping communications and equipment intact from inductive pickups, lightning strikes electrical networks, penetration through the grounding system into buildings implies internal lightning protection. Depending on how the lightning rod works, its effectiveness can be assessed in four categories:
- 1 - 98% (the highest, the degree of security);
- 2 – 95%;
- 3 – 90%,
- 4 – 80%.
Lightning rod: fundamental factors
The lightning rod device is nothing more than a structure that rises above the structure that enters the protection zone of the house, through which the lightning discharge, bypassing the house (dacha, cottage, etc.), is diverted into the ground.
It consists:
- from a lightning rod that takes over the force of the discharge,
- down conductor (descent) transporting it,
- ground electrode - "extinguishing" the discharge in the soil.
At the same time, the house should be lower in height than the lightning rod (the difference is about 200 cm), located in the immediate vicinity of it or even under the outlet. Too high protection is also not desirable, otherwise it will attract lightning from all around.
Before you make a lightning rod, you need not only to think over its design features, but also to achieve maximum efficiency during operation. This can only be achieved by following certain rules. Holding preliminary calculation lightning rod with the definition of the level of protection will allow you to collect the necessary set of tools, consumables.
How does he work?
The principle of operation of a lightning rod is based on searching for a charge in the air, attracting it, receiving it and redirecting it to ground. After all, lightning primarily strikes metal objects, structures of significant height and in direct contact with the ground.
Another important stage, which involves a lightning rod in a private house with your own hands: a scheme for its execution. It can be a hand-drawn drawing or a serious drawing with a visual image of conductors, a pin, a ground electrode, fasteners, etc. It should contain a description of each element, the method of fastening and the route along which the wire for the lightning rod is laid to the ground, the ground itself.
Versions
The lightning rod takes the blow on itself, therefore it must meet the increased requirements of reliability during operation.
- If it is a pivot, then the best material multi-profile rolled steel is used: water, gas pipes, metal rod. With a diameter of at least 100 sq. mm length should be about 200 cm from the place of fixation on the house. Hollow pipes from the upper end are welded or hermetically sealed with a cork. The most complete protection coverage area for cottages, summer cottages and private houses is observed at a height of the rod structure not exceeding 30 m.
- A rope (galvanized steel rope) can be used. Several of its threads are suspended horizontally above the house on free-standing supports. The ends of the ropes must be grounded. It is only necessary to choose the right place for hanging the stretched structure.
- The use of mesh protection from wire rod with a cross section of 8 mm, laid on the roof, or flat steel strips (with a cross section of up to 20 mm) is also relevant. Moreover, a grid-like lightning rod, connected to the ground loop by several separate conductors, is considered the most effective, allowing for the maximum protection factor.
- The wire for a lightning rod as a current-removing element must be at least 6 mm in diameter (above-ground part). The same wire rod is used for these purposes. The piece of wire leaving the ground should not be thinner than 10 mm. In this underground section, a connection (welding, bolting) with a ground electrode is made.
- As a reliable grounding, a sheet of metal sprinkled with soil (1 m x 1 m) or a metal pipe, a rod hammered into the ground by at least 1.5-2.0 m is used. There should always be moist soil at the grounding site - an effective conductor . Durable will be grounding from copper, stainless steel.
How can you protect your home from lightning strikes?
Summer residents with their "light" buildings located in sparsely built-up areas are especially at risk of fire from lightning strikes. There is nothing else left but to make a lightning rod in the country. The most vulnerable places for lightning strikes: the edges of the gables, skylights, ridge, especially if the roof is wooden or covered with slate.
You can make a simple lightning rod like this:
- two opposite far points are selected on parallel gables of the roof;
- bars are vertically fixed in them so that their ends rise above the top point of the roof ridge by 25 cm, at least;
- a steel wire (5-6 mm in cross section) is stretched between the bars along the roof.
- a screw connection to the upper parts of the beam is attached to the main part of the metal with a height of 1.0-1.5 m of the lightning rod. It can consist of a steel corner, a pipe (ᴓ 50 sq. M.);
- the pipe for removing combustion products to the atmosphere is closed with a stainless steel lampshade, or with a twist of wire connected to a conductor.
- according to the diagram, in the most optimal way, the down conductor is laid along the outer wall of the house, where it is connected to grounding, which is buried 100-200 cm into the ground.
Attention! The lightning rod device involves the installation of a separate structure with its own grounding. It is forbidden to adapt an existing household grounding under it.
Organization of lightning protection: how to do it right
An economical option for lightning protection is a simple vertically mounted rod. It must be located separately from the building on a pillar, a tall tree. The height of the installation directly affects the probability of a discharge entering the house: the higher the rod, the less likely it is.
Before you make a lightning rod in a wooden house, you need to familiarize yourself with the implementation of comprehensive protection. It is she who will be able to protect the building and equipment not only in case of a direct threat of a discharge, but from the destructive effects of lightning, which occurs, sometimes, even at a distance of several kilometers from your home.
Table Materials and minimum values of the cross sections of the elements of the outer ISM
| Protection | Material | Section, mm | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural lightning rod | iron 4 mm thick | * | galvanized/stainless steel |
| (tank shell, pipe) | copper 5 mm thick | * | |
| aluminum 7 mm thick | * | ||
| Special lightning rod | steel | 50 | galvanized/stainless steel |
| copper | 35 | ||
| aluminum | 70 | ||
| Tokovod | steel | 50 | galvanized/stainless steel |
| copper | 16 | ||
| aluminum | 25 | ||
| grounding conductor | steel | 100 | galvanized/stainless steel |
| copper | 50 | cable | |
| aluminum | * | not applicable | |
| equalizing conductor | iron | 50 | galvanized/stainless steel |
| copper | 16 | ||
| aluminum | 25 |
The principle of operation of a complex type lightning rod is based on the close interaction of the external and internal leads converging in the ground. The choice of material for outdoor structure depends on the angle of inclination of the roof slopes, their size, decorative roofing and its properties, the absence or presence of additional elements on the roof, antennas, etc.
For the internal branch, the potential equalization bus is considered to be a fundamental element. Its purpose is to counteract a strong powerful impulse charge that causes an overvoltage coming into the building from power lines or through various communications. Down conductors are equipped as close as possible to the outer corners of the house.
At traditional way organization of a lightning rod, it is necessary to ensure that all conductive (metal) parts of the roof of the house are connected to the lightning protection. Roofing from metal flooring, if it is not thinner than 0.5 mm, can serve as a kind of conductor.
In the case of an active set of measures to protect against electric shock, the pairing of all speakers metal parts no roof frame is required: the discharge follows the path of least length.
According to statistics, in last years natural disasters are on the rise. And if a tsunami or an earthquake cannot be avoided, then reducing the death and destruction from lightning strikes is within the reach of any of us. To carry out simple activities that do not require significant capital investments with appropriate training is within the power of everyone. It is only necessary to follow a strict algorithm for performing work, use reliable materials, and not neglect the requirements of standards.
Reliable lightning rod suburban area will not only protect a person from being struck by lightning, but also a house from fire, especially if it is wooden. A good lightning protection system consists of a ground electrode, a down conductor and a lightning rod. Next, we will tell readers about what all the elements of the system should be like and how to make a lightning rod in a private house with your own hands!
How the system works
To begin with, let's look at how the lightning protection of a private house works and what is needed to create it. You can clearly see all the constituent elements of the system in this diagram:
As you already understood, the metal rods on the roof are lightning rods that divert a dangerous discharge to the ground through a down conductor and a special one.
There is an opinion that if a telephone tower is installed near the house, you can not make a lightning rod in a private house. This is wrong, because it is better to spend a little time and provide yourself with complete protection against a lightning strike. In order for you to know what a lightning rod should be and how to make it correctly with your own hands, below we will separately consider the features of choosing each of the elements of the system.
A brief overview of the installation of lightning protection
Constituent elements of protection
Lightning rod
The main task is to choose the right lightning rod, which should provide full protection country house in its area of operation. Today, a pin, a mesh, a cable, or the roof itself can act as a lightning receiver. Let us consider in detail the features of the application of each of the options in a private house.
As for the pin, there are already finished goods from manufacturers that have a suitable shape and convenient fastening. As a rule, the metal used to manufacture the lightning rod is copper, aluminum or steel. The first option is the most suitable and effective. In order for the receiver to do its job well, its cross section must be at least 35 mm 2 (if copper) or 70 mm 2 (steel rod). With regard to the length of the rod, in living conditions it is recommended to use receivers with a length of 0.5 to 2 meters. The pins are convenient to use in order to make a lightning rod on garden house, bath or other, small building. 
Metal grid can also be sold ready-made. As a rule, a mesh lightning rod is a cellular frame made of reinforcement, 6 mm thick. The size of the cells can be from 3 to 12 meters. Most often, this type of lightning protection is used in apartment buildings and large buildings, for example, shopping malls.
Rope is more practical at home and does the job better than mesh. To make a lightning rod in a private house with a cable, you need to stretch it along the roof (along the ridge) on wooden blocks, as shown in the photo below. The minimum diameter of the cable for lightning protection of the building must be 5 mm. As a rule, this option is used if they want to make a lightning rod on a house with a slate roof with their own hands. 
Well, the last option - the roof as a receiver, can be used if the roof of a residential building is covered with corrugated board, metal tiles or other metal roofing material. With this type of lightning rod, two important requirements are imposed on the roof. First, the thickness of the metal must be at least 0.4 mm. Secondly, there should be no flammable materials under the roof. It is possible to make a lightning rod in a private house with a metal roof much faster and at the same time save on the purchase of special lightning rods.
Please note that if you use a mesh, its installation must be carried out at a height of at least 15 cm above the roof itself!
Down conductor
grounding conductor
Well, the last element of the lightning rod is the ground loop. In order not to make the material too voluminous, we have allocated a separate article for this issue -. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the information so that you know all the subtleties of this stage.
In short, we can say that the ground loop should be located near the house, but not in the walking part of the site, but, on the contrary, closer to the fence. The discharge of the charge to the ground is carried out by metal rods buried in the soil to a depth of 0.8 meters. All rods are best placed according to the scheme, which is just shown in the photo: 
Country houses are usually built of combustible materials, and the fire station is far away. Yes, and you can not drive up to every building, but from the strong wind that accompanies any thunderstorm, nothing good should be expected either.
Sometimes entire holiday villages burn out from a lightning strike.
Let's talk about how to make an effective lightning rod on your own and negate the risk of a direct hit of a "heavenly discharge" in the house.
Where do lightning come from
In a simplified way, the physics of the process can be described as follows: the source of lightning is cumulonimbus clouds.
During a thunderstorm, they turn into a kind of giant capacitors. A huge positively charged potential of ions accumulates in the upper positive part in the form of ice crystals, and negative electrons collect in the form of water drops in the lower negative region.
During the discharge (breakdown) of this natural battery, lightning appears between the earth and a thundercloud - a huge electric spark discharge:
This discharge will always flow along the circuit of the least local resistance to electric current. The fact is well known and verified. Such resistance is usually found in high-rise buildings and trees. Most often it is in them that lightning strikes.
Do-it-yourself lightning rod
The idea of a lightning rod is to arrange a section of minimum resistance near the house so that the lightning discharge passes through it, and not through the building.
If you do not have a lightning rod in your dacha, it's time to think about its construction. The cheapest and easiest way to make it is to do it yourself. What do you need to know for this?
So, a lightning rod (lightning rod) is a lightning protection (lightning protection) device that ensures the safety of the building and the lives of people in it from the destructive effects that can occur in a thunderstorm with a direct lightning strike.
This is a corrosion-protected, bare conductor - that is, a well-conductive material of the largest possible area and large cross-section (minimum 50 mm²).
A lightning rod (lightning rod) is assembled from thick copper wire or steel rod, pipes of the required section or from steel, aluminum, duralumin rods of various profiles, corners, strips, and so on.
Steel materials are better to use galvanized. Since they are less susceptible to air oxidation.
What lightning protection consists of: device
A lightning rod (lightning rod) of the simplest design consists of 3 parts:
Lightning rod.
Down conductor (descent).
Grounding.
Let's talk about each element in more detail.
Lightning rod
Lightning rod - a metal conductor fixed on the roof of a building or on a separate support (tower). It is structurally divided into three types: pin, cable and mesh.
When choosing the design of a lightning rod, be guided by the material that covers the roof of the house.
1. A pin (or rod) device of a lightning rod is a metal vertical rod rising above the house (see the figure below).
Suitable for a roof made of any material, but it is still preferable for a metal roof. The height of the lightning rod should not exceed 2 meters. And it is attached either to a free-standing supporting support, or directly to the house itself.
Materials for manufacturing:
Steel pipe (20-25 mm in diameter, with a wall of 2.5 mm thick). Its upper end is either flattened or brewed into a cone. You can also make and weld a special plug in the form of a needle to the upper edge of the pipe.
Steel wire (8-14 mm). Moreover, the current collector must be exactly the same diameter.
Any steel profile (for example, angle or strip steel at least 4 mm thick and 25 mm wide).
The main condition for all these steel materials is a minimum cross section of 50 mm².
2. The cable device of the lightning rod is a cable stretched along the ridge at a height of up to 0.5 m from the roof with a minimum section of 35 mm² or wire.
Usually galvanized steel wire is used. This type of lightning rod is suitable for wooden or slate roofs.
It is fixed on two (1-2 meters) supports made of wood or metal, but insulators must be installed on metal supports. The cable is connected to the down conductor with the help of flat clamps.
3. The mesh device of the lightning rod system is a mesh laid over the roof with a thickness of 6-8 mm. This design is the most difficult to implement. It is applied to the roofs covered with a tile.
4. And very rarely, a lightning protection cover is used - this is when metal structural elements of the house itself act as lightning rods (roof, trusses, roof fencing, drainpipe).
All considered designs of lightning rods are securely connected by welding with a down conductor and through a down conductor with a ground electrode with a one- or two-sided weld of at least 100 mm in length.
Down conductor
Down conductor (descent) - the middle part of the lightning rod, which is a metal conductor with a minimum cross section for steel 50, for copper 16 and for aluminum 25 mm squared.
The main purpose of the down conductor is to ensure the passage of the discharge current from the lightning rod to the ground electrode.
The ideal path for the passage of electric current is the shortest straight line directed straight down. Avoid turning at an acute angle when installing the lightning rod. This is fraught with the occurrence of a spark discharge between closely located sections of the current collector, which will lead to inevitable ignition.
The most popular material for the down conductor is uninsulated steel wire rod or strip. It is carried out only on fireproof surfaces. Metal brackets should be installed on combustible walls, which themselves, being in contact with a combustible surface, will protect the down conductor.
The minimum distance from the wall to the down conductor is 15-20 cm.
It is necessary to lay it so that there are no points of contact with such elements of the house as a porch, front door, window, metal garage doors.
We know that it is better to connect the parts of the lightning rod by welding, but if this is not possible, it is allowed to pair the down conductor with the ground electrode and the lightning rod using three rivets or two bolts. The length of the current collector overlay on other parts of the system with a riveted connection is 150, and with a bolted connection - 120 mm.
The end of the non-galvanized wire rod and the place where the wire down conductor is attached to the steel parts must be cleaned to ensure reliable contact, and the galvanized wire must be cleaned from dust and dirt. Then, a loop or hook is made at the end of the wire, put washers on both sides and tighten it all with a bolt as much as possible.
The joints (if it is not welding) also need to be wrapped in several layers with electrical tape, then with a coarse cloth, twisted over with a thick thread and covered with paint.
To improve contact, you can treat the ends of the wire with tin and solder.
grounding conductor
Grounding conductor (grounding electrodes) - located in the ground, the lower part of the lightning rod, providing reliable contact of the down conductor with the ground.
How to properly equip grounding is described in GOSTs and SNIPs, but for the simplest option, it is enough to bury a U-shaped structure of metal conductors no closer than 5 meters from the entrance to the building at least one meter from the edge of the foundation and no closer than 5 meters from the entrance to the building.
A conventional ground loop is able to cope with the task (it is made for household electrical appliances).
These are 3 electrodes hammered and buried in the ground, connected to each other at the same distance by horizontal ground electrodes. Burying the grounding structure should be below the maximum level of soil freezing. From 0.5 to 0.8 meters deep.
For the ground electrode, rolled steel with a cross section of 80 mm is taken, less often copper with a cross section of 50 mm squared. Vertical ground electrodes are 2-3 meters long, but the closer the water table, the shorter they are.
If the soil in your country house is constantly wet, then a meter or half meter pin will suffice.
At what depth to hammer and how many electrodes will be needed, you can find out in the energy service at the place of residence.
It must be remembered that the quality of grounding depends on the size of the contact area of the ground electrode with the soil and the resistivity of the soil itself.
A grounding conductor for a lightning rod is needed separately, it is not necessary to ground a lightning rod to a household circuit. We strongly advise against experimenting. It is fraught with consequences.
We offer you to watch a video with a visual diagram of lightning protection installation:
According to regulatory documents, installation of lightning protection systems is optional for private residential buildings. And only you can decide whether it is advisable to install a lightning rod (lightning rod) in the country. We hope this article will help you make the right decision.
bydom.ru
We protect a private house from lightning - an overview of a good lightning rod
A reliable lightning rod in a summer cottage will not only protect a person from being struck by lightning, but also a house from fire, especially if it is wooden. A good lightning protection system consists of a ground electrode, a down conductor and a lightning rod. Next, we will tell the readers of Sam Electric about what all the elements of the system should be like and how to make a lightning rod in a private house with your own hands!How the system works
To begin with, let's look at how the lightning protection of a private house works and what is needed to create it. You can clearly see all the constituent elements of the system in this diagram:
As you already understood, the metal rods on the roof are lightning rods that divert a dangerous discharge to the ground through a down conductor and special grounding.
There is an opinion that if a telephone tower is installed near the house, you can not make a lightning rod in a private house. This is wrong, because it is better to spend a little time and provide yourself with complete protection against a lightning strike. In order for you to know what a lightning rod should be and how to make it correctly with your own hands, below we will separately consider the features of choosing each of the elements of the system.
A brief overview of the installation of lightning protection
Constituent elements of protection
Lightning rod
The main task is to choose the right lightning rod, which should provide complete protection for the country house in its area of operation. Today, a pin, a mesh, a cable, or the roof itself can act as a lightning receiver. Let us consider in detail the features of the application of each of the options in a private house.
As for the pin, there are already finished products from manufacturers that have a suitable shape and convenient fastening. As a rule, the metal used to manufacture the lightning rod is copper, aluminum or steel. The first option is the most suitable and effective. In order for the receiver to do its job well, its cross section must be at least 35 mm2 (if copper) or 70 mm2 (steel rod). With regard to the length of the rod, in domestic conditions it is recommended to use receivers with a length of 0.5 to 2 meters. It is convenient to use the pins in order to make a lightning rod on a garden house, bathhouse or other small building. 
The metal mesh can also be sold ready-made. As a rule, a mesh lightning rod is a cellular frame made of reinforcement, 6 mm thick. The size of the cells can be from 3 to 12 meters. Most often, this type of lightning protection is used in apartment buildings and large buildings, for example, shopping centers. 
Rope is more practical at home and does the job better than mesh. To make a lightning rod in a private house with a cable, you need to stretch it along the roof (along the ridge) on wooden blocks, as shown in the photo below. The minimum diameter of the cable for lightning protection of the building must be 5 mm. As a rule, this option is used if they want to make a lightning rod on a house with a slate roof with their own hands. 
Well, the last option - the roof as a receiver, can be used if the roof of a residential building is covered with corrugated board, metal tiles or other metal roofing material. With this type of lightning rod, two important requirements are imposed on the roof. First, the thickness of the metal must be at least 0.4 mm. Secondly, there should be no flammable materials under the roof. It is possible to make a lightning rod in a private house with a metal roof much faster and at the same time save on the purchase of special lightning rods.
Please note that if you use a mesh, its installation must be carried out at a height of at least 15 cm above the roof itself!
Down conductor
As a down conductor for a private house, a 6-mm wire made of copper, steel or aluminum is used. The wire must be connected to the lightning rod and the grounding system with bolts or welding. 
Only one, but very important requirement to the down conductor - it must be insulated from environment and go to the ground along the shortest path. As for isolation, in dachas and country houses the use of conventional cable channels is popular, which are also used if you need to do open wiring in the house with your own hands
grounding conductor
Well, the last element of the lightning rod is the ground loop. In order not to make the material too voluminous, we have allocated a separate article for this issue - how to make grounding in a private house. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the information so that you know all the subtleties of this stage.
In short, we can say that the ground loop should be located near the house, but not in the walking part of the site, but, on the contrary, closer to the fence. The discharge of the charge to the ground is carried out by metal rods buried in the soil to a depth of 0.8 meters. It is better to place all the rods according to the triangle scheme, which is just shown in the photo: 
So, we got acquainted with the constituent elements of lightning protection on the roof, now we will consider how to properly make a lightning rod with your own hands.
Reliable lightning rod in the country - video tutorial on creating
Manufacturing instructions
To make it clearer to you how to assemble the lightning rod system of a private house into a single whole, we provide step by step instructions with photo examples:
Video instructions for assembling lightning protection by professionals
That's the whole technology of creating a lightning protection system. As you can see, it is not at all difficult to make a lightning rod in a private house with your own hands, the main thing is to correctly carry out the settlement work. We recommend that you definitely watch the video instructions, in which all the stages of installing a lightning rod are considered in more detail.
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samelectrik.ru
Lightning rod in the country. We make lightning protection with our own hands.
There is a widespread opinion that wooden house does not need lightning protection. Like, a tree is not a conductor, on the contrary, a dielectric, and the height of the roof is small, so a lightning rod is not needed in the country. Such misconceptions are deadly in the literal sense of the word, since lightning in dry weather is as rare a phenomenon as ball lightning. But in a thunderstorm, when it pours like a bucket, the conductor of electricity is not a tree at all, but water, which is life-threatening to attribute to dielectrics.
In these photos, the consequences of a rare phenomenon - a name for which we do not know. There was just a strong thunderstorm, and, despite the fact that the house is equipped with lightning protection, it was not it, but the perimeter of the roof spillway (it is metal) that acted as the discharge receiver circuit. All the machines turned off, but while this was happening, the author managed to take a few photos. This is a TV with a satellite dish, which is 2.3 m from the ground on the wall, and seems to be completely immune to lightning.
First the lightning introduced itself and showed itself 
then lost with a TV picture. 
After that, the picture disappeared, but the receiver was still alive, going into the factory settings mode. 
After that, the house was completely de-energized, and how the matter would have ended remained a mystery. Photos were taken on a mobile, so as you understand, the process was not instantaneous. Get it, turn it on, take a picture, etc.
The receiver had to be repaired - it burned down, at the same time the usual antenna (meter range) suffered, and the spillway burned in two places. Three burned out LED lamp. All incandescent lamps survived. There was no fire, no damage to the wiring either, thanks to correct connection grounding and lightning rod. So a lightning rod in the country is needed, since we know too little about lightning yet.
This was the preamble, and now about what and how you can do it yourself to avoid such cataclysms.
A bit of theory about the practice of lightning protection
We are proud of our practical knowledge of electricity, but we do not believe that scientists have already understood what lightning is - that is, the spontaneous discharge of atmospheric electricity. We also do not believe in the idea that clouds that “rub against each other” generate electricity. But we know that there are practical methods of protection, and they have long proved their effectiveness. We will focus on this aspect, taking a couple of laws of thermodynamics as a theoretical model, and also reading about a discharge in a saturated gaseous medium.
In this model, the discharge will occur between the point of greatest potential (somewhere in the clouds) and nearest point minimum potential. Note that this is exactly what happens in the vast majority of practical cases. Therefore, we take correct model lightning rod in the country house, a conditional point above the roof, which, being the top of a speculative hemisphere, will cover the whole house.
The radius of this hemisphere does not set the height of the country lightning rod, but the amount of potential that it is able to receive and give to the Earth (whose potential is relatively infinite). In fact, the radius of such a hemisphere is the depth of grounding, and it remains for us to understand how to choose materials in order to proceed to the task of how to make lightning protection with our own hands in the country.
Preparatory work in the arrangement of a lightning rod
The preamble tells about what can happen in a private house, which is equipped with a lightning rod, if two mistakes are made. The first is that the lightning rod receiver is next to the antenna, perhaps this had its effect. The second, more serious mistake was the constant cross section of the lightning rod channel throughout. Simply put, exactly the same strip goes from the metal strip of the receiver to the ground itself. All over the height.
The lightning receiver can be thin, its task is to cast a bait and wait for a bite. But the lower and closer to the ground the discharge discharge line, the “thicker” it should become. A very thick conductor must be buried in the Earth. That is, we go from the roof to the ground, increasing the cross section of the lightning rod.
So, we make lightning protection with our own hands in the country, without resorting to the help of specialists.
- We determine the height and configuration of the roof, mentally covering it with a hemisphere from the top point of the lightning rod, which we make at our dacha.
- The radius of the hemisphere is defined as a section of 5 sq. mm. 1 meter high. That is, a lightning rod in a country house 12 meters high (for a square house) should have a cross section of 12 x 5 = 60 square meters. mm. This is a strip 1 cm thick at 6 mm. Let us clarify that this is the minimum allowable value for the point at which the receiver tube will be welded to the discharge outlet channel. That is, the lower this tape goes down, the thicker it should be.
- Determine the point of attachment of the lightning receiver pipe. Chimney not the best option- it is better to fix the pole on the wall, slightly increasing the height, than to allow a powerful discharge to hit the center of the roof. We dig a hole for grounding, most often triangular in shape, as well as for grounding.
- We estimate the height of the pole, the depth of the pit and the cross section of the metal in the pit according to the principle - the more the better, but without fanaticism. If you make a pole too high and very good hole with grounding, then your dacha will collect all the lightning in the area on its lightning rod. Throw 10 percent on top - that will be enough.
Do not drive a few rebars into the ground! We dig a hole, weld several metal rods together, make sure that the welding is strong, cover the welding spots with protective compounds and then bury the hole.
Having finished preparatory work, we make lightning protection with our own hands:
- We fix a metal bar on the pole. It is advisable to install a fan at the end (an old metal brush will do);
- Using screw connections, after carefully cleaning the contact points, we connect the tape and the lightning rod;
- We will make sure that both the lightning rod and the tape do not have contact with the roof - if necessary, we put insulators (they cost a penny and are screwed with ordinary self-tapping screws);
- We lower the tape along the wall to ground level and weld it to the ground loop. The place of welding is covered with protective compounds;
- We check the absence of an adjoining of the tap tape to the wall, check the insulators, connections and dig in a hole with grounding;
- In no case are we trying to save money and hang the electrical wiring ground on the same ground!
Our lightning rod in the country is ready. It remains to wait for the cataclysm to test it in action.
Some nuances of arranging a lightning rod in the country
Iron rusts for some reason, especially in the ground. Cover ground protective composition it is possible, but it is more correct to take a thicker piece of iron. An angle 120x120 with a thickness of 12 will rust in the ground for 40 years without losing conductivity relative to the entire lightning protection circuit.
Additional impregnation flame retardant wooden walls along the entire line of the lightning rod will be a very useful and not superfluous means of protection against fire.
Before choosing a specific location for a lightning rod in your country house, walk around and look at the tall trees and buildings around. The correct location would be where it is farthest from the nearest highest points. It's the farthest!
The whole complex of works can be done in a day, a maximum of two. This is not the most difficult task, it does not even require special knowledge. But it requires scrupulousness and thoroughness, so do it yourself, without involving mercenaries. You want to protect yourself, not to receive assurances that you are protected.
obelektrike.ru
Do-it-yourself lightning protection of a private house: materials, diagram, instructions
House and cottage Gardener's calendar June House and buildings DIYLightning strikes into unprotected private houses and trees, unfortunately, are not uncommon. The presence of lightning protection in the country is necessary - it will divert the discharge into the ground and help save your property, and sometimes life. We will tell you how you can make a lightning rod with your own hands, using improvised means and tools.
How to protect against lightning a private house Lightning rod can be:
- Rod - a metal pin fixed to the frame (on the roof, near the house, on a tall tree growing near the house). By means of a metal wire, the pin is connected to the grounding system. Such a lightning rod looks aesthetically pleasing, but its coverage area is not large. It is easy for them to calculate the protection area: from the highest point of the pin, you need to mentally draw a line to the ground at an angle of 45º. Everything that will be in the zone of the triangle along the perimeter is protected from lightning strikes.
Installation of rod lightning protection - Rope - its feature consists in several masts (two or four), interconnected by steel or aluminum wire. Such a lightning rod is more efficient and covers a large area with protection.
Cable lightning rod on the roof of a private house These two types of lightning rods are the most common and are used in private houses and summer cottages, since their design is simple, and installation is not difficult to do with your own hands.
Lightning protection elements
Any kind of lightning rod system consists of three required elements:
- Lightning rod. In a rod lightning rod, this is a pin fixed at least 1 m above the chimney, in a cable lightning rod, it is a wire connecting the masts on the roof. metal roof can also act as a lightning rod if the coating thickness is 4-7 mm.
- Down conductor is one of the main elements of lightning protection. It is a copper (d 16 mm²), aluminum (d 25 mm²) or steel (d 50 mm²) wire.
- Grounding - a system of metal rods interconnected by a conductive material. It is located underground at a depth of at least 80 cm.
Materials and tools
For the construction of lightning protection with my own hands will need:
- The lightning rod is a pointed pin. A TV mast or radio antenna can be used, you can also buy a lightning rod from one of the leading manufacturers: SCHIRTEC, OBO Bettermann, J Propste, GALMAR;
- Copper, aluminum or steel wire of the recommended section;
- Pins, pipes or metal strips for grounding;
- Mast (bed);
- plastic mounts;
- Tools (hammer, drill, shovel).
Installation of a wire lightning rod
At the first stage of installation of lightning protection, it is necessary to stretch the wire along the roof ridges, which will serve as a lightning rod.
Scheme of installation of a cable lightning rod If the roof is covered with flammable materials (wood, plastic tiles), the wire should be at a distance of 10-15 cm from the surface on special plastic fasteners. The ends of the wire are attached to metal masts (horizontal lightning rods), or bent vertically.
Installation and fastening of the lightning rod The down conductor is attached to the lightning rod by welding, bolts or rivets. Connection points are isolated. On the roof, the down conductor is fixed with brackets, on the walls of the house - with plastic fasteners. The wire can be placed in a cable duct to avoid negative impact atmospheric phenomena on it.
Down conductor from the roof of a private house The grounding system is mounted at a distance of at least 5 m from the house, paths, benches. Nearby there should be no playgrounds for children's games and walking animals. Grounding works only in wet ground, which must also be taken into account when choosing a location.
Order of lightning protection grounding device:
- Dig a trench to a depth where the soil is always damp (at least 80 cm)
- Drive metal pins into the bottom of the trench.
Ground loop for lightning protection - Connect the pins together with a steel tape or pipe by welding.
- Extend the grounding with a steel tape to the place of its connection with the down conductor.
- Connect the down conductor to ground.
Fixing the down conductor to ground Installation of a lightning rod
For a rod lightning rod, a high frame must be installed. Its role can be played by the mast of a television antenna. The rod lightning rod is attached to the mast by welding or bolts.
Scheme of a rod lightning rod in a private house The installation of a down conductor and grounding of such lightning protection does not differ from that described above. After completion of work, it is necessary to check the resistance of the entire system. It should not exceed 10 ohms.
Service
Preventive maintenance of the lightning rod includes periodic cleaning of the rod pin from dirt, dust and oxide, as well as checking the integrity of all connections.
It is not difficult to independently mount a lightning rod in the country. If you follow all the recommendations and norms of the instructions for the lightning protection device RD 34.21.122-87, then in right moment it will work flawlessly.
Despite the fact that it is easy to make a lightning rod with your own hands, it is recommended to contact specialists to perform such work. Only professionals will be able to suggest which materials are better to use specifically in your situation, provide qualified assistance in choosing right place for installation, and take into account the negative factors from the influence of which the protection may not work.
How to decorate a stump in the country with your own hands
“From the bag and from prison” no one is insured, and even more so from a lightning strike. After a dazzling flash and a deafening roar, the most pleasant thing is to get off with a slight fright and delight from the experienced impressions. It's not good if the electronics in the house burn out. It's even worse when there's a fire. It is completely unacceptable - the defeat of a person by a lightning strike. The conclusion is simple: we make a lightning rod!
A lightning strike on a house cannot be called beautifulWhere does lightning come from?
The whole reason is cheerful clouds, which, when a thunderstorm approaches, gradually grow and turn into dark bulks of a cumulus type. The upper layers of moisture in the air turn into small ice crystals, while the lower layers remain in the form of water droplets. So we got two plates of a giant capacitor.
Huge structures move in the air and are charged as a result of friction: the upper layers accumulate positive ions, the lower ones accumulate negative electrons. There is a limit to everything, and the accumulated potential turns into an electric discharge. As a result, it "pierces" where there is the least resistance: tall trees, roofs of houses and ... lightning rods!
How lightning protection works
From the above, the strategy of the lightning protection device follows: to direct the probable electric discharge along a path that is safe for us and thus insure against trouble. For this purpose, a lightning rod is installed at a sufficient height, which is designed to capture a lightning discharge.
Scheme of the lightning rod device Further electricity with a value of about 100000A passes through the down conductor to the ground electrode. The latter provides a connection between the protective system and the ground. Thus, the lightning strike bypasses the protected objects and is absorbed by the earth.
This protection system is ubiquitous and is called passive. There are active lightning rods that have an ionizer that provokes a lightning strike. This increases the likelihood of protecting the object from damage. This type of lightning rod costs a lot, and its installation is difficult to do by hand.
Lightning rod options for a private house
There are three main types of lightning rod according to the type of construction:
- rod lightning rod;
- in the form of a grid;
- cable lightning rod;
- roof covering as a lightning rod.
A pin lightning rod can be purchased or made by yourself A lightning rod in the form of a rod is the most famous and widespread. There are industrial products with ready-made fasteners. It is really possible for those who like to create with their own hands to make an elegant design that adorns the building. In any case, a steel pin must have a cross section of at least 70mm2, and for a copper product, 35mm2 is sufficient. Thus, its diameter can be 7-10mm.
The length of the rod can vary between 0.5-2m, while it must protrude at least half a meter above all objects in the surroundings of the building. The lightning rod accepts a charge at one point and is especially effective in protecting small buildings.
Grid-shaped lightning rod is convenient for a large roof The lightning rod in the form of a grid is made of wire with a diameter of about 6 mm. In the photo you can see how a design of this kind looks in practice. There are ready-made structures with a cell size of 3-12m. Lightning protection of this kind is convenient to use on the roof of a large area. To prevent ignition of the crate, the lightning rod is mounted at a distance of 0.15 m from the roof surface.
The cable lightning rod is conveniently placed on the ridge In the conditions of a private house, a lightning rod in the form of a cable is more convenient to use. It is mounted on the ridge of the roof, secured by two supports on opposite gables. Possible and combined option when pin lightning rods are installed on the mentioned supports in addition to the cable.
The cable must have a diameter of more than 5mm and be mounted at a safe height from the roof. This type of structure is usually used on non-metallic coated roofs.
Seam roof as a lightning rod The metal roof of the roof, under certain conditions, can also act as a lightning rod. In this case, the thickness of the metal tile, corrugated board or galvanized sheet must be at least 0.4 mm. It is tempting to perform lightning protection without the use of additional materials.
In practice, this is not easy to do, since there should be no flammable materials under the flooring, while the crate is most often made of wood.
Moreover, it is necessary to ensure the connection of the current collector with each individual sheet of the coating, which is laborious. This option is suitable for seam roofing, where metal sheets are already securely connected. In this case, ignition of the crate is impossible if the coating is laid on a metal crate.
How the down conductor works
Ideally, for a do-it-yourself construction, the material of the lightning rod, down conductor and ground electrode should be the same and connected by welding, that is, steel. This solution ensures the reliability and durability of protection. In practice, it is possible to use galvanized and copper-plated elements, as well as various materials. Their connection is provided by the use of clamps with bolts and nuts.
Down conductor on the roof, on the wall and basement of the house A down conductor made of steel in the form of a rod or strip must have a cross section of at least 50 mm2, an aluminum conductor allows a size of 25 mm2, and a copper wire can be used with a cross section of 16 mm2, which approximately corresponds to a diameter of 8.6 and 5 mm, respectively.
The down conductor is placed so that it connects the lightning rod and the grounding conductor along the shortest path.
In this case, sharp bends are not allowed, which can lead to a spark discharge and ignition in this area. For the same purpose, the conductor is placed at a distance of at least 100 mm from the surfaces of combustible materials of walls and other building elements.
Grounding Requirements
It looks like a ground loop ready for testing Note that it is not recommended to use protective circuit grounding for connecting a lightning rod. In the case of using a common ground electrode during lightning discharge on surfaces household appliances dangerous voltage may be generated. To protect electrical wiring and household appliances in a private house, surge protection devices (SPDs) are installed on the input shield from a lightning strike.
Grounding for a lightning rod is placed no closer than 5 m from the porch and paths and the horizontal connector is buried at least 0.8 m. This is necessary to reduce the likelihood of injury to people in the event of a lightning discharge.
Lightning protection zone
You should not be under the illusion that a lightning rod on a neighboring house or a metal tower located nearby will completely protect your home from a lightning strike. The protective zone of the lightning rod has quite specific boundaries. In any case, the dacha will have to arrange its own lightning protection.
The size of the protected zone is determined by the height of the lightning rod The safety cone created by the rod lightning rod has an angle of 45-50°. This rule is valid at a height of lightning protection up to 15m. The sketch above shows that at a 45° angle, the radius of the protection zone is equal to the height of the top of the rod above ground level. With a value of 50°, the protection zone will be slightly larger.
Thus, the higher we place the lightning rod, the larger the area of the protected surface will be.
In any case, a private house must fall completely into the protection cone zone.It is highly desirable that all buildings in the yard be protected by the same rule. Thus, it is convenient to place a lightning rod on the roof of the house. It is easier to fix the pin on one of the sides of the building than in the center, while the likelihood of lightning hitting the roof is reduced.In the case of a large area, it may be necessary to install another lightning rod. It can be mounted on a special mast.
We mount lightning protection with our own hands
First of all, it is necessary to choose a lightning rod in accordance with the above recommendations and the materials at hand. On the roof of a country house, the easiest way is to mount an ordinary steel pin. Galvanized pipe or aluminum rod will work even better. When using a branch pipe, its upper end must be plugged.
If you have a piece of cable of the desired length and diameter, it will not be difficult to stretch it along the ridge. On the roof of a large area, it is more efficient to use the option in the form of a grid. Lightning rod of any design should be fixed so that it is not disturbed by the wind.
Please note: the electrical contact of the entire system is easier to ensure by making all three components of the lightning rod from the same material.
If you do not have in mind welding, it is easier to make a current collector from a thick copper wire in accordance with the recommendations above. A reliable connection to the lightning rod can be ensured using galvanized clamps with bolts and nuts. It is practical to fix the conductor to the supports of the downpipes.
Dimensions of the ground loop in the form of a triangle The ground loop is best equipped where the probability of finding people is the least. It is also advantageous to place it in a place where moisture is always present. This will improve the contact of the earth electrode with the ground. It will not be superfluous if a warning sign is installed next to it. It is better to make a bolted connection with a grounding conductor above the ground on the base of the building, and ensure contact in the ground by welding.
After installing the entire system electrical connection from the lightning rod to grounding can be checked with a multimeter. Ground loop resistance can only be tested special device. Its value should be no more than 10 ohms in the event that the presence of people is possible nearby. For a separate lightning rod installed far from home, the grounding resistance should not exceed 50 ohms.
Standard instrument for measuring earth resistance At least once a year, it makes sense to check the integrity of the entire system visually. Once every few years, grounding should be dug up and the degree of metal corrosion should be assessed. If the rods in the ground have become noticeably thinner, they must be replaced.
A tall tree will help us
To equip a lightning rod in the country, you can use a tall tree growing nearby as a mast. The lightning rod should be fixed on its top so that it protrudes at least 0.5 m above the crown. At the same time, one should not forget that the tree grows and changes its size.
Lombardy poplar protect your home from thunderstorms This means that the lightning rod and down conductor should be fixed plastic clamps that won't damage the barrel. It is better to use a copper stranded flexible wire and it should be laid with a margin of dyne. In addition, every few years you will have to climb up and rearrange the lightning rod above the crown.