Lightening!?

Question

Has it been proven that lightening is drawn to electricity? Wait, before you laugh at me - I mean it in this way.. If there is a thunderstorm on and you leave all your lights on (including A/C, TV, etc) do you have more of a chance of getting struck than your neighbor who turned everything off? Has this been proven?

Okay, you all are doing a wonderful job on giving me information about lightening - but, no one has answered my question.

I'm referring to people always telling you to turn your lights off and turn everything electrical in your house off..

I wanted to know if there were ever any tests done to prove that that reduces the chances of your house getting struck by lightening!...

Please, anyone know?

Answer 1

Lightning is an electrical discharge. Electric tends to flow along the path of least resistance (or in this case, the path of highest conductance).

It may be possible to alter the electromagnetic force lines in an area via electrical current (which generates a proportional magnetic field). If this change in the magnetic field is sufficiently strong, it may create an area that lightning strikes are drawn to more readily than non-conductors, or conductive items whose magnetic field profile is less suitable for conducting electricity.

Hence, we do tend to see lightning strikes to power lines, substations, transformers and other high-current areas. We sometimes also see a higher incidence of auroral phenomena (charged particles emitting pretty lights in the air/sky) above/around/near highly charged areas (power plants in opportune electrically active locations, etc.).

I don't know whether leaving all your applicances and stuff on will give you a higher lightning-attractive profile than your neighbor's house though, considering the fairly minimal currents that flow into most people's homes. I'd more expect the local transformers or power switching stations to get hit before a specific home in the neighborhood. Even then, I'd tend to favor tall trees (taller than the house) possibly with wide canopies to get hit more often than the house itself.

Though if an electric pole or telephone pole in the neighborhood got hit, I'd worry about the surge blowing out electrical applicances and or phones (or computers attached to phone lines), or the house wiring, or the local electric grid (power outage or brown-out)...

Of course this is all my opwn opinion and speculative...

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As regards your second question:
The admonition to turn off and then unplug your appliances is not so much in terms of "preventing lightning" so much as to "prevent DAMAGE FROM LIGHTNING." See the difference?

The reason for this is known as a "power surge." They happen infrequently, but sometimes a power station has an overload, or lightning arc and strikes a powerline. The problem here is that power lines usually deliver a fairly specific AMOUNT of power. But under certain conditions, TOO MUCH power gets shoved down the line. This is called a "power surge." There are usually things in place to prevent this one the electrical grid scale (giant circuit-breakers, if you will), but they are not always effective in all cases, especially where lightning causes arcs of electricity throughout a substation or arcs to a portion of line that is PAST the circuit breaker.

If this electricity arcs or flows into the house's wiring it may cause an over-load (literally too much of an electrical load on the lines). This energy will dissipate wherever it can: into phones via phone lines, into computers via phone lines, into any appliances, TV's, computers that are plugged in. These machines are designed to use a bery specific amount of power, regulated in very specific flow patterns. A massive surge of electricity may over-load the machine that's connected to the circuit. In that case, the circuits that overload may arc or "bleed" electricity to other circuits, and over-load them. If there's too much energy the circuits will be damaged, and the machiery will cease to function properly.

Hence the admonition to turn off and unplug appliances. It's also best to use strong surge-suppressors between the wall outlet and the machine that's connected. They will generally have a specific rating (joules) of how much of a peak surge they can withstand and "survive" before breaking the circuit to protect attached hardware. An added benefit that surge protectors may have is called "power cleaning." Basically, electrical currents coming into the house may vary in intensity, and frequency. This can have harmful effects on machines, or may cause "line noise" or "interference." Some surge suppressors "clean" the power that comes into the house in order to give machinery the nice steady flow of power they crave rather than the chaotic fluctuations that might normally exist on the house wiring circuit.

Hopefully this made sense?

Lightning may be attracted to electrically / magnetically optimal areas (low resistance, high conductivity), electrical plants and other electrical systems may cause optimal conditions for a strike at that location. A strike may cause a power surge. Machines attached to the electrical circuit (house wiring, appliances, TV's, radios, light bulbs) may dissipate the electrical current. This may cause damage to said appliances or other electrical things that aren't rated to handle the amount of unregulated power that is fed to them.

Hence it is a "best practice" to turn everything off (break the electrical circuit internal to a particular device) and/or unplug things (physically disconnect things from the larger circuit, IE house wiring, and/or the outside electric grid). It is also best practice to utilize surge suppressors/protectors to protect sensitive equipment from power surges.

However, turning things off won't necessarily decrease your chances of a lightning strike in the particular neighborhood that may or may not hit a power line, phone line, etc.

Answer 2

A lightning strike generally hits the the highest conducting item in the environment. Lightning can strike a telephone pole and be conducted down electrical wires. It can enter a house and exit through electrical appliances. It is best to stay away from wires and appliances and also to turn them off, which may physically disconnect various relays that could transmit the lightning pulse.
Such gaps may lessen the chance of the surge going through appliances and subsidiary wires. In other words, lightning is not attracted by live appliances and wire lines and connections. turning appliances off hinders electrical propagation of the lightning.
Dan.

Answer 3

I would think the opposite, because electricity is electrons, etc, and other electricity would repel that, because electrons are negative, and negatives push each other. That is so minute, because your house would still be attracting it, so it would not matter. If you have electricity, it is on wire designed to carry electricity, so it would make no difference if it was on or off, because it would attract the lightning. People tell you to turn the stuff off, because if you left it on, the lightning could cause a power surge that could destroy you electrical appliances, because when on, the circuts are open to the line. If you are one the phone (with wire) etc the lightning can travel up it and hit you. My friends mother was vacuuming in a storm, and it traveled the wires (designed to carry electricity) to her, and hurt her.

Answer 4

Electricity and Lightning are both drawn to Earth. Each for very slightly different reasons. So it could appear that lightning is attracted to electricity while in fact it is trying to "share" the path to Earth that electricity (generated electrical power) is using.

There are many things that provide a convenient path to earth that involve no generated electricity. Like a human head floating above water in a lightning storm, a tree (that's why standing under one is not a good idea), and silly people carrying a metal rod (umbrella) over their head in a lightning storm.

Answer 5

Lightning is not attracted to electricity. It would be more likely drawn to the grounded side if an electrical circuit. The reason you are told to turn things off is because a lightning strike to a live wire will travel to and power surge your appliances. Especially damaging to computers, televisions, and such.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

No, but turning off and disconnecting your stuff can protect that stuff from nearby lightning strikes. There of course is no protection from a direct hit, seeing that lightning is all the force of a tactical nuclear weapon directed into a very small spot...a little switch in the "off" position is hardly a protection. If it can jump a gap from the sky to the ground and subsequently obiliterate whateverit hits, what difference is another few inches going to make?

Answer 8

Hi. The simple answer is that unplugging your TV etc protects the device from damage from a near strike or direct strike. Especially if it were to hit the power line coming into your house. I have never heard of any experiment to see if it reduces the chance of getting hit, but I think not.

Answer 9

Lightning follows the path of least resistance - anything metal. You shut off appliances to protect them. They should really be unplugged.
The stuff being on leaves a completed wiring path.
Being energized is incidental. Lightening can induce a strong current in a wire on it's own.

Answer 10

No, it has no effect. Stuff plugged into the wall will be fried so it is better to turn stuff off and unplug it but it makes no difference to the chances of getting a hit.

Lightning is millions of volts, another 115V either way will make no difference

Answer 11

Lightening can strike any where and and any time during a thunderstorm. It doesn't matter where. It's nature and it's all in the hands of the Heavens.