david wrote:
Not much protects against lightning. Even unplugging
from the mains
might not - lightning is powerful enough to jump across insulator gaps.
Very true, David. I don't know of *anything* that will stop lightning
directly.
I work in the insurance industry (in Central United States) and take
initial claim reports.
Just took one today where a lightning strike nearby took out a
policyholder's Central Air Conditioning system. My first suggestion
to the insured was to check his furnace and everything else that is
powered by electricity in his home, including things that were not
plugged in at the time of the electrical storm.
While we were talking about his next steps to recover from this event,
his wife called out that (sure enough) the furnace was not coming on.
Dave, if you're still following this thread, be sure to check
everything in the home that is electric powered. If you wait till the
fall to turn on your furnace and find out it doesn't work, your
insurance company may think it's a separate claim and charge you a
second deductible.
Best,
Stephen.