Grounding Metal Roof Lightning

It is faulty logic to assume that a metal roof attracts lightning strikes similarly to a lightning rod because lightning rods are not made to attract lightning.

Grounding metal roof lightning. Steel roofing materials are no more attractive to lightning than any other type of roofing material according to the metal roofing wholesalers website. Grounding a metal roof has no effect on the lightning itself but grounding the roof will stop the electromagnetic lines of force generated by the lightning from entering the building through the roof and developing damaging voltage spikes in the house. Metal conducts electricity but when you are dealing with a full roof a lightning strike would ground out through the rest of the structure without causing damage or harm to the interior. Metal roofs do not attract lightning strikes.

And since lightning will strike whatever gives the least resistance as a path to the ground a metal roof won t pose any greater risk of a. Lightning is attracted to. Grounding your metal roof is optional although few people bother to do so. There are a few options for how to install lightning protection.

A wire from the antenna mount to a grounding source described below or a surge arrester. The metal construction association notes that metal roofs do not attract lightning. Generally if you have a metal antenna mount on your roof that is over 5 feet tall you will want to ground that using a long copper wire. It is a false belief that metal roofs can increase the risk of a lightning strike.

Lightning is a powerful destructive force of nature and will strike a building regardless of its type of roofing. A 3 prong grounded tool that was plugged in would be about like holding onto the metal roof. The concern about metal roofs attracting lightning strikes is most likely associated with the fact that metal can be an electrical conductor. Rather they are made to channel lightning safely to the ground if it happens to strike the location of the building.

The short answer is no you don t have to ground a metal roof and you will incur no additional risk if you don t ground it in most circumstances. Nor do metal roofs protect a building against lightning. The only way to protect a building is with a properly designed and installed lightning protection system lps. If the roof takes a lightning hit then every plug in and light switch in the house has lightning delivered right to it.

Metal roofs are no more attractive to lightning than any other type of roofing material. While a building s structural steel will conduct lightning it is the bonding interconnection and grounding provided by a lightning protection system lps that will dissipate lightning s harmful electricity safely to the ground.