[olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts

[Trent Melcher]

I use an APC650 for 4 PC's at home, I usually have the monitors off, so
power drain is minimal,  havent had a problem yet with lightning strikes
(nocking on some wood).  My In-laws have had that whole-house surge
supression installed by OPPD, and in does cover every piece of electrical
equipment in the house that is plugged in,  however there are a few hoops
you must jump through to prove that it was fried by a lightning strike.

Trent

-----Original Message-----
From: olug-bounces at olug.org [mailto:olug-bounces at olug.org]On Behalf Of
Joe Catanzaro
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 9:39 AM
To: olug at olug.org
Subject: [olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts


I didn't grow up in a place that has lots of lightning like the Mid-west,
so I have several questions regarding best practices for lightning and
computers. Just like many of you, I have about 6 computers running 24/7 and
would like to prevent the loss of data and fried hardware as much as
possible. And bear with me here, I'm not very smart when it comes to
lightning strikes.

When a storm rolls in, do you turn off the computer? Rely on a cheap surge
protector? Rely on an expensive surge protector? Unplug everything?

How does the lightning get to my computer? Does it strike the power pole in
the back ally and then travel through the circuits in my house? Or does it
hit my house directly?

Are lightning strikes common and is it worth getting that OPPD "whole house
surge protection?"

I grew up in Hawaii and the last thing we were concerned with was a bolt of
lightning.



Joe Catanzaro
joecatanzaro at cox.net

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