Have you ever wondered what can happen to landscape lighting if it gets hit by lightning? The short answer is, “Nothing good.”
On occasion, one of our customers will call and tell us that their property was hit by lightning. One lightning bolt alone can discharge up to one billion volts of electrical energy. To put this in practical terms, this is enough to power a 100-watt lightbulb for three months. That is why a lightning strike can light up the sky, even during the middle of the day.
What happens when lightning strikes?
This electrical discharge is not only powerful, it also generates a lot of heat. In fact, a lightning bolt can heat up the surrounding air by up to 30,000 degrees Celsius (54,000 degrees Fahrenheit). This temperature is roughly five times hotter than the surface of the sun.
Besides striking a tree or house, lightning can also hit the ground. When it does, it may discharge into your landscape lighting system. Once that happens the damage begins. Current from lightning can travel through the wires and often will destroy the fixtures. Lightning can be a strange thing. Some fixtures can be burned badly and destroyed yet others in the system can be untouched.
Sometimes a lightning strike will not only destroy the fixtures above the ground but also damage the wire in the ground. If your outdoor lighting system was hit by lightning, you should assume that the wire has been compromised and will need to be replaced. In most cases, if your landscape lights were impacted by lightning, you should expect to replace them.
Besides damaging the fixtures, lightning can also impact your transformer. Sometimes the damage is minor, and the transformer only needs to have the circuit breaker reset. At other times the transformer can be severely damaged. This picture shows the damage done to a low voltage transformer after the system was struck by lightning. You can see that there is no repair to this transformer.
Is there something that can be done to protect your outdoor lighting system?
Some inline fuses may help, but if the surge is quite powerful it probably won’t make much difference. Enjoy your outdoor lights but know that lightning can strike at any time. Damage to your outdoor lights can be significant. When that happens, you’ll need to report it to the insurance company.
Luminocity can help bring the light back on after a storm. If your outdoor lighting isn’t working after one of our Indiana electrical storms, give us a call at 317-537-8055 . We’ll make the necessary repairs and replacement to give your home the illumination it deserves!
