Smart Home Lightning Damage:
Why Specialized Lightning Strike Inspections Matter
It’s impossible to predict precisely when or where lightning will strike during a thunderstorm. However, when it hits a smart home, the damage can be catastrophic. Smart homes are more susceptible to lightning damage due to the multiple electrical components that provide entryways into your property. If lightning strikes your smart home, the voltage it can produce may cause significant damage to your electronics and appliances.
Smart Homes: More Tech, More Risk
There are many benefits associated with a smart home. From energy conservation, better connectivity and ease of use, smart appliances can make home life more convenient. These devices allow you to easily manage various activities throughout the day, including lighting, temperature and home security. However, the more technology your home has, the higher your risk is of sustaining significant damage during a lightning strike. Lightning damage can cost thousands of dollars in repairs or replacement, especially if your homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t cover the damage.
What Lightning Can Damage in a Smart Home
Lightning can cause significant damage to a smart home by sending powerful surges through your communication and electrical lines. When this happens, circuit and electrical damage occur, which can fry your electronics and even cause fires within your walls. In a smart home, damage can be even more significant due to interconnected devices and the increased likelihood of surges traveling throughout each one. Learn how to protect your home from lightning strikes during lightning season.
Why Specialized Lightning Strike Inspections Matter
A specialized lightning strike inspections can provide you with peace of mind should your property ever sustain lightning damage. A specialized lightning strike inspections goes beyond the system checks associated with a standard evaluation and focuses on the potential impact of lightning on your smart home devices and network.
Electrical Assessment
During your specialized lightning strike inspections, your inspector will conduct an exterior and interior inspection of your home. This can include checking for obvious signs of a strike, like burn marks, damage to your antennas and discoloration on your roof or electrical lines. In addition, they will examine your electrical outlets, panels and switches for signs of melting or scorching. They will also check your circuit breakers and fuse box for any signs of damage.
Smart Device Functionality
Once an inspector completes your electrical assessment, they will then test all of your appliances, including electronic equipment and lights, to ensure they are still functioning properly. They will also ensure that your smart home devices are functional, including your lighting controls, smart plugs, voice assistants, security systems and thermostats.
Network & Communication Check
Assessing your network and communication infrastructure is vital to determine whether damage has affected your smart home. This is done by testing all branch circuits, checking each device individually and ensuring their connectivity to your home network and the internet.
Prevention Is Key – but Not Foolproof
Preventative measures can help protect your smart home from damage during a lightning strike. Some of these steps include installing surge protectors, lightning rods and grounding systems to protect against a lightning-induced power surge. However, it’s important to keep in mind that, while prevention can offer some protection, it is not always foolproof. For this reason, homeowners should take additional steps to protect their property.
Insurance, Documentation & Peace of Mind
If your smart home is hit by a lightning strike, there are several steps you should immediately take. First, make sure everyone in your household is okay, check for any signs of fire or smoke and call the fire department. Lightning strikes can cause fires in hard-to-spot places, and firefighters are trained and equipped to locate and handle these situations.
Make sure to document any signs of damage throughout your home. This includes photo and video evidence of your devices and their functionality. If any devices are found to be irreparably damaged, they will need to be replaced.
After ensuring everyone is okay and that emergency personnel have arrived, it’s time to report these damages to your insurance company. At this point, they can help you determine the next steps in your claims process and let you know about any additional documentation you need to provide in order to get started.
Final Thoughts
Florida residents deal with their fair share of inclement weather and thunderstorms. In the event of a lightning strike, you must act quickly to ensure your smart home is safe and assess any potential damage that may have occurred. If your home is struck by lightning, call Mister Sparky. We offer comprehensive lightning strike inspections for homes, including smart homes, and will provide you with a thorough assessment and peace of mind. In addition, we offer tailored solutions to repair any damage to your electrical wiring as well as offer preventative measures and safety enhancements to protect your home from future incidents and electrical hazards.
As industry professionals, we ensure that our experienced and certified technicians will always arrive on time and provide our clients with transparent, up-front pricing and a satisfaction guarantee. Don’t put up with any malarky, call Mister Sparky!