3 ms·
Lightning damage is mostly an issue if the last-mile power lines are above ground. In my experience, power surges in urban areas with a decent grid are so rare
by jltsiren 8mo ago
Lightning damage is mostly an issue if the last-mile power lines are above ground. In my experience, power surges in urban areas with a decent grid are so rare that people generally don't bother protecting their devices.
- assaddayinh 8mo ago[dead]
- lanstin 8mo agoI have lived in the DC metro area inside the beltway or in Sillicon Valley my entire adult life and have only had above ground power wiring. Despite tree ordnances and wind storms and a grid so aged if we see lightning we lose power.
- mcv 8mo agoI've heard that before, that the US apparently loves above ground power lines. In NL it's only the long distance ones that are above ground. Even in most rural areas, I think everything is below ground.
- idiotsecant 8mo agoYes, we love them on account of our country having approximately 230 times the surface area and the Netherlands having approximately 13x the population density. We not only have vastly more line to run, but also many, many fewer people per square mile to absorb the costs. Underground line is expensive.
- nradov 8mo agoIt turns out that the fires caused by above ground power lines are also quite expensive, at least in certain areas. https://www.firevictimtrust.com/ https://www.firevictimtrust.com/
- pseudohadamard 8mo agoThat explains rural areas but not urban areas. We've got above-ground in rural areas but pretty much all urban stuff is underground. We get maybe one power cut a year, usually for scheduled maintenance work, and no problems with surges and whatnot.
- idiotsecant 8mo agoYes, where the population density supports it the US has tons of underground.
- mcv 8mo agoGrandparent was talking about the DC metro area and Silicon Valley. We're not exactly talking about Montana here.
- ikr678 8mo agoExpensive to install, less expensive to maintain.
- markdown 8mo ago> Lightning damage is mostly an issue if the last-mile power lines are above ground. So 99.99999% of the world.
- SauntSolaire 8mo agoBut not where 99.99999% of the population lives.