Your electrician knows what is necessary per NEC - a
document about human safety. Yes, enhance grounds would be
helpful - as I believe I stated earlier. However ground wires
one wrist thick would accomplish nothing.
Inspect the ground that your AC utility installs for safety
and lightning protection of their transformers:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html
Why is that ground wire not so massive? Because it need not
be large as your electrician has only speculated.
Yes, enlarging the earthing system means improved
protection. After all, the protector is only as effective as
its earth ground. But enlarging does not mean larger wires
and a thicker ground rod. If we constructed buildings for
fully enhanced transistor protection, then Ufer grounds would
be standard on all new buildings. No massive wires and ground
rods as he has speculated. Not even a major expense. Earthing
is enhanced using a concept called equipotential - that an
electrician would probably not understand. Equipotential is
understood by RF engineers and high voltage transmission tower
engineers:
http://www.psihq.com/iread/ufergrnd.htm
http://scott-inc.com/html/ufer.htm
Unfortunately you must deal with the hand as dealt by the
builder. That means a major improvement in protection by
installing or enhancing the single point earth ground of 10
foot ground rods. Either you have no earthing and zero
protection. OR you install a set of earth ground rods to
provide protection for over 90% of all direct strikes. And
then we enhance significantly for the last less than 10%
improvement.
Most direct strikes are not a high energy transient that
your electrician apparently believes. For example, how many
trees struck by lightning are destroyed? Something like well
over 95% of all trees directly struck by lightning have no
appreciable indication. Most all lightning is earthed by one
ground rod. Does he think that ground rod will explode in the
earth? Obviously not. Most all lightning is quite easily
earth with no damage - even to a directly struck tree.
BTW, some see a rare exception and then assume that damage
is normal for all direct lightning strikes.
Review the earthing wire provided on a 'whole house'
protector. Using assumptions from your electrician, then that
wire would be a cable too large for the breaker box. Notice
the protector wire for 50,000 amp direct strike is not any
larger than AC electric wire used throughout the house.
Notice how many examples demonstrate that your electrician is
wrong. And yet I am still not finished.
Your earthing system is the secondary protection system.
Lightning gets earthed by more than just your ground rod.
That primary protection requires your inspection:
http://www.tvtower.com/fpl.html
If your earth is conductive, then a single earth ground rod
is more than sufficient for most direct strikes. Many don't
find that sufficient because they want protection even from
the rarely observed type of strike. For example these Ham
radio operators and industry professionals discuss the topic:
http://www.eham.net/articles/6848?ehamsid=61915ecd56a94ff1e861e080ac23c416
"Think of NEC and other codes as a MINIMUM requirement.
There is NO conflict between electrical codes and good RF
grounding!" Also notice that grounding of towers for direct
strikes is but an earth ground rod. Is that what your earthing
is? Not one defines wires and ground rods the size of a wrist
- because you electrician is educated in a code written only
for human safety. Notice how often the ground wire is only 6
AWG - again directly contradicting your electrician.
Post 1990 NEC grounding is the absolute minimum. Many
enhance that. Not by bigger wires. By how the ground is
installed such as this example of a partial halo ground:
http://www.cinergy.com/surge/ttip08.htm
To better understand the concept, then read legendary
application notes from Polyphaser - an industry benchmark:
http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_ptd_home.aspx
If still not enough, then try one day's worth of reading in
alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus on 30 Mar 2005 entitled "UPS
unit needed for the P4C800E-Deluxe" at:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?X61C23DCA
Meanwhile, did the electrician understand something so
important such as no sharp bends in the earthing wire, no
splices, wire as short as possible, not routed adjacent to
any other non-earthing wire, and all wires run separately
until they all meet at the single point ground? Too often
electricians want to make things look neat. They ty-wrap
wires together in neat bundles with nice square bends. They
route a breaker box ground wire up over the foundation then
down to the ground rod - a big mistake. Mistakes that
undermine lightning protection. Installation techniques also
not taught in the NEC. Techniques that your electrician must
know AND 'must know why' if he is knowledgeable about earthing
for lightning protection.
Does your electrician understand the difference between wire
resistance and wire impedance? If not, then he does not even
understand a basic concept in lightning grounds. A concept
that explains why the wire cannot have sharp bends. Many
hours of reading to grasp this topic. But electricians are
too often a poor source on transistor safety. They are
educated, instead, in human safety. Transistor safety
required significant additional knowledge. Sometimes an
electrician will only speculate - due to no engineering
education - such as a ground wire as large as a wrist.
. It