Well, I'll kick off the debate on SPDs. Once again, the emphasis seems to be on domestic (we all, or virtually all of us live in a home of one sort or another) so are the proposals an improvement or not?
I recently retired from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and was responsible for publication of fire statistics amongst other things. I agree with mapj1 that SPDs will not protect the electrical installation against a direct lightning strike. Though thankfully rare, such direct strikes typically cause severe property damage in a resulting fire.
I mention this as fire is always a risk to life, which renders the suggested wording about SPDs being installed if there is a risk of injury or to life somewhat problematic. There is a clear risk to life as a result of fire if a direct lightning strike on a property occurs, yet SPDs will not prevent the electrical installation and the property itself from being damaged in such circumstances. (Even if no fire-related injuries occur the event can be so frightening that indirect injuries can occur - in one case during a storm the SFRS were called to a property where the householder suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of various sockets exploding and smouldering throughout the property).
SPDs may prevent downstream electronic devices from being destroyed by the transients induced as a result of an indirect strike but whether this is sufficient reason to require their installation in the consumer unit is another matter.
I live in a rural area, and a lightning strike in a field about 100m away from my house three or four years ago took out my broadband router and the motherboard of the PC to which it was connected, as a result of the induced transient in the phone line (see gkenyon's comment about phone master sockets not being protected). The phone line remains unprotected, but since then all my TV and computer equipment has been connected to the mains via surge-protected adapters at relatively modest cost and without change to the consumer unit.
I recently retired from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and was responsible for publication of fire statistics amongst other things. I agree with mapj1 that SPDs will not protect the electrical installation against a direct lightning strike. Though thankfully rare, such direct strikes typically cause severe property damage in a resulting fire.
I mention this as fire is always a risk to life, which renders the suggested wording about SPDs being installed if there is a risk of injury or to life somewhat problematic. There is a clear risk to life as a result of fire if a direct lightning strike on a property occurs, yet SPDs will not prevent the electrical installation and the property itself from being damaged in such circumstances. (Even if no fire-related injuries occur the event can be so frightening that indirect injuries can occur - in one case during a storm the SFRS were called to a property where the householder suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of various sockets exploding and smouldering throughout the property).
SPDs may prevent downstream electronic devices from being destroyed by the transients induced as a result of an indirect strike but whether this is sufficient reason to require their installation in the consumer unit is another matter.
I live in a rural area, and a lightning strike in a field about 100m away from my house three or four years ago took out my broadband router and the motherboard of the PC to which it was connected, as a result of the induced transient in the phone line (see gkenyon's comment about phone master sockets not being protected). The phone line remains unprotected, but since then all my TV and computer equipment has been connected to the mains via surge-protected adapters at relatively modest cost and without change to the consumer unit.
