As Seen in Detroit Design Magazine
June 10, 2020
| A modern luxury home is a collection of high-end technology systems. Amazing—when they operate. Masked in rich architectural and interior design, these operating systems— increasingly regarded as home tech—complement and control homeowners’ lives, influencing perceived quality of life. |
More Than Smart
Individual systems integrate, optimizing to meet homeowners’ needs and preferences. A spa heater incorporated with intelligent controls manages heating costs. Preheated after-work dips are the bonus.
All home tech shares one operational reality—the requirement for uninterrupted electrical current. Leave this to chance and leave everything to chance.
Lightning threatens home tech, as it threatens electrical current. A seasonal threat in every part of the country, many states face lightning year-round. Still, a majority of luxury homeowners “go bare,” leaving to chance the obvious and mitigatable threat lightning poses.
“Going bare,” homeowners forego lightning protection systems and the insurance they provide. Is it cost? Systems are approximately one percent or less of a new structure’s construction cost.
Fire is lightning damage’s most visible and violent signature. Lightning-caused fires begin at the roofline, above fire sprinkler systems. Other threats to the home’s occupants include electrocution, near electrocution, serious injury, and even death.
More prevalent and less visible is lightning damage that degrades and destroys home tech. This includes all of a home’s devices, appliances and their applications. Replacement costs can total tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars. This doesn’t account for time lost in device and appliance setup. That is, if you ever locate the long-misplaced passwords.
Protection is a Choice
A custom-designed, installed, inspected and certified lightning protection system leaves nothing to chance. Beginning as a critical needs analysis, the study addresses all the home’s technology systems. Whether new construction, existing construction, or as part of a remodel, lightning protection systems blend seamlessly with a home’s aesthetic.
Homes found in some of the nation’s poshest communities, from Palm Beach to Austin, Aspen and Martha’s Vineyard, to Manhattan and Chicago’s Lakeshore Drive, encompass these systems.
Irrespective of the structure, system design begins by understanding exposure. For 70 years, Guardian has provided Michigan, northern Ohio and northern Indiana property owners custom designed, inspected and certified lightning protection solutions that meet all installation and safety requirements of the National Fire Protection Association.
