Whole Home EMP, Solar Power & Lightning Protection
Hey everyone, I don’t know if any of you have any interest in prepping but if not then I’m sure there are several people on this site that have watched the recent debates about eliminating fossil fuels from your home, moving everything over onto electricity and installing solar power so I thought I would mention a great video I found on Youtube from the Provident Preppers about EMP protection for your home’s electrical system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKg-vNmMbog&t=112s
The company they mention is EMPShield. The device this company created provides protection from a high altitude nuclear detonation and a coronal mass ejection from the sun (which you may or may not believe will ever happen), but they also offer a 100% guarantee that their device will protect your entire home from a lightning strike which I thought was pretty cool.
At minute 25 they discuss the testing they did with a third party company Keystone Compliance which evaluates products for the US military and Homeland Security.
https://keystonecompliance.com/
They also mention a partner site called Griddown.com which makes a home solar battery that has EMP protection built into it.
Now, I have no affiliation with any of these companies – I get no money, benefits, rewards, discounts or any other form of payment from them or from any internet company, marketing, advertising, etc. I’m just providing information but I’d be interested in hearing if you’ve installed this device or one that is similar, or maybe have been thinking about getting one.
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Replies
If there is another Carrington-level event or atmospheric nuclear detonation, gadgets like these least of your worries. If you want to prepare for that, become good friends with people in your neighborhood.
Good grounding and bonding will take care of any realistic issues (e.g. nearby lightning strikes).
The test they passed was just their unpowered, disconnected product. There was no test to see if it actually protected anything hooked up to it. Your average $20 surge protector strip can pass this test. See pages 114-119: https://www.empshield.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/EMP_Shield_Military_Testing_16_March_2019_Public2.pdf
If you really want to dig into the weeds: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/19_0307_CISA_EMP-Protection-Resilience-Guidelines.pdf
I think this post is a good example of why we don't "just post informative links".
>"Good grounding and bonding will take care of any realistic issues (e.g. nearby lightning strikes)."
Not really, but good grounding and especially bonding is actually more important than the protector in terms of surviving a nearby lightning strike. Note that I said a "nearby" lightning strike. To survive a direct strike takes a lot more effort, and IS entirely doable, but very few residential structures are built that way. A good protector on the electrical service IS important, but without proper bonding of all the other services, you are NOT protected.
I do doubt their claims as to EMP survivable -- but not for their own product. I've had to design some facilities that were supposed to be "suriveable" for EMP events, and it takes a lot more than just a surge protector. We had multiple layers of shielded on the room, EMI/RFI gasketed doors, special pass-through protection in air vents that looked like metal foil honeycomb, known as a "below cutoff waveguide filter". Just putting a fancy surge protector on your electrical service doesn't even get you close to EMP-proof.
If you want decent power protection, a TVSS (fancy way to say "surge protector" installed on the electric service is important, and can be under $100. You NEED proper grounding and bonding of the other services though to have effective protection. If you go all-out and want to EMP proof your home, you'll know you get there when you have zero cellphone coverage inside. All our shielded facilities were that way -- when the door closed, cell service cut off, completely.
Bill
Good point about the surge protection.
My only comment is that I am skeptical of any 100% guarantee. We don't understand lightning well enough for anyone to make that claim. As for the other events, I suspect that the effects on our infrastructure might make it hard to get thru to customer service.
The information provided isn't a "this will solve the problem should an EMP event occur", but to generate a discussion. I value all constructive information, and if what I post causes someone to research a problem or situation that they hadn't considered before and decide to do something about it, great. Hopefully, if other's know more about the subject or have used a similar or better product themselves they will also post the information so everyone will learn.
My constructive criticism is that their company rides the predatory scammer line very closely and relies on others to generate leads.
https://www.finehomebuilding.com/project-guides/wiring/surge-protection