Etana’s surge protector offers savings on lightning damage

Lightning streaks down from the sky during a thunderstorm in Port Elizabeth in March 2011

Have you ever woken up to discover that your expensive equipment, computers and machinery have gone up in smoke, or worse still, your premises caught fire during last night’s violent thunderstorm?

Well now you don’t need to worry nearly as much about this scenario, thanks to Etana’s approved surge protector, a device designed to safeguard households and businesses from the damaging lightning power surges associated with thunderstorms.

Our talented and highly experienced risk management team is upbeat about the benefits offered by the surge protector, which include:

• Reduction of up to 90% in damages
• Significant reduction in claims
• Maintenance of normal operations despite power surges
• Diversion of electrical surges to earth
• Effective protection for up to a decade
• Coloured flag indicators which reflect the operational status of the device
• Easy exchanging of defective protection modules – no rewiring necessary if module is defective or damaged
• Generally only a single device needed per premises.

When lightning strikes, it creates an electromagnetic field that’s responsible for the majority of lightning damage (apart from a direct strike). The surge protector, which is fitted to the main distribution board (DB), can withstand up to 40kA (kilo amps). It’s rare for lightning experienced in South Africa to exceed 40kA, and any voltage in excess of 1 000 volts is diverted away from the premises to earth, thereby preventing damage to appliances, which are designed to withstand up to 1 500 volts, or to fixed installation equipment with a tolerance limit of 2 500 volts.

Find more information on Etana’s surge protection device here.

See what happens to a television set when a power surge hits it on the video clip below.

People in Risk

Marcel Wood

Marcel Wood heads Etana’s risk management division. Before starting in insurance he worked for the fire department, rescuing people and (literally) putting out fires. He’s passed through Munich Re and Santam, and has designed the only risk management tool aimed specifically at the insurance industry – ARQ. Marcel is a mean guitarist, a brilliant vocalist and an accomplished soccer player with the personal motto: “Do your best all the time”.