How to design and build a lightning-safe enclosure, users from dangers (bearing in mind that there is no component that
ing in mind that there is no component that can
specifically in shower-room, bath-room or dish-
washing area?
A community-service project: By Paul Chang
Aim: Hope to help save some lives throughout the world.
Availability: This sharing & design is offered free of charge (no patent applied for)
Why make shower-bath area safe from lightning?
There are a few ways a person can be killed while indoors, when lightning
strikes and you are at these places (POINTS of DANGER);
• Nearby to or touching a window grill
• Nearby to or touching an UN-protected land-line telephone, electrical
appliances, plumbing such as water taps including the shower-head in the
bath-room;
• Nearby to or touching your computer, electronic equipment setup or work-
station.
It is wrong to believe you are safe (from lightning) while
indoors because you have the following fixtures:
• The ELCB or RCCD installed at the power supply is only good when
there is any power-leakage from the LIVE-wire or HOT-wire onto the
cover or handle of electrical appliances, such as the refrigerator or
washing machine, Some nuisance-tripping can be caused by lightning
discharges nearby and the dangerous voltages picked up by the EARTH
or GROUND wires connected to the household wiring. Such tripping has
nothing to do with keeping anyone safe (when high-voltage is picked up
by the EARTH or GROUND-wires or the plumbing fixtures)
• The Lightning-rod or Franklin-rod is only good for diverting any
lightning discharge through correctly sized conductors deep into the
ground* It has nothing to do with keeping equipment or users safe from
lightning discharges picked up by conductors connected from your house
to outside sources, such as the telephone wires, the power-line, the TV-
antenna, the Satellite-dish, the plumbing, etc.
How does lightning kill?
There are basically two ways one can be killed by lightning:
1. A direct discharge – when you are exposed to a direct strike if lightning
voltage is conducted via the air onto and through your body to ground.
Avoid becoming the best conductor (tallest, widest, nearest object)
exposed to ionized air outdoors or even indoors;
2. An indirect but induced discharge – when you are touching or nearby
to any external connection (listed above) even though you are indoors
and you are not aware of any lightning discharge nearby. In this case,
avoid touching or using any appliance or equipment that is not correctly
protected with ISOLATION circuitries that can isolate equipment and
really ARREST the full force of a powerful lightning discharge!) Having
ordinary lightning ARRESTORS installed may improve your chance to
survive a mild strike but not safe during a powerful strike.
Lightning can induce thousands of volts of EMF & PD onto conductors.
What are EMF & PD?
• Any two wires of a power supply (example: LIVE & NEUTRAL) can form a
CIRCUIT with a load to allow current to flow through. If you touch these
two wires at the same time, current can pass through your body and most
probably will kill you, because of the voltage present in this circuit. This
form of voltage is called Electro-Motive Force or EMF.
• When the GROUND you are standing on, say point A, takes on a certain
electrical-charge-potential (referenced as 0-volt) and another point nearby
or far away, say point B, has a different charge-potential (say 10volt
higher than point A), the AIR linking these two points is exposed to 10V.
When this figure has become 10,000V, the distance and the moisture in
the AIR may be able to keep the 10,000V harmlessly separated. If you
stand in between these two points, the equation is disturbed. A little
discharge may start and very quickly, the AIR together with your body will
become conductors, killing you in the process! That explains the danger
of PD or Potential Difference, when it is high enough!
How to make work-places and shower-bath area safe?
At any one time, it is not good to let the air around you to build up high
potential-difference or PD, because when lightning discharges nearby, this
PD can be very high (between your feet and your head or hands)! It is
therefore a good practice to create an environment where there is no
chance for PD to build-up around you any time, so that if lightning were to
strike anything nearby, there would be no high build-up of PD around you.
• Create a safe atmosphere around your work-place or work-station;
• Create a safe platform around electrical appliances or equipment;
• Create a safe environment in your shower-bath area
As a community service, I am now offering my experiences and knowledge
gathered through more than 15 years figuring out how to keep equipment
and users safe from lightning dangers, hoping to help save some lives.
• Where I have applied for patents, licensing can be had for as little as what
you would spend on doing charity work in CSR + some administrative
expenses. Please find more details in www.cal-lab.com
• For keeping the shower-bath area safe, the design and methods are
intentionally NOT to be patented, so that anyone can consider using
– competition will keep the cost low and many will get to benefit. Please
see details below or go to www.cal-lab.com
General Safety Reminder: Here are some ideas and suggestions: (no charge)
• When outdoors and if you are aware, your safety depends on Shower-bath Area
what you do in the face of dangers from lightning! Wall Ceiling
• When indoors and hardly aware of impending dangers from WIRE-MESH OR
lightning, your safety and your loved ones’ depend on what you ALUMINUM-FRAMES
have preplanned and equipped around you to keep you and loved CAN BE USED
IN WALLS OR CEILING
ones safe from lightning! Never go near POINTS of DANGER!
USE THICK COPPER WIRES
Build a safe-area for shower-bath enclosure: OR STAINLESS-STEEL WIRES
• As soon as the opportunity arises, please make sure you get your TO LINK ALL MESH OR FRAMES
contractor or housing-developer to add a few details to create these AND PIPES & FITTINGS
lightning-safe areas! (see suggestions below) & ELECTRICAL FIXTURE-EARTHING
TO FLOOR-WIRE-MESH
• They cost very little extra but the long-term benefits are plenty, including
safety and peace-of-mind. ALL SIDES FACING OUTWARD
ARE LINED WITH CONDUCTORS
The aim is to create an environment where your whole body WHICH ARE ALL CONNECTED
will be exposed to nearly-zero-volt Potential-Difference (PD)
Add an insulation mat
even when there is a lightning discharge nearby. At the entrance, keep it dry!
Avoid step-potential dangers.
Identifying the points of danger:
Keep them connected with good conductors of electricity, like copper, Floor wire-mesh embedded in floor concrete or tiles
brass or aluminum. Do the same for the Dish-washing area in the kitchen – to make surges
• The floor – lay stainless-steel wire mesh inside floor-material carried by the plumbing safer, when it happens!
• The shower-head & water-heater EARTH – use stainless-pipe fittings,
connected to the floor wire-mesh, by stainless-steel welding or clamps. To make equipment or appliances safe from lightning, a patent-pending
• The water pipe and fixtures – use stainless-steel fittings. EPSM (below) can be used with patented CLLI.
• The window frame or grill nearby – extend the floor wire-mesh A typical SAFE-island setup with CLLI + EPSM
connection to the window frame or grill. Danger from STEP-potential Difference is avoided
• The bath-tub – use stainless-steel fittings to connect to the floor wire-
mesh
• The ceiling (overhead) – connect the lighting fixtures and the aluminum
ceiling frame-work to the floor wire-mesh

Method employed:
Keep all the above connected to the floor wire-mesh, as the zero-reference
point.
• By designs that enable all the possible points of danger to be of equal-
potential with the floor wire-mesh at all times
• By employing stainless steel (conductor) water pipes and fixtures
• By employing conductive frames for partition
• By linking all sides, above and below with rust-resistant conductors.
• Forming a good-looking Faraday’s cage (use your own imagination to
create practical but beautiful designs)
Please share this document and info with your friends. For more info, email:
callabhq@gmail.com or go to www.cal-lab.com