Today's house wiring plans needs some kind of protection against the possibility of property damage caused by lightning strikes and power surges, not to mention the threat of injury to you and your family and the inconvenience of power outages.

A single lightning strike, for example, can contain 30,000 amps of electrical current-2,000 times more than a typical 15-amp residential circuit. Electronic equipment is sensitive to lightning, which can destroy your expensive computer system and digital big-screen television.

Anything with microcircuits is at risk, including security systems and portable phones. Lightning traveling through phone lines can melt your modem. To make matters worse, a single flash of lightning can consist of several discharges, increasing the odds for damage.

A well-designed house wiring plans lightning protection system will carry a lightning charge through lightning rods and cables on your home down to the ground and safely dissipate it. An effective system should even extend to nearby trees, outbuildings, and other structures that might attract a lightning strike.

Another concern, however, is the possibility of damage caused by a power surge through your utility lines. A power surge from a lightning strike miles away can still damage your electronic equipment and telephone system.

To protect against a power surge, it is necessary to stop the surge from entering the house wiring at the main panel. This can be accomplished by installing a whole-house surge arrestor at the main panel and using individual surge arresters, or suppressors, at points of use that protect each device or appliance at its outlet.

To work properly, a surge protection system must also be well grounded because excess current is diverted back through your home's grounding system and into the earth. A good lighting and surge suppression system will offer little comfort, though, if you're hit by a major power outage lasting for days. For this, it is wise to have an optional standby generator as a backup source of emergency power.

A SINGLE STRIKE of lightning can easily damage your home unless you have an effective system in place to carry the current safely to ground.