Drive by 1803 Michigan Ave., and the little spikes on top of the roof are hardly noticeable unless you really look hard.
The spikes are actually lightning rods that Byron Little installed on his house and garage to keep the buildings immune from damage caused by lightning.In his house, Little operates Lightning Protection Equipment Co., a part-time venture that keeps him busy in addition to his work as an electrical engineer.
It isn't difficult to imagine how Little came to develop a deep respect for lightning. When he was a boy he hid under the bed until a storm passed, fearing the thunderbolts.
While he worked as an electrical engineer, several people asked him about lightning rods to abate the damage lightning can cause. He started his company in 1984 and soon was installing lightning rods on mountain cabins (because of the lightning associated with mountain storms) and houses of people who wanted to protect their investment.
He doubled his business every year for seven years and now spends 10 to 15 hours per week installing lightning rods on cabins, houses, hospitals and commercial and government buildings. Little said it is critical for many buildings to have lightning rods so valuable equipment won't be damaged.
According to the Lightning Protection Institute, lightning is the greatest natural destroyer of property, a fact that might not occur to everyone because it usually only strikes one house, barn or other target at a time.
Lightning's power is awesome, according to the institute. The average house current has between 110 and 240 volts and 100 amperes or more. A typical lightning charge has between 10 million and 100 million volts with 1,000 to 300,000 amperes and may leap a mile or more.
To combat the power of lightning, the LPI, Underwriter's Laboratory and the National Fire Safety Agency have adopted standards for lightning rod installation.
Lightning rods are usually about three-quarters of an inch thick and about 12 inches long and can either be copper or copper-coated steel. They are installed about every 20 feet along the ridge line of a house at the highest point.
When swamp coolers are higher than the ridge line, Little said, a lightning rod is installed. An average house will take about eight rods. Also, metal pipes, television antennas and metal gas lines are bonded with wire into the lightning protection system, and in some instances lightning arresters are installed to tie the entire system together.
Each rod is connected with copper cable 5/8-inch in diameter that is connected to ground rods on opposite ends of the house. A steel rod coated with copper is driven into the ground. When lightning hits, the power is transferred from the rod, through the cable and into the ground rod.
If the rods are installed properly, Little said, people will never know if their house is struck by lightning. He said the cable must have gentle curves so the lightning will travel safely through it.
Some lightning rod installations are made while the house is being built so the cable cannot be seen. In an installation on an existing house, the copper cable soon becomes oxidized and usually cannot be seen from the ground.
Lightning rods have several different types of bases: aluminum, copper or nickel-plated. A lightning rod and its base combined are called an air terminal, Little said.
Little said a lightning protection system costs less than 1 percent of the cost of a new home and he considers the cost an "inexpensive insurance policy."
He said hospitals have lightning protection systems because of the need to protect the electrical systems that keep life-saving equipment operating, and many tall buildings have the systems to protect expensive computer equipment.
One of the most unusual jobs he ever did was to install lightning rods on a van the National Aeronautics and Space Administration sent to remote areas to help space shuttles land safely.
He purchases his supplies from AC Lightning Security Inc., Maryville, Mo., and keeps an inventory at his house so he can install a system when hired.
A native of Salt Lake City, Little joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1971 and spent his six months of active duty at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Gordon, Ga. He worked with radio teletype and had some firsthand experience with lightning when the equipment had to be shut down quite often when a thunderstorm rumbled in.
After active duty, he served a mission to Georgia in 1973-74 for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and when he returned received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Utah in 1980. In all the installations he has done in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho, he hasn't had any complaints.