nasty storms: do shut down/unplug elecronics?

[rabidbadger]

Just had a lightning/thunder/downpour/hail storm here. Usually doesn't bug me, but the lightning was close, so I shut down my computer for a few... Is that just silly?

[acidburn]

If there's a bad storm in the area, I will unplug my computers, tv and network equipment. It's all on surge strips, but I'd rather not take that the chance. I've had electrical surges here and have lost equipment before. I actually have a surge protector on the master power panel as extra layer of protection for the house because of the previous power hit that fried some stuff.

[rabidbadger]

this might be a good segment for tekzilla or something, actually..

[ryudo]

In Utah nah,seriously the weather in Utah changes by the hour..so we have a saying..don't like the weather..wait 5 min.
Only time I get serious about it is in the summer when we get those serious night time ultra super violent lightning storms.

This house has a grounder and my PC is connected to an inner wall outlet/surge protector(all my electronics plugged in surge protectors) in a basement apt and the wall sits behind/below a huge concrete porch. Remember reading lighting usually goes to outer wall outlets and with phones pretty much only corded phones are at risk of getting you zapped and again my phone is cordless so just the base would be melted and even it is on the same wall as my PC and many telephone poles around..more likely one of them gets zapped and falls on the house :p.
Fuse box in this house won't even let me use the microwave and my george forman grill at the same time...automatically shuts off.

Course there is still much risk involved,anything can still happen but most storms in Utah don't involve lightning except in the summer ..that is when I will do it no doubt.

Though I am stubborn and probably end up zapped one day.

[esophagus]

I said "Hells no!" I don't actually think anyone is a techno-pansie. I know that there probably is a chance something could hit my house, but I still don't do anything.

[rokov]

I voted "the odds are too slim", but to be honest it's really just laziness and a bit of paranoia that my PC won't start again (had to do a reinstall on my last PC after that happened).

[damnedeyez]

Not usually, although if it's a really bad lightning storm I'd probably disconnect the DSL...of course, with my luck, it'd hit the cable and zap the TiVo. All my electronics are plugged into some pretty hefty UPS units (I believe the type that always run from the battery, the plug charges the battery...I forget what they're called.)

Reminds me, maybe I should route the dsl and cables through them one of these days.

[rabidbadger]

semi off topic, but cool... (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/technology/personaltech/24pogue-email.html?em&ex=1209268800&en=b0b5f8c06242970e&ei=5087%0A)

[tiki]

The most severe weather we get in Washington state is like 3 inches of snow, at which point the entire state just shuts down because people are afraid of driving on the snow. As for Thunder and Lightning, we really get that.

I voted for: "You get weather?"

[rabidbadger]

actually, I almost voted: no. the odds are too slim that anything will hit my home
which is my usual thought, but today was just too weird not to take precautions.

[tokenuser]

Nope. House is on GFI wired panel. All electronics are on surge protectors. My wife and I use laptops, so that is another layer of buffering (battery in a brownout).

I don't use the phone though - and that is a habit from my parents.

[kronos6948]

Although my computer is hooked up to a surge protector, I've had the power go out on me (yeah, it's just a surge protector, not one of those outrageously expensive battery thingies), and without power, the computer shuts down.

That's not healthy for the computer AFAIK, so whenever a big thunderstorm starts to roll through, I shut 'er down. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[funkjomamma]

We just had a storm here too, I wasn't at home during it so obviously I didn't unplug anything, but I never do anyways.

[ericjosepi]

Only in Electrical Storms and such... There's only So much a surge protector can do in the event of a lightning strike so with things like compys and HDTVs I tend to pull the plug.

[stumpy]

In Utah nah,seriously the weather in Utah changes by the hour..so we have a saying..don't like the weather..wait 5 min.
Only time I get serious about it is in the summer when we get those serious night time ultra super violent lightning storms.

This house has a grounder and my PC is connected to an inner wall outlet/surge protector(all my electronics plugged in surge protectors) in a basement apt and the wall sits behind/below a huge concrete porch. Remember reading lighting usually goes to outer wall outlets and with phones pretty much only corded phones are at risk of getting you zapped and again my phone is cordless so just the base would be melted and even it is on the same wall as my PC and many telephone poles around..more likely one of them gets zapped and falls on the house :p.
Fuse box in this house won't even let me use the microwave and my george forman grill at the same time...automatically shuts off.

Course there is still much risk involved,anything can still happen but most storms in Utah don't involve lightning except in the summer ..that is when I will do it no doubt.

Though I am stubborn and probably end up zapped one day.

Yep - I live in Utah as well - it's true, the weather is always changing. Pisses me off all the time when it gets warm, then cold and starts snowing again.

I have a few servers at home - and keep the most important ones on a UPS. But everything else, if there is a chance of the power going down or flashing on and off and try to get most of the computers turned off... Not good for hard drives to be turning on and off really quickly...

[rabidbadger]

so went to work this morning, just a little place, four five computers, server, blah blah. had a couple blue screens, and a dead am/fm radio... odd.

[ariastar]

Nah. My parents would unplug the big screen, but that's about it.

[md2389]

I don't power down my equipment for anything short of a severe thunderstorm. With the way the weather acts around here, its a waste of time to do otherwise.

[travislopes]

It depends on how bad the storm is. If it's just a moderate storm, then I'll just continue like usual. However, if it is one of those severe storms, I'll shut down. You never no if and/or when your surge protector will fail...and if it does fail and kills your electronics, it will be difficult to get that data back.</end of rambling>

[tehcris]

i live in Miami, Fl we get severe storms out here all the time..lol....even hurricanes...lol...but i dont think i've ever unplugged or shut off my computer before...