Should You Turn Off Your TV During A Thunderstorm? – [Answer]

If you live in an area where thunderstorm arrives every now and then, you must have noticed from your childhood that parents rush to electronics, especially TV, to turn them off.

But is it really needed? Should you turn off the TV during a thunderstorm?

Yes, you must turn not just the TV off but all of the appliances in your home during a thunderstorm, as prevention is better than cure.

Well, is it this easy?

No, you need to be more aware of the situation and benefits of turning the TV off during a thunderstorm. So, let’s dig into the topic to understand every possible aspect of this situation.

Why Should You Turn the TV Off During a Thunderstorm?

There are two things to do before going further:

• TV with antenna
• New modern or smart TV

Although antennas are not used that much now, there is still a possibility, so you should know about it as well.

Firstly, if you are using a TV with an antenna outside (maybe on the roof), you are in great trouble. You need to be super conscious of any situation like this.

Antennas are completely made of steel or iron, and they both are excellent conductors of electricity. It indicates that lightning might strike your antenna.

And if your TV is plugged in and turned on during a thunderstorm, it might cause a small blast and destroy the TV.

But you are on a little safer side if you don’t use the antenna. Nevertheless, experts still advise turning all electronics off and relying on things that work on batteries.

So, if you have a mini-TV that works completely on battery, you are good to go.

Does TV Attract Thunderstorms and Lightning?

TV directly doesn’t attract light, especially if it’s placed indoors. But as we have told you earlier, if you are using the TV with an antenna, you are in danger as the antenna will always attract lightning.

In other words, your home is completely safe to place as it’s mostly made of wood and concrete, which are not good conductors of electricity.

But you should keep things off that contain electrical conductors. For example, wires may have steel, silver, and copper, and they are all brilliant conductors of electricity.

And your TV contains hundreds of small wires, which is why keeping it close is termed as a safety precaution.

What will happen if Thunderstorm Strick TV?

How dangerous can it be?

It’s just a TV!

If you normally think like this, you need to be aware of reality. The lightning clouds through tens of thunderbolts normally during a thunderstorm.

And an ordinary thunderbolt is capable of producing and throwing electricity with 15 million volts of power out.

If you don’t know how dangerous 15 million volts are, only 45 to 50 volts are enough to kill a human. Just think what 15 million will do!

Now, when talking about thunderstorms striking a TV, there are two different types of striking:

• Direct Striking
• Indirect Striking

When a thunderbolt directly hits a thing without any interruption. For example, if a person is standing outside and lightning strikes him, that’s direct striking. In this case, a thunderbolt can convert anything into ash in a matter of milliseconds.

Direct striking is extremely rare for a TV. On the other hand, indirect striking is quite common, and it means that lightning strikes a conductor of electricity and travels through it.

After travelling, if it meets anything that’s a bad conductor, it will affect it badly. Its effect usually will be decreased, but it’s enough to destroy tiny ICs (integrated circuits) in a TV.

What to Do with TV During the Thunderstorm?

Now, when you know that a thunderstorm can be destructive to your TV, you must be interested in the process of saving it from demolition. Right?

So, here’s what to do:

• Simply turn the TV off and disconnect the main power cord. Don’t just turn the button off but unplug the wire.
• After that, disconnect every wire, including your main cable wire and internet wire. Never forget the antenna wire if you have any.
• Now when the thunderstorm is gone, wait for a few more moments before turning everything back on. (Waiting for all black clouds to go away will be the ideal thing to do)

Note: You must do it before it’s too late. It means that you have to take safety precautions before the arrival of a thunderstorm. Doing it during a thunderstorm might cause a short circuit which can lead to a fire.

Can a Power Surge Save Your TV from Thunderstorms?

A power surge is the right thing you have connected to your TV. Even a power surge is made for this kind of situation. It means we don’t need to be worried about TV and other electronics.

Huh!

If you think the same way, you are probably making the biggest mistake of your life. The power surge is made to save your TV in cases when electricity will be way less than needed or way more than needed.

It’s true, but you should also need to know that a power surge can protect your TV from a certain amount of voltage which is way less than what a normal thunderbolt can produce (15 million volts).

You already know 15 million volts of electricity isn’t a joke. So, the answer to this question is a straight “NO.”

What if Your TV Turns Off Automatically During a Thunderstorm?

Now, this is something to worry about. We told you earlier in the note that you must perform safety precautions before a thunderstorm strikes you.

Now when you forget about it, your TV might not turn off. But in some cases (if you are unlucky), you will end up with a non-working TV even after doing every possible thing.

In this case, you should follow these simple yet effective steps:

• Turn the main electricity off of your whole house by pushing the breaker up.
• After that, follow the same steps we mentioned before.
• After unplugging every wire of the TV, turn the main electricity on.
• Wait for the thunderstorm to stop so that you can turn everything back on.

If the problem persists, the damage has been done, and you will need to contact a professional for repair.s

Conclusion:

So, the final interpretation is that Yes you should turn your TV off during a thunderstorm.

Still, got any questions?

Comment down below!

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