waves

@TheEvilGreebo /waves back

(we really should change the lock on the door here)

You should, but you won't

@TheEvilGreebo I keep trying to figure out what grounding electrodes are actually for, but I can't seem to figure it out.

Seems like some guy in the past was selling copper rod, and bamboozled some people into buying them and pounding them into the ground.

"Have I got a deal for you!" </cheesy salesman voice>

They keep the house from wandering away. Kinda like a dog if you don't have a leash.

Not unlike the bolt you may see in the basement floor:

@Tester101 on grounding electrodes -- they're used to limit the common-mode voltage on the power distribution network

if you have a fully floating power distribution network with components that are outside buildings, what happens during a lightning strike is that both the hot and neutral rise significantly, to a much higher voltage than the hot is limited to WRT neutral by way of the power distribution network's suppression abilities.

@Shalvenay sure, makes sense in that context. I'm just not sure how it fits at an outbuilding in a residential application.

@Tester101 because the line's running outside

and can get exposed to lightning hazards as a result

That explains the electrode at the service, but not the electrode at my garage.

@Tester101 basically, the Code takes the policy that an outdoor line is an outdoor line