Safe distance from windows/electrical outlets during storms?

[ScienceNostalgia101]

So I keep hearing about how using a plugged-in appliance, or taking a shower, or using a water faucet, during a thunderstorm, can be a safety hazard because of the indirect contact with charge carrying conductors.

 

However, this leaves behind the question; if the insulation provided by the exterior surface of your appliance, or the presumably salt-content-limited shower water, is inadequate to prevent electrocution, why is the air between an electrical outlet and furniture placed near it considered adequate? When arranging furniture, I never saw my parents pay that much attention to how close the furniture was to the electrical outlets. Does furniture provide a plausible path from lightning hitting the wires to reaching the ground?

[ALine]

10 minutes ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

So I keep hearing about how using a plugged-in appliance, or taking a shower, or using a water faucet, during a thunderstorm, can be a safety hazard because of the indirect contact with charge carrying conductors.

I think the plugged-in appliance thing is to prevent the damaging of electronics and does not cause an immediate health hazard during thunderstorms. 

If your showerhead is not properly grounded, assuming that it is conductive (ps with enough charge anything is conductive) then it can cause electrocution. Same goes for water faucets.

14 minutes ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

However, this leaves behind the question; if the insulation provided by the exterior surface of your appliance, or the presumably salt-content-limited shower water, is inadequate to prevent electrocution, why is the air between an electrical outlet and furniture placed near it considered adequate? When arranging furniture, I never saw my parents pay that much attention to how close the furniture was to the electrical outlets. Does furniture provide a plausible path from lightning hitting the wires to reaching the ground?

the insulation is pretty good at preventing charge related health hazards. 

Also air is a really good insulator due to the molecules being so spread out. You would need to wait for someone more skills in the ways of the electromagnetic force to provide more detail.

But pretty much anything is a conductor if ya hit it with enough charge so yeah, furniture can act as a plausible path for charge particles to travel. However because of your friendly neighborhood electrician and scientists this rarely happens. 

hope this helps

[MigL]

You don't usually have to worry about how good an insulator  something is on an absolute scale.
Only how good an insulator it is compared to alternative paths of lesser resistance.

That is the principle of lightning rods.

[swansont]

11 hours ago, ScienceNostalgia101 said:

So I keep hearing about how using a plugged-in appliance, or taking a shower, or using a water faucet, during a thunderstorm, can be a safety hazard because of the indirect contact with charge carrying conductors.

 

However, this leaves behind the question; if the insulation provided by the exterior surface of your appliance, or the presumably salt-content-limited shower water, is inadequate to prevent electrocution, why is the air between an electrical outlet and furniture placed near it considered adequate? When arranging furniture, I never saw my parents pay that much attention to how close the furniture was to the electrical outlets. Does furniture provide a plausible path from lightning hitting the wires to reaching the ground?

A lot of furniture is made of wood, which is a good insulator.

While it’s true that you can be injured is the described ways, this risk is pretty low, less than 1 in a million per year (data from the US). The point is that the injuries are preventable. ~100-150 people hurt indoors annually from lightning strikes, but it could be zero.