Static electricity....again


Ok, I'm ready to burn the house down and move to Florida. I had a similar problem last winter. I live in Colorado and it's been snowing here like crazy. It is super dry here. My brother fried two pre amps last winter due to lightning bolts flying from his fingers to his pre amp anytime he touched the pre amp...

So here's what I have going on. I have all of my cables lifted off the ground with wooden blocks. My Equipment is plugged into a ps audio quintet, except for my amp which is plugged directly into the wall (porter port).

I don't have any remote controllers in my set-up so whenever I touch my equipment, I ground myself on a screw on the light switch first. I'll have so much electricity built up in my body that I can actually feel the hairs on my legs stand up when I do this.

Okay, well it has gotten to be so bad now that when I am just walking across the room, I can hear a few small pops coming out of my speakers. These are directly related to the static that is building up via my socks dragging across the carpet. I'm %100 sure of that.

My question is, what the heck do I do to remedy this problem before I damage any of my equipment? My house is probably 20 years old. Am I having these issues because the ground in my house is no good?

Btw, last winter when I was having these issues, I sprayed fabric softener all over and that seemed to work for, oh, about 20 minutes.

I'm going to get a humidifier and see how that helps. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated! I'm about ready to change my user name to Zues!
128x128b_limo
It's the Pot stupid! (no offence) All that Pot you guys out in Colorado are smoking has dehydrated your homes. All that burning. Day after day, night after night. No moisture left in your air. Try making Brownies instead. Seriously though, electronics with sophisticated logic circuits, or lots of digital stuff going on, including alot of modern solid state components are much more prone to the chance of static induced failures. Special static precautions are even required when assembling components with integated circuits, etc. I've heard of TV's breaking from the static charge of a finger touch. A tube system lacking any solid state devices is pretty immune to this. Probably old school discreet transistor stuff is better too. I AM in Florida and we have our own problems... Lightning. It gets close enough to make you jump out of your skin. Then it comes again! I'm sure you have seen pics. or heard tales of the destruction it can cause to electronics. Anyway, some good advice from others here for your situation.
I just always make sure to touch my CD player first, I need an excuse to buy a new one.
Been zapping it steady for a month but no luck yet.
If you have a forced air system add an AprilAire humidifier. They are completely automatic as long as the blower is on. I would recommend a Honeywell smart thermostat, they can be programmed to turn the fan on 15 minutes out of every hour to equalize temperature and humidity. You can also save around 30% off cooling and heating costs.
Rooom humidifiers are okay but you must keep the door to the space closed or it will not be large enough no matter the size. Setpoint should be around 40%
I'm sure Hevacl is right that the central humidifier if you will is the best. I have hot water heat so I'm forced to use room humidifiers. Can't agree though that you can't get a big enough room humidifier. With a big Essick, I can have water running down the windows in about 4 hrs.
Thanks everyone! All great advice.

Schubert, your comment made me laugh out loud, no joke. I had a rough day; that was the first geniune laugh I had all day. Thank you :)