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
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 :)
Amettparters,
That is part of the problem with room humidifiers. The size is very important. If the door is left open the unit will not read the proper humidity level and just keep running, mold and mildew will follow if humidity levels remain to high. As for dipping windows this also means levels are too high and dew points are being reached or your windows are not very good.
Just try the Bounce sheets, they have always worked for those who did. Even if they don't you can always use them in your dryer...
A central humidifier would be the best way of curing the static problem. That said until you address that problem hold something made of metal like a coin or key before touching the light switch screw. You won't feel it and still discharge yourself!! BTW the reason you get shocked is because you do have a good ground (maybe your brother doesn't). Turns out most folks don't realize that when you just feel a slight shock you are at approx 20,000V. To get a good arc off your finger you are 50KV plus.