When people buy houses, one of the first things they may consider is installing a home security system. We know that burglars tend to bypass homes with a security system. We all have researched online and found that most home intruders either know the homeowner or live in the neighborhood.
The home intruder knows when the family is at work, school, or on vacation. Homeowners know that home intruders strike during the day when no one is home. They also are aware that burglars enter a home through unlocked windows and doors. What can a homeowner do to secure his property and possessions?
What Constitutes A Safe Home?
A safe home is one in which devices monitor not just home intruders but intrusions of another type. Smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide do not make a home safe. Devices are available that detect water leaks and flooding. There are even devices that can detect radon gas, a silent killer driving the government mad trying to alert homeowners to its presence in their homes. These are a few things homeowners can’t see. What about the things that can be seen?
Home Security System Basics: Sensors
One of the basics of home security is sensors. These come in four methods of identifying a body that isn’t supposed to be there. One type of sensor is infrared motion detectors. This senses a change in the ambient heat in a space. When the heat spikes, the alarm is given.
The second type of sensor is magnetic switches. These usually go on doors and windows. They consist of a switch and a magnet. When they are together, the circuit is unbroken. When a home intruder enters through a window, then the circuit is broken, setting off the alarm.
The third type of sensor, and one of the most popular, is infrared beams. These criss-cross a room, making it impossible to get to whatever is being protected without breaking a beam. Some security system alarms go off when a body enters a beam, thereby breaking it. Sometimes an alarm goes off not when a body enters it, but when it leaves the beam. Either way, the intruder is messed over.
The fourth type of sensor is glass breakage sensors. When glass breaks, it emits a sound. That sound consists of ultrasonic frequencies that people can hear. The sensors on the windows hear the sound and sends out the alarm.
Security System Basics: Cameras
Okay, the sensors have alerted the monitoring station that an intruder is in the home. Now the authorities need to know what he looks like, the time and place of entry, and if he’s still in there. How will they know all this? The homeowner’s home security cameras will tell them.
As with sensors, there are different types of camera from which to choose. Wired and wireless security system cameras are the types. Wired systems are self-explanatory. They are hooked into the landline telephone as a power source, although the sensors could and usually are wireless. The wireless system uses a network, usually powered by WiFi, to sense and monitor changes in the security of the home.
The first thing homeowners need to think about is for what will the cameras be used. Along with this reason or reasons come if homeowners need night vision capability, whether a 90 degree viewing angle is sufficient or if more is necessary, resolution and low light capability, motion detection, audio, app support, and storage, to name a few.
The second thing homeowners need to address is if they should place cameras outside the home. Is the property large enough that people sneak onto it and/or damage it without the homeowner noticing? Is the property fenced and the driveway gated? Will the house’s outside doors be well covered?
This might be the most important of all questions: is the security system camera compatible with the homeowner’s other home security equipment, smart home devices, and computers? Some home security companies such as Titan Alarms use sensors, cameras, and other security system components that are compatible with pretty much any system or equipment already in the homeowner’s home or any he bought himself.
Home Security System Basics: Control Pad
From one central location, homeowners may communicate with all the components of the security system. The siren may be turned off, the system tested or reset if it has gone off, and any false alarms dealt with. The keypad is usually the first place homeowners go to see which zone has been compromised before calling the security company. If the fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and water detectors are tied into the whole system, then the keypad will alert the homeowner to the location and nature of the problem.
Home Security Options
Back in the day, homeowners only had one security system option: hire professionals. Today, though, homeowners may choose a DIY system, purchase a kit containing all that is needed, or hire a professional.
Homeowners choosing the DIY option will buy the equipment they need, install it, and then integrate it with their WiFi on computers and smart phones. The trouble will come if the homeowner finds one of the components isn’t compatible with the rest of the system. Not only that, but it will could be a camera or sensor that is vital to the whole system working seamlessly. Wouldn’t you know it?
Another option is buying a security system kit. Homeowners deciding not to go with professional home security companies can buy a kit that includes all the cameras, sensors, sirens, keypads, and even includes monitoring for a small fee. Homeowners will pay for the hardware, perhaps a monthly fee depending on the company, the monitoring, and cell phone backup. For some homeowners, this up-front kind of thing beats a monthly payment to a security company.
Another attractive option is a no-contract security system. Just like the Big 5 cell phone companies have their own no-contract companies, so do companies selling home security. ADT and LG, for example, offer no-contract systems that integrate with LG, Qualcomm, and Samsung among others. Equipment and monitoring are all the homeowner will pay.
This would be an attractive option for homeowners who know they’re not staying for the long-haul; maybe the kids are going off to college soon, or perhaps the parents are coming to stay since they downsized.
Then there are those who aren’t handy enough to install a system themselves. They might not have extra money after paying the mortgage and other bills to pay for equipment and monitoring. If this homeowner goes with a professional company, then all he’ll pay each month is the monitoring fee. He will have already paid for the installation fee, if there was one.
Advantages Of Having Home Security for Your Tulsa Home
You didn’t marry and have a family just to watch as your home is invaded and they get hurt or traumatized. Of course you want them safe. If you could build a moat and drawbridge between them all comers, then you would, yes? Well, it’s easier today to keep them safe than it was a mere fifteen years ago. Here’s why.
Security systems help alleviate stress. Our homes are our castles. We have every right to feel secure in our castles. We have enough stress at work, projects that are due tomorrow but one of our team is out sick, on the gridlocked highway, and dealing with attitude-laden cashiers, just to name a few. We come home to get away from all of that.
We paint our rooms in colors like blue and green to reduce stress. We fail to use window treatments in some rooms, so that natural light can pour in. Natural light elevates our moods. We play soothing music, and eat foods that calm us. Why would you not add home security to complement that calmness?
As parents, we do all we can to keep our kids’ heads screwed on straight. If it will cause them grief, it has to go. If it will give them some kind of complex that will trouble their adult years, it’s outta here. If it makes them feel stronger and more confident, then we’ll take ’em. That’s where the security comes in.
Home security systems protect what we value. Not everyone sees the value in an antique vest pocket watch or a silver snuff box. They belonged to your grandfather, though, and you grew up watching him use them. They mean the world to you.
Antique jewelry, silver tea services, and gold-plated baby shoes mean a lot to a home intruder. They bring in money. They mean more to you, though, because they were your grandmother’s things, and they were irreplaceable.
It’s not always jewelry or tea sets that are taken from us. Sometimes it’s one of the first Underwood or Corona typewriters your mother got from an antique shop. Perhaps it’s a Civil War Army knife your great-great-grandfather used.
It doesn’t matter what the piece is; it matters that the piece means something to us. If we valued the person to whom the piece belonged, then we value the piece. We cherish the memories of the person and the things they left to us. Thieves rip that out of our hearts when they take our much-loved keepsakes. That might be the most important benefit of home security systems.
Home security systems offer remote access to your house. Want to mess with the kids’ heads? Tell them just how many cookies they snitched when they got off the school bus. Tell them how many minutes they played video games before they got down to doing homework.
It’s fun to mess with them, but not when an intruder is scoping out the place. You can see anyone circling the house looking for open windows. You can see anyone moving the ladder your husband forgot to put in the garage beneath a likely upstairs window. You can see an intruder trying to force the garage door open. No, it’s not fun now. It’s time to call the cops.
Nine times out of ten, there won’t be anything to worry about. But you have the capability in your hands, and that will keep you from worrying.
Home security systems may get you a discount on your home insurance. Not all insurance companies give homeowners such a discount, but some do. Insurance companies don’t like to pay out. Any security innovation homeowners devise means a better chance the insurance company doesn’t have to pay. That’s worth a discount to lots of insurance companies.
An alarm system bonds the police and the neighborhood together. Many systems alert the fire and police if the sensors find something about which to become alarmed. This is done in addition to turning on the siren to scare away a home intruder. The neighbors will be alerted as well as the cops. Now everyone is on the lookout for this burglar.
The neighborhood will be a lot safer for a while. The neighbors will remain glued to their bay windows. The cops will patrol more efficiently for a while. The burglar will begin checking other neighborhoods for homes without alarm systems.
Home security systems can be used to alert someone to a medical emergency. Since the Baby Boomer generation has stepped up to the plate, a whole industry has grown up around taking care of them. There are medical emergency necklaces with alert buttons, special transportation for seniors, and home Telehealth programs.
For homeowners taking care of elderly parents or other aged loved ones, a home system can save lives. This is also true of family members and other loved ones with special needs such as muscular dystrophy. Homeowners who monitor their systems frequently will know when to call for help.
Security systems are unfortunately a must in these dangerous times. They benefit a homeowner in many ways, both physical and psychological. Homeowners may use equipment already installed in a home they bought, or they can call in the pros for an all new fit. Either way, the homeowner’s home will be connected and smart.
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