How Do Home Alarm Systems Work?
The primary purpose of a home alarm system is to provide security for your family. Good home alarm systems will protect you from burglary and detect environmental hazards like water damage, carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke, fire, and floods. Once the alarm system detects a potential threat, it alerts you of the danger, allowing you or the designated authority to respond to it as quickly as possible.
One of the greatest benefits of a home alarm system is that you can monitor the security of your home from wherever you are with a mobile device. However, you can avoid the stress of keeping your eyes on your home every waking minute by hiring a professional monitoring service to do the job for you.
Here is a guide on how home alarm systems work to help you appreciate the value of beefed-up security for your home.
How Home Alarm Systems Function
Detect Intrusion
Did you know that alarm systems prevent 50% of burglars from breaking into homes? Reports show that many burglars change their minds about breaking in when they realize that a working home alarm system protects a property.
Home alarm systems have panels inside that send warning signals to burglars long before they decide to break into a home. The sight of signage indicating that a certain security company protects a property also psychologically deters burglars from attempting to break into a home. Therefore, you can keep your house safe at all times, whether you are at home or away for a vacation with your family.
Sensor Networks
Good home alarm systems have a network of sensors that detect multiple threats simultaneously. These sensors are placed on different entry or hazard points around the home to detect any unauthorized entry or movement in the building.
Types of Sensors
Door and window detectors are stitches fixed on doors and windows to trigger the alarm when the windows or doors open.
Shock sensors - These are sensors that trigger an alarm when they detect vibrations created by intruders breaking or drilling through a wall.
Glass break sensors - These are audio sensors that set off an alarm when they detect the sound of breaking glass.
Motion sensors - These sensors detect motion when intruders manage to break into the house without setting off the other alarms.
Environmental Sensors - These sensors set off an alarm when they detect the presence of water like floods or an increase in temperature, for instance, when there is a fire.
Carbon monoxide detectors - Carbon monoxide is a harmful odorless gas that humans can't easily detect with their senses. Therefore, the carbon monoxide detectors keep your home safe by setting the alarm when the sensors trip so your family can evacuate in time.
Smoke detectors - These sensors immediately alert you and the fire department of the risk of a fire breakout.
Sensors Control Panel
The sensors control panel is like the CPU of an alarm system. It has a set of preset rules for each sensor or detector that it abides by when they send out signals. For example, suppose you want to go out at night and set the alarm overnight. In that case, your home alarm system is set to go off a few minutes after you open the door the following day to allow you enough time to disarm it - it would be annoying to have the alarm go off every time you open your door. However, if the system is not disarmed, the alarm goes off and alerts you of an intrusion.
The window sensors work differently altogether. If an intruder breaks a window or drills the wall to gain access into the house, the sensors send signals to the panel, and it sets off an alarm immediately because these are not common entry occurrences.
Central Monitoring Station
Once the control panel sends off an alarm, it sends a signal to the central monitoring station or alarm monitoring service via the internet or a mobile device. The trained security authority monitoring your system at the central monitoring station then responds to the threat immediately according to its nature.
Bottom Line
The safety of your home and family is of great essence. Getting a professional home alarm system can save you considerable loss and give you peace of mind. So if you are thinking about beefing up security at your home with an alarm system, feel free to contact us today for a free expert opinion on which home security system is best for your property.