Today we are going to talk about a very important component of having the best home security system…your house alarm! Although I’ve spoken about other components such as the physical layout of your house and how proactive your neighbors should be with a neighborhood watch program, this discussion is going to involve your actual home alarm security system.
You have many choices when it comes to your house alarm. Many different companies manufacturer the various equipment available for your home. In addition, there are many different companies available that provide actual monitoring of your home in the event an alarm is triggered. To be clear, you can actually have a house alarm with NO monitoring. This just means that if an alarm is triggered, the alarm will sound. Only those who actually hear your alarm siren will know your house alarm was triggered. If we are in a neighborhood with neighbors who are not very proactive and don’t care about neighborhood watch, then you may be out of luck. That’s why I recommend opting for monitoring. This means that you’re monitoring company will be notified that your house alarm was triggered and if they can’t get a hold of you to confirm whether it’s a true alarm or a false alarm…they will call the police and fire department.
With respect to the actual equipment, you have a choice of either purchasing a wireless alarm system or a wired alarm system. Basically, this addresses the method that your sensors communicate with your control panel. It also addresses how your control panel communicates with your monitoring company (if you opt for a monitoring program). With the advances in technology, the wireless alarm systems have come a long way from what they once were resulting in much higher reliability. And, with the ease of installation for a wireless alarm system, these appear to be gaining much popularity. With a wired alarm system, each sensor on every door and window in your home needs to be wired back into your control panel. That leads to a very costly and time-consuming installation.
A true wireless alarm system also communicates back to the monitoring company wirelessly as well. These type of wireless home security systems use cellular technology to contact your monitoring company. In the event the burglars cut your telephone line, your alarm system will still be communicating with your house alarm monitoring company. And the cellular signal required to communicate from the house alarm to your monitoring company is a very low frequency signal that doesn’t need as much signal strength as your cellular phone. So if you’re worried about cellular coverage, this is not really an issue. Your alarm company will ensure that the signal is appropriate before selling you any equipment.
This leads us to the equipment. The most popular and reliable manufacturers for home security equipment are GE and Honeywell. They both offer a variety of sensors. Basically, 90% of intrusions occur through the front and back door. I recommend door and window sensors on all windows and doors big enough for entry. Other popular sensors to purchase are motion sensors. These should be placed in areas of your home where there are main access points, entryways, pathways, etc…basically, parts of your home where a typical intruder would have to walk through to gain access to the main parts of your home. Another popular type of sensor is a glass break sensor. These are great to supplement your home security system in the event an intruder decides to break a glass window or door as opposed to pry it open.
Last but not least, you can also supplement your house alarm with smoke, heat and flood sensors to truly make it the best home security system. These can all tie back into your control panel and ultimately your monitoring company so someone is always watching your home. Moreover, many companies are creating smartphone apps so you can control and monitor your home security system right from your smartphone. In my next post, I’ll go over the various home alarm companies out there.
