Step1: Determine what your home security needs are, both inside and out
Step 2 Secure your doors and windows, even garage
Step 3 Determine your lighting needs. Would an outdoor motion-sensing light benefit you? If so, determine where one could best be placed to protect your home.
Step 4 Determine which doors and windows you need sensors for. Typically this will be your front and back doors, first-floor and basement windows and any other windows that could be easily accessed by someone trying to break in.
Step 5 Choose a location for a keypad to arm and disarm your system.
Step 6 Determine your wiring needs. What will it take to power up your keypad and keep the sensors in communication with the monitoring system?
Step 7 Determine where any surveillance cameras should be placed.
Step 8 Determine where any motion detectors should be installed.
2. How Does a Home Alarm System Work?
The purpose of a home alarm system is to alert homeowners, and sometimes police, to unauthorized entry attempts into their homes. When the alarm is triggered, it emits a loud sound designed to frighten away intruders. An optional monitoring system can be tied to your home alarm that alerts a third-party monitoring vendor to contact the appropriate authorities. The home alarm is composed of a central processing unit and remote sensors.
The central processing unit, or brain box, is the user's interface into the system. It allows users to turn the device on and off, disable or enable certain sections of the home and it automatically contacts optional third- party monitoring vendors. It also communicates with the remote sensors. Most systems have three types of remote sensors.
The most common remote sensor is the magnetic switch. These are usually found on doors and sometimes windows. They are separated into two parts. The smaller magnet is attached to the door. The larger switch is attached just above it on the door frame. The magnet holds the switch in place. When the door is opened, the magnet moves away. The switch is no longer held in place and the alarm is triggered.
Another common remote sensor is the infrared motion detector. This device detects the movement of objects that emit heat energy. A ball rolling on the floor will not trigger the alarm because the ball does not emit heat. A person does emit heat and will trigger the alarm if he moves. Many infrared motion detectors can be tuned to ignore smaller heat signatures. This can be useful if you have pets.
The third most common remote sensor is the glass sensor. These are commonly placed on windows. They detect the vibrations and sound frequencies of breaking glass. Glass sensors provide extra protection for windows that can be broken and crawled through without opening.
Other devices, such as smoke detectors, flood detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and temperature detectors can also be added to most home alarm systems. These devices can give homeowners and authorities early warnings to environmental threats.
3.How to Program Home Alarms?
Step 1
Learn to turn the alarm on and off. This is the primary function you will be using and is also the most important. You cannot protect your home without turning it on and cannot disarm a mistake without knowing how to turn it off. Search your instructions for how to perform this.
Step 2
Select a password to disarm the alarm. Most alarms give you a grace period after walking into a door to disarm. Choose a password that can be quickly entered onto the keypad and can be remembered by all members of your family. Don’t choose something common like your house number or phone number, as this will make it possible for intruders to guess your password.
Step 3
Determine what aspects of your home you want protected. Most advanced alarms will give you the option to secure several areas of your home. Decide whether you want just your doors armed or more. Many alarms give you the option of arming windows and upper stories with security as well.
Step 4
Set your fire alarms to be in sync with the home alarm. One great aspect of home alarms are the ability to contact the fire department when the fire alarm goes off. This can save your home while you are away and may save lives while you are there.
Step 5
Find out who you should contact if the alarm is set off by mistake. Nobody is perfect and often people will accidentally set off alarms. Every company has a phone number to call in order to make sure authorities are not sent to your house when they are not needed.
