Saturday, November 1, 2008

Choices in Home Alarm and Security Systems

If you have been considering having a home security system installed in your home or business then you may be interested in knowing that now there are more choices and options then there have even been before. To start with, you will have to make the choice between a monitored and unmonitored system. There are many advantages to a monitored system and the price of the service is more reasonable than it ever has been before.

While you may not feel that you need a monitored system having the service means that in the event of an actual emergency you will have expert security person ell making decisions and phone calls for you while you are busy saving your loved ones and yourself. Another choice you will have to make, is whether or not your system is going to be wireless or not. Then there are multiple choices regarding the actual components that are going to make up your actual security system.

Home security systems have come a long way from the early days when they consisted of merely sensors on doors and windows that were connected to a control panel, that in turn was connected to an alarm on the side of the building. A modern, up to date security system, now covers virtually every aspect of home security, including fire and carbon monoxide protection as well.

Sensors are now so delicate in their ability to detect intruders that they can now even be installed outside of a home or business to establish a security perimeter. This is because home security systems now use body heat and motion detectors, that have a range of up to thirty-five feet. His means that an intruder can now be detected before he has a chance to even reach the home or business he is targeting.

If you have a gas heating system in your home then you may be interested in knowing that it produces a deadly gas that kills people every year that is called carbon monoxide or CO gas. Because it has no smell or color, it is virtually undetectable. The only way to detect this poisonous gas is with carbon monoxide gas sensors on a home security system.

Should your gas heating system malfunction, this poisonous gas can be pumped into the living area of the home with disastrous consequences. Whole families have been killed by this gas, because it produces no warning signs or symptoms and it's hapless victims simply fall asleep and never wake up again. If you have any form of life insurance that provides money after you die, you might consider this type of life insurance that will prevent you from dying in the first place, when you are having your system installed.

Another option for a security system is fire detection capabilities that goes far beyond the level of security that standard smoke detectors provide. Unlike smoke detectors, the fire detection components on your security system functions by detecting heat, so they are not prone to false alarms from ambient smoke from areas such as kitchens.

Also, the fire sensors will signal the control panel to simultaneously wake the household and call the fire department which frees up the homeowner to focus on getting out of the home with his or her loved ones, in the event of a real emergency.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Components of a Home or Business Security System

One thing is for sure and that is that research developers and engineers have been hard at work perfecting the technology that goes into a modern day security system for a home or business. The popularity of home security systems began to take hold in the early nineteen-seventies, when businesses such as ADT that specialized in security began to branch off into this newly emerging market place.

Back then a home security system basicly consisted of trip mechanisms that were located on windows and doors that were relatively easy to bypass if the criminal possessed even a basic understanding of their function. Believe it or not some of these early systems could be disabled by simply turning off the power at the furze breaker box that is located on the side of a home.

Research developers have been focused on several areas with regards to the technology that goes into an alarm system for many years now and with the advent of micro electronics, great strides have been made. To start with a back-up battery powered auxiliary power source is a standard component of every alarm system now and these back-up power sources have the capacity to run a system for days or even weeks if need be.

Trip mechanisms are still a standard component of most alarm systems but they are backed up with other high tech layers of security that can even begin on the outside of a building with a thirty-five foot security perimeter that completely surrounds a building. This is possible through the use of ultra-sensitive body heat and motion detectors hidden outside of the building that immeditaly detect even the slightest motion and sense body heat on the coldest or warmest days.

These sensors are so fine tuned that they can tell the difference between a man and a dog or a cat, so thee is never a false alarm. This same type of sensor is also incorporated on the inside of the building to prevent anyone from moving around inside if for some reason someone has made it there by hiding inside during a stores business hours for instance.

There are far more choices in alarm systems now, so finding one to fit any security issue is no problem at all. You now have your choice of standard or wireless technology if your security system is to be monitored by a security monitoring station. Also, you now even have the choice of several different types of more convenient arming mechanisms, such as a key chain clicker like a car alarm uses, or even voice recognition technology that allows you to give your alarm system spoken commands.

Also, modern alarm systems now come with added features such as fire detection sensors that will signal your alarm system to automatically wake up everyone in your home as it simultaneously calls the fire department and sensors that will alert you if your gas heater is leaking deadly carbon monoxide gas.