Selecting The Right Security System For Your Home

Once you have decided that you want to get a home security system for your house, there are steps that should be taken to ensure you are getting the correct type of system. By the end of this article, you should be able to be able to assess your home security needs without a problem and know what to look for when you are choosing the right system.

Preliminary home inspection

1. Examine your home to see what doors and windows you will want to be wired into the home security system. The ones that people think about the most are the ones that are most easily accessible on the ground floor, but the ones that are on the second floor that are accessible by a tree or a trellis are also worth consideration.

2. Figure out where you want to put your control panel and your keypads. You use the control panel to command the system and use the keypad you program it, as well as turn it on or off. In many instances people will put the control panel in a location that is easily accessible upon returning home, like near the front door or garage entry. It’s also suggested that you put keypads in the rooms that you use often, like bedrooms and possibly a family room.

3. Take a look at the doors and windows and figure out what the distance is between them and the control panel so you’ll know how far you’ll have to route the wires for a wired system, or how far a wireless system will need to communicate with sensors. Remember it’s harder to install a system with wires unless it’s being installed when your house is still under construction.

4. Decide what type of system you want. Do you want a system that is not monitored and only sounds an alarm or one that is monitored twenty four hours a day? Or do you want a system that will connect to your phone lines, and when the security of your house is breached, it will dial numbers that you have selected ahead of time?

5. Think about the lifestyle that you have. Do you have a pet that might get up in the middle of the night and walk around? Is there someone in the house that might get up late at night to get a snack? Those are things to consider, because it might affect how the sensors are installed and how you will set the alarm. You might find that you need to disarm the motion sensors more often so that you don’t trip the alarm accidentally.

Once you have figured out what your needs will be, you can go the next step and choose a system.

Choosing your system

1. Make an appointment with an advisor from a reputable home security system company.

2. Make certain that the control pad to your system is able to monitor all of the zones in your house. Every door or window that has been integrated into your system is a zone, and sometimes certain areas can be combined into one. With a basic system, you can control eight zones, although, there are plenty of control panels that allow you to add expansion modules, that will enable you to have up to thirty two zones monitored.

4. Sometimes a wireless system works well if you are retrofitting a system. Be sure that the wireless system is able to go up to the distance of the furthest zone in your house.

5. Often choices in different systems include: combustible gas detectors, water detectors, anti freeze up low temperature switches, fire protection sensors and carbon monoxide sensors. Another popular feature is a panic button.

6. Make certain that the system you choose is one that is user friendly. The inputting of codes should not be complicated, and it should be something that everyone in the household can pick up quickly. The last thing you want to do is to refer to your owner’s manual every time you want to do something.

7. When you are selecting your keypad, take a few minutes and try it out to make sure that you can use it easily. Have the other members of the family try the keypad out as well, so that you know you are choosing one that everyone is going to be comfortable using.

Lastly, you might consider some type of motion detectors for outside. The motion detector will give you an early warning that someone might be outside.