As we’ve mentioned in various posts on seasonal security, each time of year presents its own security concerns. While we still have plenty of cold weather ahead of us, several days this week have reminded us that we have warmer weather around the corner. In turn, this leads to the late winter/early spring thaw that so many of us look forward to every year. However, with this change in weather also comes the threat of flooding and water-related damage to homes. Additionally, the onset of warmer temperatures often brings parts of your HVAC system out of their deep winter “hibernation.” As these events take place, issues in this equipment often pop up when you least expect them. Luckily, modern security systems have ways of addressing these threats. In this post, we share some spring thaw security system tips and best practices.

First, we’ll share how almost any alarm can help alert you to environmental issues. Adding sensors to detect and create a central station response to these problems can help you avoid a catastrophe. From there, we’ll also look at how our Alarm.com cellular dialer can add even more spring thaw security. Specifically, we’ll detail a couple of smart devices that can alert you to weather-related issues and even take control over your HVAC equipment if needed! Now, let’s get started by seeing how you can add weather-related security to your alarm.

Using Alarm Equipment to Add Spring Thaw Security

Most alarm customers think of their security system as a tool to lower the risks posed by break-ins and fires. Obviously, these threats deserve addressing when we design any alarm system. However, we surprise many people by offering alarm sensors that offer security above and beyond burglary and life safety equipment. We also offer sensors that create alerts for environmental disasters that have the potential to cause a home major damage. These sensors can help you detect and address these issues before they create a mess that takes a significant amount of time and money to repair.

A Honeywell wireless freeze/flood sensor

Some wireless sensors can detect both extreme temperatures as well as the presence of water, such as this model by Honeywell.

For example, our “hi-lo temperature” detectors can create a central station response if your home experiences dangerously hot or cold conditions. This can help alert you to frozen pipes or HVAC equipment failures. Additionally, we offer flood sensors that can detect the presence of water wherever we install them.  As snow melts and we begin to see rainier, warmer weather on a regular basis, these sensors certainly increase in value. As an added bonus, some of our alarm manufacturers even create sensors that detect both extremely cold temperatures and the presence of water! These contacts, such as the one pictured, provide a huge amount of environmental security in one compact piece of equipment. Next up, we’ll look at a category of environmental security that takes this concept to a whole new level.

Using Alarm.com Environmental Control to Your Advantage

When we install a security system, we generally connect it to our monitoring service, powered by our central station. In turn, our central station alerts both you and, if necesssary, the proper authorities upon activation. To set up this response, we must create a way for our central station to receive signals from your alarm. Traditionally, alarm monitoring involved connecting an alarm system to a property’s existing phone lines. However, modern security technology allows us to create a much more effective and feature-filled monitoring experience.

Our preferred form of monitoring involves installing our cellular dialer, powered by Alarm.com. This device uses a dedicated cell network connection to communicate with your alarm’s central station. Therefore, phone outages will no longer interfere with your alarm’s monitoring. Furthermore, our cell dialer provides unique security benefits. For example, our Alarm.com technology allows you to control your security system with your smart phone. This includes the ability to arm and disarm your system remotely, as well as an option to receive text alerts for system status updates such as alarm events and low batteries. Finally, it also allows us to install smart devices that connect to our cellular dialer’s Z-Wave smart home receiver.

The term “Z-Wave” refers to a mesh network providing communication between our Alarm.com cellular dialer and smart home devices that operate on this network. As one of the most popular smart home platforms, having a Z-wave receiver in place gives you many options to add smart security devices! These include devices that greatly enhance your spring thaw security. In this section, we take a look at a couple of these products. Let’s dive in by seeing how our Alarm.com smart thermostat can help you accomplish this goal.

The Alarm.com Smart Thermostat

Our Alarm.com smart thermostat represents one of our most popular Z-Wave smart home offerings. This unique device comes with many security features. For example, smart thermostat customers can control their home’s temperature remotely using their Alarm.com smartphone app. Additionally, they can also create customized temperature schedules. This allows users to keep the heat down during the day to save energy, but still have the home warm enough for a comfortable return after work.

Furthermore, Alarm.com smart thermostat customers can also receive alerts when temperatures go below or above a user-defined range. For example, you may wish to receive an alert for temperatures below 40 degrees or above 75 degrees. Of course, extreme temperatures such as these often represent inefficiences or even malfunctions within your home’s HVAC systems. Therefore, these notifications go a long way towards creating both security and peace of mind during this time of year.

An Alarm.com notification warning a homeowner of excessive HVAC run time.

Alarm.com thermostats provide real-time control over your home’s environment. They also detect potential issues with your appliances to help keep your energy costs as low as possible.

Finally, the Alarm.com’s smart thermostat can also create instant alerts upon detecting unusual patterns within your HVAC equipment’s usage. These alerts, such as the one pictured, can allow you to address potential issues before they manifest themselves into larger problems. Obviously, this can save you both headaches and money by allowing you to have issues addressed immediately. In turn, doing so also saves you money by keeping your energy bills from skyrocketing due to equipment inefficiencies! Now, we’ll show you how installing the “latest and greatest” in Alarm.com environmental security can help you out this late winter and early spring.

The New Alarm.com Water Valve + Meter

A couple of years back, Alarm.com announced the release of their new Water Valve + Meter. This new offering works with Alarm.com’s standard water sensors to actually prevent certain HVAC-related disasters in their tracks, even in your absence! For example, if one of your Alarm.com water sensors detects a leak, this piece of equipment will shut down your home’s water. Because it contains both a valve and a meter, it can do this without the need to purchase any additional equipment. The device’s meter feature also allows it to detect leaks even in areas without water sensors. Additionally, the water meter also provides homeowners with unique insights into their water use. This impressive set of features makes this one of our most effective offerings to bring you spring thaw security this year!

Putting Our Spring Thaw Security System Tips to Work

We hope that this post helps you add valuable spring thaw security this year! Moreover, we encourage you to contact us with any questions you may have about the material in this post. Securing your property against environmental damage belongs right at the top of any home security “to-do” list. Therefore, we highly recommend adding this important equipment to your own security system. Additionally, we invite you to take part in our free site survey program. We offer complimentary security audits and quotes to both new and existing customer alike.

Perhaps you have an alarm in place and wish to add some of the measures discussed here. Or, maybe you have yet to install a security system and want to include this security right from the get-go. Either way, we are here to help! While on site, we can address any security concerns you have, weather-related or otherwise. Furthermore, we can make our own suggestions based on observations made during our visit. Together, we can create a complete security plan to keep you, your property, and anyone on it as safe and secure from any type of security threat as possible.