If you’ve followed our blog over the last several years, you know well that we strongly recommend installing a monitored burglar alarm. Doing so provides you with a couple forms of security. For starters, any alarm activation creates an ear-splitting siren response to alert you to the danger. Additionally, a monitored alarm, connected to our central station, also creates a police response when necessary. These layers of security make a monitored home alarm one of the most valuable security measures we install. Many homeowners know about the basics behind alarm activation and the possibility of installing sensors on their exterior doors and even adding motion detection to their home’s interior. However, we like to go far above and beyond this approach during alarm design. Today, we reveal some unique alarm sensor locations that we can utilize to make your alarm as effective as possible!
First, we’ll review the types of sensors that we install to create alarm activations upon a breach in your home. From there, we’ll review some unique places that we can put these sensors to create the alarm response you desire. After this, we’ll show you how we can add alarm sensors that alert you to activity without also causing your security system to create an alarm. We can do this thanks to one of our more advanced alarm monitoring options, which we’ll also review. Now, let’s dive in with a look at some of our most common alarm sensors.
Sensors That Create an Alarm Response
As we mentioned above, alarm sensors can create both a siren and police department response upon activation. The sensors we use to create these responses varies somewhat. However, door and window sensors — also known as “contact sensors” — make up the building block of most of our alarms. When a door or window is closed, the sensor itself aligns with a magnet. Once the door or window opens and the magnetic field is broken, the sensor sends a signal to the security panel to alert the panel that the sensor has been opened. Most contact sensors installed recently are wireless, like the one pictured below. However, hardwired sensors also use a magnet to detect when a contact has been opened just as a wireless sensor does.
In addition to securing your perimeter, we often also use motion detectors to detect activity within your home. The name “motion detector” would lead many to believe that these sensors do exactly what their name implies: detect motion. However, the vast majority of motion detectors on security systems are passive infrared (or “PIR”) detectors. Rather than detecting motion, these detectors “sense” the presence of motion through a rapid change in a room’s heat.
Contact sensors, such as this wireless model by Interlogix, activate when the magnet (on the left) separates from the sensor itself (on the right).
Finally, we also install glass break detectors in areas of your home with sliders of large picture windows. Glass break detectors activate upon the presence of both noise and air pressure associated with broken glass. While we offer some burglar-related sensors above and beyond the ones described here, you now have an overview of the most basic — and popular — security sensors we offer. Let’s now look at some unique alarm sensor locations that can benefit from this equipment.
Sensors for Interior Entryways and “Specialty” Doors
As you can probably imagine, we install door and window sensors on exterior doors and on vulnerable windows as requested by customers. From there, however, we can also spruce up your security by adding sensors inside your home as well. You may have rooms or even safes or other areas that you wish to secure. For example, you may wish to add sensors to office doors, gun safes, closets, or other important areas of your home.
We can program these sensors specially so that you have to disarm them separately from the rest of your alarm. Therefore, you can disarm the majority of your alarm while still securing these sensitive places within the home! Obviously, installing this equipment does a great job buffering your home’s interior security. In the next section, we’ll show you how you can also add exterior security to your alarm as well!
Outdoor-Rated Sensors
The advent of wireless alarm sensors marked a major turning point in the security industry. Previously, homeowners installed hardwired alarms with wires running to every security sensor. Ideally, alarm companies had access to homes before the installation of drywall. In fact, we still occasionally “pre-wire” homes for a completely hardwired alarm system during the construction stage. However, installing alarms in completed houses proves both difficult and costly. Doing so involves “snaking” wires behind walls from customers’ basements up to doors and windows.
Over the last few decades, wireless alarm sensors have completely changed our industry. These sensors use radio frequencies, rather than wires, to communicate with the alarm’s main panel. Therefore, homeowners with finished homes could still install reasonably-priced alarms. However, wireless sensors still had their limitations. For a long time, these sensors had a fairly limited wireless range. Therefore, exterior garage doors had to remain unsecured. Moreover, sensors installed far from the alarm panel would also have periodic issues after installation.
The new Power G series of sensors by DSC has changed all of that. This product, and others like it, have made it possible to secure large buildings with wireless sensors. Additionally, we can install these sensors further from the panel than any sensor before it. Finally, DSC also makes weather-rated sensors capable of monitoring areas previously off-limits for us. Now you can add contact sensors, glass break detectors, and motion detectors to detached garages and sheds. Furthermore, you can even secure pool gates and exterior fence doors with your alarm. This allows you to easily create security for your entire property! Next up, let’s see how you can add alarm sensors that create a unique response upon activation.
Sensors That Create Smartphone-Based Alerts
When we created a post sharing Signs You Need a Security Upgrade, we mentioned the fact that most systems we install now utilize interactive cellular monitoring. Our cellular dialer powered by Alarm.com provides this unique service. Interactive monitoring allows customers to control their alarm remotely using the Alarm.com app. Furthermore, it also provides customers with the ability to receive text alerts based on alarm activity. So what does this have to do with adding unique alarm sensor locations to your security system’s coverage? As it turns out, quite a bit!
Our interactive monitoring customers can receive customizable alerts to notify them to any activity around the house worth tracking!
Our customers can now install sensors on locations where they wish to receive activity-based text alerts. Unlike the sensors described thus far, this equipment will not activate your alarm’s siren or monitoring services. Instead, we can program some sensors to simply notify alarm users when activated. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities to customers looking to track activity around their home. Now, you can closely monitor places such as liquor cabinets, boxes that hold jewelry or tools, bike sheds, and more, at all times, regardless of your security system’s arming status. The option to add the ability to track access to any part of your property, even if you don’t want to add the traditional full alarm response, makes your alarm more effective than ever!
Putting Our Unique Alarm Sensor Locations to Work for You
We hope that this post helps you think of some unique alarm sensor locations that you can add to your own alarm. Additionally, we also encourage you to contact us with any questions the material in this post may raise for you. We will happily answer any and all of your security-related inquiries. Furthermore, we also invite you to take advantage of our free site survey program. We offer complimentary security audits and equipment quotes to both new and existing customers alike. During our visit, we can address any of your existing security concerns. Moreover, we can also make suggestions based on our own observations of you property that we make during our visit.
Perhaps you have a security system in place, but wish to take advantage of the suggestions made in this article. Or, maybe you’ve been thinking of pulling the trigger on installing an alarm, and want to get things started from the ground up. Either way, we are here to help. Over our 36 years in business, we’ve helped over a thousand customers install effective and efficient home security systems. Together, we can help you keep your valuables, your property, and your family as safe and secure as possible!