Posts Tagged ‘alarm systems’

Panic Alarms For Home And Business Alarm Systems

Monday, March 29th, 2010

In all probability, every home and every business would benefit from the protection of a panic alarm. Breaks-in are common enough, but with people living longer the chances of stroke or heart attack have risen too. If you were living alone it would be awful to be lying on the ground incapacitated for hours. Panic alarms are the solution. They can be sited in a handy location or worn around your neck.

These are not the kind of personal alarms that emit a high pitched whistle or siren sound. Those alarms are meant to discourage criminals on the street or to draw attention to the user. No, I mean a gadget that triggers your home security system. it does not create a noise of its own, but communicates with the main security control box by some type of radio signal.

Some of these panic alarms do not trigger the main security siren, but instead send a message to a monitoring security company. These so-called silent panic alarms are most often used in banks, firearms shops and places that handle lots of cash. However, any business could use a silent panic alarm. Household alarm systems usually trigger the external siren in order to signal your neighbours that you are having problems.

Panic buttons are especially helpful to the elderly or and infirm. Sometimes, people fall and cannot get up. You could also have a heart attack or stroke and not be able to make it to the phone. A panic button on a card around your neck would solve this problem. Some of these panic buttons are monitored too and others even have a microphone and speaker so that you can speak to an operator and explain your situation.

Some of these panic buttons have a keypad so that you can transmit codes to the operator. Other means have been built into watches and brooches in order to make them easier to carry. If you wear your panic alarm, it is much less easy to forget to take it with you when you go upstairs or into the garden.

If you can afford security, you really ought to have a system, as good as you can afford, installed into your home and business. A panic alarm is a useful extra item for home and office use too, but it is especially reassuring to the elderly. Many older people are frightened of falling when they are in the house alone and fear of burglars or worse is a constant worry. A panic alarm linked to the main home siren is also a reassurance to women living alone.

If you do get a home security system with a panic button, make sure that you keep a spare battery near at hand and check that the battery in the device has not become depleted. You should also advise the neighbours you get on best with that you have a home security set-up and that they should come to your aid or phone the police, if they hear your home security siren and see the flashing light.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Garden Lighting Security

Friday, March 12th, 2010

One of the most fundamental steps you can take when building your home security set-up, is the setting up of garden security lighting. Garden security lighting is also one of the most effectual methods of discouraging criminals and it is one of the cheapest methods too. All in all the installation of garden security lighting is the most efficient and cost-effective method of home security

Other outdoor security gadgets such as security cameras are much more expensive and only serve one purpose, that is the security of your home. On the other hand, garden security lighting can be used to supply a welcoming light to guide the way to your front door to your visitors or to light up your backyard if you want to sit outside or admire a particularly beautiful group of flowers. They are also good for illuminating a fountain on a pond.

Adding motion sensor lighting controls to your garden security lighting also increases its usefulness. The passive infra red motion sensors will pick up body heat automatically and switch the light on framing the moving object in a powerful beam. Microwave sensors provide a similar function but work on movement. They prolong the length of time the bulb will last and reduce electrical use, while ensuring you get light when you need it.

However, if you sit behind drawn curtains in your home at night, you may not see the warning of the lights coming on. Therefore, some of these garden security lighting systems have a built-in bell or buzzer which makes a sound when the light comes on. You can also have them send a signal to your main indoor alarm system control box, which will beep and let you know where the light is that was activated (front, rear or side of the house).

Garden security lighting can also be solar powered. This makes them slightly more expensive to buy but very much cheaper to put in and to run. Some of these lights are permanently fixed to the house’s fascia boards while others are just pressed into the ground. This latter sort are ideal for garden parties that go on into the night, as long as you remember to put them back where they belong before going in.

It is a good idea to direct the motion sensors of the lights some four feet above ground level or they will be switched on by every cat that comes over your fence in the middle of the night. Similarly, you can turn down the sensitivity of the PIR or microwave sensors so that the sensors do not pick up birds like pigeons.

The lights have daylight sensors on them too so that the motion sensors only activate the light at night. Some of these sensors will still record movement in the daytime and report it back to the main unit if you want that.

So, all in all, there are plenty of different options when you are considering home security, but garden security lighting has to come at the top of your list, if you want an effective, reassuring home security system.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with home security systems comparison. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

Home Security – 10 Tips To Protect Yourself And Your Family

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

When people think of home security, they are inclined to think of electronic surveillance systems. However, there are other ways to protect yourself and your family from injury and intruders. I will give you my top ten tips for home security.

1] Windows are really the key to home security. Window-stays become loose or sloppy as they get older and sometimes you can get a window-stay to jump off its peg by thumping the outside window frame. Fit window stay locks

2] Doors must be sturdy, well-hung on strong hinges and have secure locks. Fit deadlocks, especially on exterior doors.

3] Spare keys should not be secreted near the door under a mat, a flower pot or a stone. If you want to leave a key with a neighbour, select the neighbour cautiously. Be wary of those with teenage kids, their friends may become aware that the spare key in the fruit bowl is to your house.

4] Tools that can help a burglar must be locked away. Keep your shed and garage doors locked and if you have a ladder, chain and lock it to a fixed point like a wall.

5] Dogs are useful for home security, but they should not be relied on. Some thieves will poison a dog to get in. If you leave your dog in the house, get a box to fit inside your door to collect whatever comes in, lock the letter box closed or seal it off for good. If you leave the dog in the yard, try to get a neighbour to check up on it from time to time.

6] Plants and bushes should not be allowed to grow big enough to block anyone’s view of windows and doors. Passers-by and ‘nosy neighbours’ are a big disincentive to burglars, but if no one can see a ground floor widow, the burglar can gain access unobserved. if you do want bushes under your windows, make them tough, thorny ones.

7] Boundary walls or fences are your first line of protection. They can be a good deterrent, if you get the design right. Some people embed broken glass into the top of the wall, but this can be illegal and can hurt unwary cats. The best thing to do is nail carpet-gripper just below the top, inside edge of the wall. Anyone putting their hands over the wall to pull themselves up will get a very horrible shock and leave DNA.

8] Valuables should not be put on show near windows. Your house is your home not a presentation case. Put your TV, DVD player and video recorder in a cabinet, maybe get a safe for your valuables and conceal that too.

9] External lighting is a key part of night-time security. Get exterior lights that are activated by motion (microwave) or heat (passive infra red), put at least one on each outside wall of your house.

10] Electronic surveillance systems are a necessity these days. You do not need cameras, but they are helpful for identifying intruders. Your home security system can be wired or wireless, monitored or not.

These top ten home security tips should prevent your home from becoming an easy target for burglars.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design

Home Security Tips – How To Make Your Home Unappealing To Thieves

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

These days everybody is concerned about the security of their homes and justly so! According to official American government statistics, the quantity of house burglaries has risen by nearly ten percent in the last five years to about fourteen million per year.

That is a great deal of homes. I was burgled ten years ago and I have studied and done my best to never be one of those statistics again. In this article, I will pass on some of my home security tips on how to make your home unappealing to thieves.

The first thing to think about is whether you have anything in your garden, shed or garage that will help a thief get into your house. Things like ladders, crow-bars, screwdrivers, sledge hammers. If you do, then lock them away. Keep the shed and garage doors locked at all times. If you have a ladder that will not fit in the shed or garage, chain and padlock it to a brick wall, so that nobody can use it to get in.

Never believe that your home is less at risk just because you or someone else is inside it. Some thieves are crazy and it is easier to ask someone where the money is than to try to find it yourself. It is easier to demand the keys to the safe than to break the lock. I know. burglars came into my house while I was at work. They saw my safe, but could not get into it, so they came back three nights later when I was at home. It was truly not pleasant.

Do not put a spare front or back door key under the mat, a flower vase or near-by rock. Thieves expect people to do that and it is the first place they look. If you are thinking about leaving a key with a neighbour, choose your neighbour carefully. In fact select the family carefully. Does the family have teenage kids? If so, could their friends learn that that ‘spare key’ is to your house? Do you trust all the friends of that neighbour’s kids? Do you even know them?

Beware of people you do not know. I do not mean be paranoid, but someone needing to make an urgent call because of a ‘breakdown’, could be casing your house or sizing you up. If you want to lend a hand, make the call for them or direct them to the nearest public telephone booth or a store.

Keep all your doors and windows locked. If reasonable locked closed, while you are away from the house, but you can get window-stay locks so that you can lock a fanlight window open a few inches too. This is very helpful in the summer or if you have pets. Lock upstairs windows too – your neighbour may have a loose ladder that a thief can use.

Do not display your valuables needlessly. Video recorders, DVD players and even the TV can be put in cabinets. Jewellery should be stored in a box or a safe. Cash the same. Your house is a home, not a presentation case to would be criminals.

My last home security tip to make your home unappealing to thieves is to stay alert and to warn your neighbours of any slip-ups they are making too. If you can elevate the general awareness of crime in the people around you, everyone will be a lot safer.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with wired home security systems. If you are interested in Security Systems For Home Use, please click through to our site.

categories: alarm systems,security,home,business,family,home business,home accessories,consumer electronics,elderly care,other,uncategorized,happiness,retirement,interior design