Best Home Security Systems

Adequate security measures can help to change a house into a home. Your home should be a space where you feel safe and where you know that your belongings will not be interfered with. Choosing the right home security system for your home can help you to feel more confident about keeping your home and family safe. There are a lot of different home security systems to choose from. These systems are constantly being redeveloped to offer consumers features which will help them to safeguard their home and possessions. Take a quick look over these suggestions for types of home security systems which you could use at your property. Some of these ideas can be combined with one another for added security.

Standard Alarm System

Alarm systems are designed to make a loud noise (or flash brightly) if someone tries to enter the property. Most alarms are either designed to sound if an access point (such as the door or a window) is breached, or if motion is detected in the house when the alarm is set. Alarms can help to alert a neighbour to the fact that someone may be trying to enter the house. The neighbour may or may not contact the police, depending on the circumstances. Although an alarm system may help to scare away the criminals when it sounds, they may still be able to grab a few lighter items (laptops, money, jewellery etc) before they flee the property. Some standard alarm systems will include a panic button. The button, which is usually located in the bedroom, can be pressed to sound the alarm if the occupant believes that someone may have entered the property uninvited.

Monitored Alarm Systems

Monitored alarm systems function in much the same way that standard alarm systems function, however they are maintained and monitored by a centralised security company. If the alarm goes off at your property, for whatever reason, this company will investigate the reason why it was triggered. Other alarm systems will alert the police directly. Monitored systems can be a great idea for a second home, when it may be too difficult for the homeowner to investigate every time that the alarm goes off. Monitored systems enable users to get the most out of their alarm system; however these systems can be quite expensive to operate.

Motion-Sensor Lights

Motion-sensor lights are designed to come on when they detect motion in a specific area. These lights can help to illuminate a garden or back yard area if a criminal is moving about there. In over 60% of burglaries that are committed in the United Kingdom the criminals gain access through the rear of the building. This is partially because the back garden tends to offer more cover and shelter than the front garden does. Motion-sensor lights can help to reduce the privacy and cover that is offered by the back garden, by reducing the amount of available darkness. The light which is produced by motion-sensor lights also means that it is much easier for witnesses to positively identify any criminals that they do see trying to gain entry to a property. The sensitivity of these lights needs to be carefully calibrated, or else the light may end up going off every time an animal passes through the garden. They are normally only set to come on after the sun has set.

CCTV

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras are known to be a deterrent to most opportunistic housebreakers. Training these cameras on your property will help to protect the property from potential criminals. If any criminals do decide to gain access to your home, you will be able to provide footage to the police to help them to identify their suspects. If you do decide that you would like to protect your property with CCTV cameras, you must be very careful where you point them. CCTV camera regulations state that you may be committing an offence if the cameras record any private property that is not owned by you. If you are renting your property, you should ask for the permission of the homeowner before you begin to record on their property.

Remote Security Systems

Remote security systems allow the owner of the system to access data from the system whilst they are away from the property. These systems usually integrate one or more of the devices that are mentioned above, however the user will be able to take control of them even when they are not at the house. In order for remote systems to work, the property must have an active internet connection. Breaks in the internet connection can lead to breaks in the remote functionality of the system. However, the best systems should still be able to store data from the time when they are offline.