Don’t be alarmed. Even you might be able to afford a home security system. The majority of people could now afford what used-to cost the average of $2,000. The average price of today’s system is about $1,000. However, many discount services today can be purchased for less than $300.
Today’s home security systems give you the ability to have somebody watching your house 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and that doesn’t just mean protection from breaking and entering. The nice thing about alarms today is that you have the ability to check your house, to change things at your house, monitor it. And if you’re not around, somebody else can do it for you.
A home security system is basically made up of three components: a control panel, sensors and warning signal. It’s not magic. You have a brain, so does your alarm system. And that’s the control panel. And the sensors, depending on the design, sense a variety of changes. The sensors in today’s home security systems can keep the temperature in your home at a certain temperature. They can also detect water seepage if your pipes burst. These two functions provide some cost-saving on your heating or plumbing, which oftentimes offsets the cost of the alarm system.
The signal – a buzzer, horn or siren – alerts a central station, which has phone numbers for police, fire department and other emergency services. Alarms have been around for some time, but they were something only the wealthy could afford. Those alarms depended upon a dedicated phone line, a designated line that went from the alarm to the police station. In the early ’80s, however, the digital dialer gave the homeowner the capacity of using the existing phone line for the transmission of the alarm signal. Now your phone line transmits everything, data, signals, voice.
Today’s alarms can be installed with wireless transmitters which operate much like a garage-door opener or a TV remote control. Wireless technology is something that makes it easy to install in the home. And you can now turn your home security system off by using your telephone. For instance, if you’re in your bedroom on the second floor and want to set your alarm, you don’t have to get up and use your key pad (the part of the control panel that turns your system on and off) by the door. You use your phone to dial your code. This can also be done from an outside location. If you’re at work and want to let the cleaning person or a trusted friend in the house, you can use your phone to turn off the alarm system.
Today’s home alarm systems also include “medical alerts,” which are pendants you can wear or hand-held panic buttons to alert the central station to call a doctor if there’s an emergency. Alarm systems also have changed in terms of making it easier for people to use the system.
Most people living in homes today who don’t have alarm systems aren’t of the computer generation. They’re more afraid of the alarm system than the burglar. What’s really new is the systems are more user-friendly in terms of technology. Home security shouldn’t be something that complicates your lifestyle. It should be something that enhances it.