Home Security

Use advanced burglar alarm systems

to keep off intruders

The burglar alarm is the most important part of your home security system. It is basically a sensor that "feels" when somebody enters your home, and then takes action - makes a loud noise, calls the police, makes valuables safes impossible to open and all sorts of other things.

Most crime takes place in a matter of minutes. Since there are many false alarms, burglar alarms have become less trusted, and they make it more and more difficult for local police to arrive in time. Even a less skilled intruder can break in and take your valuables in a very short span of time.

Even with a strong lock on your door, thieves can make their way into homes and businesses. Most break-ins are done through glass. A burglar can open a glass window in the door by simply smashing the glass, reaching in and unlocking the door. Many stores with glass doors use security bars or gates. However, these gates are useless if intruders can reach in and unlock the door for themselves.

This can be prevented with circuit intruder alarm systems. Circuit burglar alarms have two types: closed circuit and open circuit. They work in the same way: electric current travels through the circuit protecting a door or window. With an open circuit, the current is not completed until the door or window is open, this activates the alarm. The drawback of this burglar alarm system is that the intruder only needs to cut the wires, and the circuit cannot be completed. With a closed circuit intruder alarm, the current is broken when the door or window is opened, and this triggers the alarm.

All burglar alarms have a control panel and can be more or less complex. When the burglar alarm system is activated, the control panel will sound inside and the repeater will sound much louder through an outside box, which may also flash. The control panel and external box will keep sounding until they are stopped by entering a code or key.

A motion detector offers excellent protection. You can usually see these so-called PIR (passive infrared) detectors high up in corners, flashing each time they sense movement, even when the burglar alarm is off. The PIR measures the average room temperature and activates the alarm when the energy suddenly rises from the intruder's body temperature.

If you have pets, don't forget to inform your security consult so that special PIR units can be placed that allow pets to walk around without activating the system. There are more advanced burglar alarm systems: for example, photo-sensor motion detectors. They throw a beam of light across an area in or around your home. When someone walks through the beam, it is broken and the sensor triggers the alarm.

Good burglar alarm systems combine both circuit and motion sensor alarms, thus creating two lines of protection against intrusion.