The Benefits Of Motion Sensors And Detectors

We’ve all seen movies where an intrepid cat burglar foils the home alarm system, bank or museum by climbing over the infrared beams of the various sensors, or even scaling walls and rappelling into a room by rope. While this makes for suspenseful viewing and intense on-screen action, outsmarting a real alarm system is not nearly so easy, thanks in part to motion sensors and detectors.

Unlike the tripwire sensors, motion detectors measure movement in a room. When the sensor is active, it will detect any motion that is present in the room and sound the alarm automatically, notifying you that there is suspicious activity. And because motion sensors use more sophisticated technology that in days gone by, it won’t be fooled by small to medium sized pets that you may have, ensuring that you are not inconvenienced by false positives.

Of course, during the daytime or times where there is higher traffic in the household, you can choose to deactivate your motion sensor by using your control keypad. This will prevent you from being notified of family members using a room or passing through a hallway. When you decide to leave the house or go to bed, simply use the control keypad to reactivate the motion detector.

When you have a home alarm system installed, the installer will set up the motion sensors in such a way as to get the widest angle of detection from the most likely sources of entry or movement. Because motion detectors are – in part – triggered by heat, it is important to avoid facing them toward heat sources, such as a heating register or fireplace.

By combining these with other types of sensors, such as glass break sensors and shock sensors, your home alarm system can provide you a great deal more security than what is portrayed in action movies, and very likely, a lot more security than what you currently have.

• Tweet