These days, one of the most worrying things in people's life is security. With the increase in population of the cities, everybody tries to get protection any way they can. That makes more and more people look for home security systems. You can find an enormous variety of private security machines. Modern technology helps to keep people safe in their homes, avoiding thieves and other types of crime.

Alarms are the widest used device in homes with security systems. They consist of a system of sensors connected to a control unit that, in turn, is connected to a means of announcing the alarm, to hopefully get a response. There are a lot of different types of alarms. You can find safety alarms, intrusion alarms and fire alarms. Some are dedicated to only one mission, others can be and multi-function alarms, that are simultaneously intrusion, fire and safety.

Sophistication ranges from small and compact alarms to complicated and colored displayed ones.

Fire detectors are quite simple. You can find three types of them. The ones that react to high temperatures and fast temperature rise, the ones that react to the light spectrum of flames and the ones that react to smoke or chemical products.

The burglar (intrusion) detectors can be of two different classes: point detectors and area detectors. With point detectors you must pick a specific point where intrusion should be indicated. Area detectors indicate intrusion of a protected area, and usually use ultrasonic technology for that.

Safety sensors are more complicated and sophisticated, because they are supposed to react to a lot of different danger situations at the same time, such as: gates and valves open or closed, low oxygen concentrations, excessively high or low temperatures and excessive carbon monoxide (or other toxic gas) concentrations.

With modern electronic devices, alarm responses are no longer human. Depending on the time, the zone triggered and the number and sequence of zones, the system can call the ambulance, can call the police, the fire department, or the property manager. That is a huge advance in home security. The biggest problem with alarms and cameras was that they always needed a human response in order to be useful, but with this new technology, house owners can be more relaxed because the system is capable of calling for help if he is not able to.

Cameras are also a widely used mechanism in home security. Nowadays you find them all around public and private properties. In homes, people usually put them at the entrance of the house and install a monitor inside to see who is outside knocking on the door or trying to get in.

All these electronic devices are quite expensive. The technology used in these systems is quite sophisticated and complex. But it is also possible to find not so sophisticated and expensive alarms and cameras, so if you don't have a lot of money to spend on home security and want to keep your house safe from intrusions and other dangers, don't think twice.

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Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Home Security
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