Motion detectors for your home security alarm system

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If you’ve taken the steps to protect your home and family with a home security system, including motion detectors with your home security alarm system will give you added protection.

Motion sensors are considered essential components of nearly all home security systems and are included with any basic home security package. Individual motion sensors can be added to a system or can be used to upgrade an outdated home security system.

As its name suggests, the job of the motion sensor is to detect motion and send a signal to a device (lights, cameras, alarms) when motion is detected. Motion sensors can be used in interior and exterior settings. When evaluating if and where you are going to employ motion sensors, some key things to consider are:

• Range of motion detection
• Sensitivity to motion
• Power of sending/receiving signals
• Battery or backup power sources

In the early days of motion detector usage, “false alarms” were common as the detectors often picked up motion from sources (family pets, strong winds, errant debris) that were not cause for alarm. Today’s motion detectors can often be programmed to avoid these false alarms.

Motion detectors connected to a wireless or cellular-based system or one connected to a live streaming video camera can trigger a response and allow the end-user to quickly determine if the activity causing the detection needs immediate attention.

Motion detectors set with lighting can be used to reduce energy use (triggering the lights only when activity is in a room for instance) or can be used as a deterrent to unwanted activity in a detection zone. This can also be a safety feature that helps those who get up at night to see where they are going better.

There are also motion-sensing cameras that can be quite useful in conjunction with your security system. These cameras work by only recording footage whenever there is something to actually record, or in other words, when there is motion near the camera or in the camera's recording vicinity.

 

If you’re looking to add or upgrade a home security system and plan to include motion detectors in your design, Reply! can help you by putting you in contact with local home security professionals.