Michael Holigan: In the U.S., a break-in occurs every seven and a half seconds, with an average loss of $1,200. An easy way to help avoid this is with a home security system. Before you install one, there's a few tips you need to know about how the system should be set up.
Walt DeVault: You want to wire a security system anytime you have the opportunity because a wired security system is actually more reliable than a wireless system.
M.H.: What about motion detectors?
W.D.: Motion detectors are extremely important. That is part of the interior trap system. What we know about bad guys is that they don't stay in one place in a home. They move around and the motion detector is designed to kind of catch them while they're moving from place to place.
M.H.: Back in the old days, motion detectors use to always go off. Maybe a ceiling fan blew a page off the table. How do you prevent that from happening now?
W.D.: Dual technology motion detectors. They operate on two different systems combined. That is body movement and body heat. And it takes both of those to set a motion detector into alarm. You've got to have some heat with that paper or it's not going to set it off. So a human body has both body heat and body movement. And that will set the motion detector off.
M.H.: What about a glass break detector?
W.D.: That's dual technology as well. Meaning that you have to have the sound of glass and you also have to have the flex of the glass breaking, which will cause air movement. When you have those two things working in conjunction, you're going to set off the alarm. I've got a simulator. Let me show you how it works.
M.H.: Okay.
W.D.: This will simulate the sound of breaking glass.
M.H.: I don't know how many takes this is going to be, so I don't want to be breaking glass all the time.
W.D.: Exactly. I didn't think that would be a good idea. So this will sound like breaking glass, but it does not set off any alarms.
M.H.: Okay.
W.D.: If I hit the wall, or if I hit a piece of glass without the sound of breaking glass, again, nothing happens. But if I do both, if I hit the wall and get the sound of glass, that's what we're looking for. Now I've got to go turn off the alarm.
M.H.: Okay, let's do it.
W.D.: And a glass break detector is really, really good when you have fixed glass windows that you know if someone's going to come through a window they're going to have to break the glass, sliding glass doors, atrium doors, that sort of thing.
M.H.: What about setting off a glass detector by dropping a glass on a kitchen floor?
W.D.: It's going to happen. But remember, if that happens, you're at home. And if the alarm goes off, all you have to do is go over and turn it off. So there's no harm done.
M.H.: No down side.
W.D.: Not really.
M.H.: What should a good retrofit include?
W.D.: A retrofit, after the home has already been constructed, needs to have an interior trap like a motion detector or a glass break detector. It needs to have a key pad somewhere centrally located that's easy to get to. You know, I would also want a key pad in the master bedroom, unless it's a really small home.
M.H.: How much destruction occurs when you retrofit a house with a security system?
W.D.: Well, hopefully minimal destruction. There really shouldn't be very much at all. Our installers actually bring little vacuum cleaners and they clean up the dust that may occur from boring a small hole in the wall. But the whole idea of retrofitting a security system in someone's home is that you are going to hide the wires. And that may mean going in behind the sheetrock or through some paneling or something like that. A good installer can put a security system in your home and you will never know that they've been there except for the components that they've installed.
M.H.: This is the best time to install a security system, while the home is still under construction. You have access to all of the windows and doors before the sheetrock goes up, plus you can normally roll the cost of the system right into the mortgage .
W.D.: If the home is under construction, and you can get it installed before the sheetrock goes up, you're a whole lot better off. It's more cost effective and it's simpler to install.
M.H.: When you're installing a security system, should you wire in your smoke detectors as well?
W.D.: Absolutely. The smoke detector is, in a lot of instances, the difference between life and death.
M.H.: Should you have an audible or silent alarm?
W.D.: Oh, absolutely have an audible alarm. And the reason is that if someone breaks in, the first thing you want to do is scare them away. And when the alarm goes off, then it's pretty obvious that, "Hey, somebody's been notified that there's something going on.". If you're at home and it scares them away, you're safer. If you're not at home, at least it let's the bad guy know, "Hey, somebody's been notified that there's a problem.".
M.H.: What functions does a key pad really need to be simple to use but still cover everything you need?
W.D.: Really, the simpler the better, we've found. Our key pad is so simple that you actually only have to press one button, "On", and the system will activate.
M.H.: Okay.
W.D.: Okay. Once you've done that, and the red light stops blinking, that means the entire system is armed and dangerous.
M.H.: Okay. So no long code to put in to turn it on?
W.D.: Not to turn it on. Now you do need an alarm code to turn it off.
M.H.: So you have a shield, a cross and a fire, so police, medical and fire department if you have an emergency?
W.D.: Exactly. If you press one of those buttons or if your system goes into alarm, basically what happens is the phone call goes out on a 1-800 call to our monitoring center. And it really doesn't matter where the monitoring center is, because it is as close as a phone call away. They gather the information, lock it into the computer and while they're doing that they simultaneously call the police department. And once they've called the police department then help is on the way. After, after they've called your house to verify that this is a real alarm. We're one of the few companies in the nation who really does that. But we want to call and make sure you didn't accidentally set off your alarm and send the police by mistake.
M.H.: That's actually happened at my house once or twice.
W.D.: Me too. Absolutely. One other feature you might be interested in, and that is to press "On" and "Motion Off", and what that means is, you've armed all the exterior doors and windows that are protected, but the motion detector inside is off. So you can walk around inside your house and have total freedom, but you're also protected on the outside.
M.H.: How do you select a monitoring service and how do you know it's a good one?
W.D.: That's something that you really never see. You only use it. If you want to choose a good quality monitoring service, there's a couple of questions you ought to get answered. Number one, how long have they been in business? And how large a company are you dealing with? Most importantly, are they U.L. listed? And if they are, then you know that at least they have a stamp of approval that says "This is a reliable monitoring center.".
M.H.: How important are signs and window stickers?
W.D.: Signs and window decals are the first line of defense. They notify the guy who's casing the street that this is a home that has protection. If you want to risk it, and there's three things that bad guys don't like, they don't like light, they don't like noise and they don't like risk.
M.H.: Nearly 70% of all stolen property is never recovered. So give your security system some serious thought and planning. It's for the protection of you, your family and your new house.
Episode 42 1996 - 97 Season
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