How to Choose a Sensor for Your Home Security System

Home security sensors include motion sensors, glass-breaking detectors, door and window switches, carbon monoxide detectors, and smoke and heat detectors. You don't need to use every sensor to have a secure home, nor do you have to use a sensor in every part of your house. Strategic placement will do the job.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Glass Breaking Sensor/detector
• Door Switches
• Window Switches
• Carbon Monoxide Detector
• Motion Sensor
• Monitoring Company
• Alarm System Control Panels
• Alarm System Keypads
• Alarm System Sirens
• Alarm Systems
• Heat And Smoke Detectors

Conducting Preliminary Research

1. Survey inside and outside your home. Determine the proximity of your home to neighbors and the street. Do neighbors and passersby have a clear view of windows? Which windows are not observable?

2. Decide which doors and windows will be monitored by a sensor. You should select windows that are not in view of the street, in the rear of the house, in dark corners of the house and hidden behind bushes.

3. Think about your family's lifestyle. Do you have a large pet? Do members of the family often seek a midnight snack or come home after everyone else is asleep?

Selecting the Sensors

1. Select enough door switches to cover all the entry doors of your home. Door switches are commonly magnet switches. When a door is opened, a circuit is broken, and the security system is tripped.

2. Determine how many window switches you will need. You don't need to cover windows that can be observed by neighbors or from the street. Also keep in mind that the magnet sensor detects the window being opened, not breaking.

3. Ascertain how many zones your security system provides you. Considering that every sensor is a zone, can you use all the window switches you want without going beyond the zone capability of the security system?

4. Use glass-breaking detectors for some rooms, instead of window switches, to limit the number of sensors you use. (One glass-breaking sensor can cover all the windows in a room.)

5. Use a motion sensor to cover the stairway to the second floor or a hallway to the bedroom areas. If you have a pet, install the sensor somewhat higher so it won't be tripped by the pet. Some motion sensors distinguish between a pet and person.

6. Include a keypad upstairs or down the hall near the bedrooms so that a member of the family can turn off the motion sensor if he or she has a hankering for a snack.

7. Put a keypad near the front door so that a a family member who returns home after everyone else is asleep can turn off the motion sensor. With a keypad also next to the bedrooms, the returning family member can turn the motion sensor back on before entering a bedroom.

8. Consider including a carbon monoxide detector if your home features gas utilities and/or an adjacent closed garage. These devices use an electro-chemical means of detection to sense carbon monoxide and are commonly placed near a gas furnace and sleeping areas.

9. Consider including a fire/smoke/heat detector.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no right or wrong in determining the combination of sensors to use. A lot of it depends on your budget and how soon you want your security system to detect an intruder. The window sensors catch the intruder entering, while hallway sensors catch the intruder inside the house.