The 6 Most Common Causes Of Home Security False Alarms
It can be a real pain when you get a false alarm call for your home security system. For starters, it’s totally unnecessary and secondly, they’re dangerous. So in an effort to reduce the number of false alarms in your home, here’s a little heads up on some common causes for false alarms.
1. Cooking Fires
This one seems pretty obvious but every year there are calls about cooking fires. Always remember that if you leave something on the stove and go out to run errands or head off to work that you turn off your stove before leaving! Or, if you cook something that has a high sugar content (which can burn) never leave the kitchen without turning off your stove! It’s worth mentioning again because it can be a little counter-intuitive. You may think to yourself “I’m going to be gone for only 30 minutes so I’ll just turn my oven off when I leave.” But what happens if you get delayed? Suddenly you’ve been gone an hour and the sugar in your pan starts burning and before you know it your alarm is going off.
2. Power Outages
A power outage will cause all kinds of issues with home security equipment. If batteries aren’t charged then not only will any alarms go off but sensors won’t trip which means potential break-ins. What happens if your power goes out while you’re at home? If for some reason, your alarm system loses its connection to the monitoring center you could get a call from them thinking that it’s a false alarm. Finally, depending on how long your power is out it can also make a mess of battery-powered equipment like remotes and radios (which may also be using batteries) which will probably need to be replaced.
3. Bad Sensors
Sometimes bad sensors are self-explanatory but other times they can be tricky. For example; if your sensor is too sensitive it’ll cause all kinds of problems with tripping when nothing is wrong (like pets brushing up against windows). On the flip-side, if your sensor is too insensitive then it won’t be able to pick up anything which could allow burglars into your home without being noticed. There are a lot of different types of sensors so if you’re running into issues with false alarms, the first thing that you should do is check to see if your sensors are operating properly.
4. Power Surges
This one can occur through no fault of your own and there’s not a whole lot that you can do about it except install a surge protector for all of your electronic equipment. If you live in an area where storms are particularly bad, especially during the winter months, then there’s a good chance that power surges will become more common. If you wait too long, power surges could cause the insulation around your burners to fuse together causing a fire.
5. Broken Sensors
This one is pretty self-explanatory but sometimes sensors will break with use especially if they’re made of glass (i.e., security windows). And even though it’s often not your fault, you’ll still want to replace them as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary false alarms.
6. Bad Wiring
Finally, bad wiring can definitely cause some problems. Sometimes wiring can become loose and create a false connection which will cause your alarm to go off the next time that the circuit is completed. This one is especially dangerous because if wires become too hot or damaged they could start a fire or even electrocute someone – either of which can end up being very expensive!
Better Safe Than Sorry
In short, there are lots of different reasons why you may get a call from your alarm company saying that you had a false alarm. Luckily most security companies have procedures in place for false alarms but it still might be worth your while to check out some of these causes yourself to make sure that they don’t keep happening.