Smart Security: Smart Home technology that will make your home instantly more secure

A lot has been said about smart home devices in terms of making life easier and more enjoyable, but today we will be looking at how smart home technology can be used to make your home more secure. When it comes to our homes, security is often our greatest concern. Nobody wants their home to be violated in any way, and for victims of burglary, this violation is far worse than the loss of mere physical items. In the past, you would have to rely on having an expensive alarm system installed and maintained to gain peace of mind when away from your home, and CCTV would be out of reach for the majority of people. But now, thanks to smart technology, high quality home security has never been more accessible. The cost of smart security devices for monitoring, raising the alarm and surveillance are coming down, and you can install most of them yourself, saving you even more money when compared to traditional home security systems. In this article we will examine smart security devices for your home in the following areas: Intruder detection and alarm systems, surveillance systems, entry systems and fire detection.

Intruder detection and alarm systems

For monitoring for intruders and raising the alarm you will need a central control hub along with sensors for your doors and windows. The control hub will usually be plugged into the mains, and it communicates with the sensors via a WiFi signal. Because of this, the sensors themselves are wireless, meaning you can quickly and easily install them anywhere you want. When an intruder is detected, an alert can be sent to your smartphone, and you can also choose to include a physical alarm as part of your system.

Home surveillance systems

Having a surveillance system acts as a great deterrent. Most opportunistic thieves will avoid a property with a surveillance system in place and move on to an easier target. Secondly, if the worst happens and there is an attempted break-in at your home, having good quality images of the intruders can assist the police in tracking them down. Even if their faces are obscured from view, the way a person walks is as good as a fingerprint for identification purposes, so the more footage you have the better. Finally, a smart security camera will be able to send an alert directly to your smartphone if an intruder is detected, allowing you to contact the police immediately.

Smart entry systems

Your door locks and entry system are the most important things in your home security setup. They are the first line of defence in defending your home from an intruder. The most basic smart door entry system is simply a doorbell that has a built-in camera, allowing you to see who is at your door and communicate with them, whether you are at home or away. Another layer of protection would be the addition of a smart door lock. These allow you to control who has access to your property and when, and can be set up to send you an alert if an unauthorised person attempts to gain entry. You can also programme your system to automatically lock and unlock if certain conditions are met, such as when you leave the house based on your smartphone location.

Fire detection

While not a security measure, fire detection is certainly an essential safety consideration, and smart smoke and fire detection devices are a tremendous advancement on traditional smoke alarms. When smoke is detected, a notification is sent to your smart phone, allowing you to ignore the alarm if you know what has caused it (usually cooking!). In fact, the sensors are so sensitive on some models that the fire brigade can have been called before a traditional smoke alarm will have even sounded. In addition to detecting smoke and heat, many also have built-in carbon monoxide detectors, for an added layer of protection.

An integrated home security solution

One of the strongest selling points for smart devices when it comes to security is the fact that you can connect all of them together and scale the system up as you need or want to. Many smart devices are compatible with one another and controllable via a single hub, meaning your entire system works as one integrated whole, rather than several individual systems. Just check for compatibility when you’re purchasing your devices. You can learn more about smart home technology by following the links below… What is a “Smart Home” and why should you want one? How to get started with home automation Live Smart to save hundreds: How investing in smart home technology will reduce your energy bills by 100s of pounds