Home Security Alarm Levels

Your home security system is designed to protect you against threats to your home. While any system is better than none, the fact of the matter is that there can be many different layers or levels to your home security system. Understanding those levels can help you design a system that’s robust, affordable, and gives you the peace of mind you want and need.

Here are the levels that we use to break down home security alarm systems:

• Perimeter security. This is security that looks at the openings to the property, or specifically to your domicile. Perimeter security usually relies on physical barriers such as fences and locks. Alarm components at the perimeter level include things like motion-detecting light or perhaps magnetic sensors that tell you when doors or windows are open.
• Backup perimeter security. These are secondary security measures that apply to the perimeter. Usually, when we talk about perimeter backup, we’re talking about home entrances that have glass. Glass break sensors or shock sensors are examples.
• Interior security. Interior security includes home security system components that are actually installed inside the house. This might include something as simple as a home security camera, or it can include high-tech floor sensors, motion detectors, or photo-electric beams.
• Personal security. The personal security component actually protects you on an individual level. Generally speaking, these components refer to threats that aren’t related to a home invasion, such as smoke, carbon monoxide, or other types of deadly situations. Smoke detectors fall into this category if they are wired into the home security system.
• Asset security. Asset security protects your home against environmental hazards. For example, it can include temperature sensors, a sensor for your sump pump, moisture detectors for your basement, and more. These components protect your home when the normal environmental controls aren’t enough to handle what’s going on.

As you can see, the alarm levels aren’t necessarily progressive, and they certainly aren’t mutually exclusive. Many people choose to install a home security system, for example, that only addresses perimeter security, yet also may have components that work for personal security or asset security.

At HSS Net, Madison Parker has been researching and evaluating home security companies and their products as well as analyzing hundreds of videos and documents from actual robberies. Her advice and findings are a great way to understand the ways in which you can improve the safety of your home.