9 Benefits of Home Security Systems
The necessity of home security systems is slowly being realized by homeowners due to the effective crime protection and home automation features which they provide. The top companies go above and beyond what we need from a well-rounded security system by way of protecting your valuables, protecting against intruders, giving remote access and control over electronic devices, sending instant alerts, receiving homeowner's insurance discounts, protecting children and seniors, reducing energy costs, and providing professional round-the-clock monitoring.
1. Protecting Your Valuables
The FBI's property crime statistics estimate that the average amount stolen from American homes in 2015 was $2,316. When put into perspective, that is the equivalent of tens of gas changes and a couple of years of Wi-Fi subscription. There is no telling what a burglar will do to get to your most prized possessions, some of which could most probably hold sentimental value.
2. Crime Prevention
According to the FBI's crime reports, out of the 1.6 million burglaries that occurred in 2015, an estimated 57.9% of them involved forcible entry. Coupled with the fact that a secured home is 2.7 times less likely to be burglarized, and effectively reducing the chances of falling victim to property crime by two-thirds. The mere awareness of a home security system is a deterrent as it places fear in the mind of a burglar. Effectively any security device in sight around the property works as a decoy against trespassers. A motion activated light does this perfectly due to its suddenness and timed accuracy, giving the illusion that someone is awake and on the burglar's trails.
3. Home Automation
Made possible by your provider's smartphone app that can also be accessed by any other web-enabled device, remotely accessing your system has a few notable advantages of its own. A few things you can do with remotely accessing your system is monitoring your history of events such as your doorbell camera capturing suspicious activity minutes after you left home for work that morning, or checking to see your home's intake of electricity in order to make it more energy-efficient.
Automating a home has never been so easy. This is one of the strong suits of a home security system as it adds an extra layer of security and convenience. It works by utilizing the home security system's main circuit board to operate all the electronic devices and components connected as you see fit - these components include the sensors, detectors, cameras, lights, thermostat, and other compatible devices.
You can use home automation to deter burglars away by manipulating the lights to operate under certain behavioral patterns of your choice. You can, for example, schedule your lights to switch between on and off during the night time - when a burglary is most likely to happen - and give onlooking trespassers the illusion that it's occupied when you're away on vacation or at work. Making your home look occupied while you're away is an important tip when it comes to preventing your home from being targeted.
An added perk of home automation is the comfort. Some top-of-the-line systems can be programmed to turn certain appliances on and off when you're within a certain distance from your home. An example of this would be programming your system to adjust the thermostat to 74℉ when you cross the threshold into your neighborhood's surrounding vicinity for you to have a comfortable climate waiting for you at home.
4. Reduced Energy Costs
It is hard to track a home's energy usage without constantly monitoring it, which is impractical. With home automation, a homeowner can do just that and turn off those wasteful appliances remotely. Thanks to visual illustrations shown on your phone or tablet, it has become tremendously easy to make informed decisions about how much power you should be using and where it should be distributed throughout the day. Once you find that happy medium, you will reap the rewards by having more to spare on gas changes and other monthly expenses.
5. Lower Homeowner's Insurance Costs
In an insurance company's eyes, having a home security system will show them that you're serious about your home's condition and will be more willing to give you a discount typically of 15%, or even 20%.
Being insured also helps you in shopping for a better mortgage when it's time to buy a new home or refinance. This can manifest in a lower down payment, fewer restrictions, lower rates, or a shorter loan term.
6. Increase in Home Resale Value
A sleek looking camera hanging over your front door, rotating on its axis and receding its lens to get a better picture of a visitor does not only enhance your home's curb appeal, it encourages your prospective buyer to seal the deal knowing that they get security as part of the whole package. Moreover, you increase your home's appraised value and add to its equity as far as your mortgage is concerned.
7. Instant Alerts
If you sign-up with a home security provider's mid-tier or upper-tier package, make sure that it includes a mobile alert feature as there is no better way to stay informed about your home's comings and goings without it watching your back. Whenever a motion detector picks up some unusual activity that isn't your pet, a camera captures movement in your home office or a sensor registers an unknown vehicle pull up in your driveway, a message will instantly be sent to your phone, email, and monitoring center's servers detailing the date and time of the event. You want to be the first to know in order to protect your valuables and loved ones, and it doesn't get any faster than this.
8. Child & Senior Protection
As a guardian to your loved ones, God knows how adamant you are about their safety especially if circumstances are such that they need round-the-clock attention if they're handicapped or burdened with a medical condition. Luckily, most if not all monitoring services include a panic pendant in their packages - sometimes for free and sometimes selling separately - to provide them with the protection they need should an emergency situation calls for it. The panic pendant works by a simple push-button mechanism, and if at any point the pendant's bearer needs any medical attention, one push will immediately signal the monitoring agent to send an ambulance to the known location.
Keeping a watchful eye on your children is also made possible by your security cameras, and if you have home automation in your arsenal, you can remotely control and grant access to them through the front door when they've made it home from school.
9. 24/7 Monitoring
This is where it all comes together; the protection of your valuables and loved ones, deterring crime, home automation, and security alerts - and this is where all that you would have done on your own is done by someone else, only they have the experience and quick response to act accordingly to the situation at hand. With 24/7 monitoring, you're effectively eliminating the need to do all the monitoring work yourself, which can take up a huge chunk of your time. Should an alarm go off at any point during the day, a signal will be sent directly to the monitoring center where an agent will immediately call you to confirm if you are alright. Based on your answer, they will take appropriate measures to either send law enforcement or register the event as a false alarm.
