According to FBI statistics, home burglaries in the U.S. occur at an average rate of one every 15 to 16 seconds. That works out to more than 2 million every year. Thankfully, the vast majority of them take place when no one is home, so violence against the victims is rare. That's still of little comfort though.

With those numbers it's no wonder the use of home burglary systems is on the rise all over the country. Home monitoring companies are springing up to service not only metropolitan areas, but suburban and rural areas as well. While that's great news for consumers, the sheer volume of information out there can be overwhelming. That's where we come in.

We're here to help you makes sense of home burglary systems and how they work for you. We want you to understand the technologies, monitoring plans, and all the other options you need to know about in order to make informed choices; so check back often for all the latest news and information regarding home burglary systems.

History of home burglar alarm systems

Home burglar alarm systems make use of technology to safeguard the house and to keep the burglars away. In the beginning, video capturing of the premises around the house was done which helped in keeping track of the activities going on. But it was a tedious process and needed continuous surveillance which is not normally possible for the inmates of a house. With passage of time, there has been tremendous advancement in techniques and now persons inside a home need not be vigilant as this task is performed by the alarm system which works electronically.

Types of Home burglar alarm systems

Hardwired home burglar alarm system:

The early period saw the emergence of hard wired burglar alarm systems that had a central panel that was connected to various devices like motion sensors and sirens hidden at different places around the house. This was a very robust system to provide protection from burglars but its installation was very tedious and required days of hard work from the professionals to be set up. Despite being very effective, it caused great inconvenience during installation to the inmates of the home as it required holes to be drilled for connecting wires.

The system had sensors for motion, sound, glass breaking, infra red, ultrasonic and many more. The system even has battery backup in the eventuality of burglars cutting off wires or the wires getting damaged by the rodents. This system is still very popular to safeguard property in commercial premises. There were instances when burglars sensed the presence of a wired alarm system and used their ingenuity to cut it off and managed to break in the house. As a result, for homes, it is now used vary rarely and people prefer to go for the more advanced wireless burglar alarm systems.

Wireless burglar alarm systems:

As it does not require any wires, wireless burglar alarm system is very easy to install and uses only batteries as a power source. The system is reliable, easy to install and easily portable from one place to another. These features are loved by the users as it gives them flexibility and convenience of use. One has the ability to use the system from a distance and the system can be turned on and off with the help of a remote button. You can switch the system on when you are leaving the house and you are given a password to activate it.

When you return, you have to use your password to deactivate the system so as to reenter the home. As it does not involve wires, the system can be used to safeguard large areas and it is possible to create a network of alarm systems. There are many DIY versions of wireless burglar alarm systems available in the market which you can use to install the system on your own. This is a great advantage for a home owner as he is the only person knowing about the system having been employed in the house. If you are not satisfied with the working of the system at a particular location, you can simply move it to another location for better coverage. If a home owner is moving, the system can be take off in a matter of hours and ready to be installed in the new premises.

Burglar Alarm System Parts

Home burglar alarm system is a complex product made up of a number of components. Some of the main parts of such as system are described below.

Active Eye Motion Sensor: As the name suggest, it senses any motion and gets activated when a person walks past it. This sensor sends signals to the security system which passes them to your house wiring and depending upon the time delay you have set, lights inside the house turn on. This makes you aware of any movement outside the house. This sensor detects motion in the dark and works like a hawk to safeguard your home from any burglary or robbery. It has a range of about 20feet and works on the principles of infra red. It uses only 2 small AAA batteries.

Door and window sensor: This is a powerful sensor which gets activated whenever doors or windows are opened by any intruder, and starts sirens and flash lights and even calls at four mobile numbers. You can choose any four numbers to which you want the message to be conveyed. It keeps on sending the message until it gets and answer, and cannot be misled by answering machines. As soon as any burglar tries to open a window, the sensor, starts the siren and sends signals to the base receiver which tries to call the given four numbers. This is a novel concept which allows a person to inform the police if he is away from home.

Eagle Eye Motion Sensor: Detects motion and sends signals to the base system which passes them to the house wiring with which it is connected and automatically turns on the lights inside the house which is a signal that some person gas walked past the house. It has a dawn/dusk feature which means that it is active during these times. But you can disable this feature so that it is active throughout the day and you get maximum protection from the intruders. This sensor is weather resistant and is perfect to monitor the activities outside the house. You can set the time delay to your liking.

Emergency Panic Button: As the name suggests, it is for use in emergences. These emergency buttons can be placed in all the rooms of the home. If there is an intruder inside the house and any family member sees him, he can press the red emergency button, holding it down for a few seconds, which sends signals to all the rooms of the house and flash lights and sirens start automatically which are enough to scare the intruder. All these buttons are wireless and are battery operated so that they work even in the absence of electricity. They can be mounted on any surface.

Heart Shaped Personal Assistance Pendant: This is a security device which can be worn around the neck. It is a pendant in the shape of a heart. Should there be any emergency, one can press the button on the pendant, and it starts sending signals which are recognized by the base system and it starts to dial the emergency phone numbers. This is great for small kids and ladies in the house who can use the button on the pendant to inform other members of the house that they are in trouble.

Outdoor Motion Monitor with Floodlight: This device is a great way to scare away the burglar. When it senses someone coming near, it activates floodlights and at the same instant also chimes inside the house to inform the inmates that some intruder is outside the house. It can be set to turn on 4 more lights inside the house should the inmates fail to listen to the chiming sound. This motion monitor has a baffling effect on the intruder and he is easily scared away. It is weather proof and you can use halogen bulbs in lace of flood lights.

PowerHorn Siren: These sirens make a loud screeching sound which is so powerful that even your neighbors will notice it. So if there is any intruder who tries to break in, these Powerhorn sirens get activated and make a very loud noise which is enough to scare the burglar. There is no chance a burglar can stand the noise made by these sirens. These sirens can be placed anywhere around the house and provide great security to the house as well as inmates. These sirens alert the entire neighborhood and the intruder has no option but to just run away or get caught.

Remote Chime: Remote Chime detects the presence of a person and begins to chime should an intruder come near it. This sound is enough to alert you and take defensive action to scare the burglar. It is a simple plug in device which can be inserted in any plug in the room, so it is advisable to keep it near you.

Security Motion Detector: This is a wireless motion detector which gets activated when a person approaches it. It starts to trigger flash lights and sirens. This scares the intruder. In addition, it sends calls to phone numbers of your choice, which enables you to know that there is something wrong in the house. This device makes the security of your home complete, especially when you feel that door and window sensors are not enough to provide you with full protection. It is a small device and you can place it anywhere you like.

Security Hand Held Remote Control: This remote is the master key to the security system of your house. It is intelligent enough to control the lights of your house. It allows arming or disarming whenever you choose. It has a long coverage area and you can use it from a distance of 100 feet. It even has a panic button which you can use to raise alarm if there is an emergency. If you are outside the home and think that are some intruders inside, you can press the button and it will start all the flash lights and sirens scaring the burglars away.

How Burglar Alarms work?

No matter which alarm system you choose, they all work on the principle of electric circuits. Electric current flows in a circuit until it gets broken by some interruption. All alarm systems either are based upon a closed circuit or an open circuit system. In a closed circuit system, the circuit is complete when the door or window is closed and it gets broken when it is opened, thus triggering an alarm. In contrast, in an open circuit, the circuit is complete when the door or widow is open, and it is so set to raise an alarm when complete.

In early period, alarm systems employed magnetic strips which closed or opened the circuit. Whenever a window or a door was opened, the magnetic strip snapped and the circuit was broken, thus raising an alarm. This system could be bypassed by the intruder if he closed the door and the sirens went off. But today the technology is far advanced and it is not possible for a burglar to disarm the system.

These days wireless burglar alarm systems are being used which have a control box with radio signals. These systems have sensors which detect the presence of an intruder and immediately raise alarm. Motion sensors are very sensitive and they work in the dark through infrared technology without the knowledge of the burglar and he is caught unawares.

These sensors are even connected with the wiring of the house thus switching on some of the lights, which makes the owner of the house of any movement outside the house. These sensors are like an electronic eye that keeps on sending a beam of light which breaks when an intruder comes in its way. This causes the circuit to be broken and the alarm is raised.

Home burglar alarm manufacturers and suppliers

With the increase in unemployment, people have become desperate and this explains the increased instances of burglary and robberies. Sensing the needs of the people, home burglar alarm systems are being manufactured around the world and some of the top companies involved in their manufacture are DSC, Honeywell Ademco, Rokonet, GE Security and Yale. DSC has been involved in making home and business security appliances for a long time and is renowned the world over for the reliability of their products.

The electronic alarm systems made by Honeywell are cheap but sturdy and have proven efficiency. The intelligent alarm systems made by Rokonet never raise a false alarm and are very popular among the masses. GE security is the world leader when it comes to making high quality home security alarm systems. It has a complete range of products to suit the requirements of every individual.