A driveway alarm is similar to a home alarm system in that it provides homeowners with peace of mind regarding intruders on their property. However, there are a lot of benefits to having a driveway alarm in addition to your home alarm system. As well, driveway alarm systems do have some slight differences than home alarm systems, as intruders are detected in different ways. While home alarm systems generally track the opening and closing of windows and doors, driveway alarm systems normally detect movement.
1. Advance notice
While a home alarm system is an excellent indicator that someone has entered your home uninvited, a driveway alarm system allows you to see when unwanted visitors have arrived before they even enter the house. This can give you some extra time to call the authorities, hide, or scare off the intruders before they gain access to your home.
A driveway alarm system is unable to differentiate between intruders and welcome guests or family members. However, it does give you an excellent idea of what is going on around your property at any given time – regardless of who it is.
2. Selective monitoring
Although a driveway alarm cannot distinguish the good guys from the bad guys, it can distinguish the big from the small, if necessary. Especially in areas with a lot of wildlife, or for people with pets, it could get pretty irritating having false alarms going off all the time for sensors that think intruders are afoot.
However, modern driveway alarms have been designed to avoid such annoyances. The sensors are set further apart, which means small animals like dogs, cats, and rodents won’t be picked up on them. Children, adults, and vehicles will still be detected though, which means that your driveway alarm will still be effective for the most important uses.
However, if you want, you can choose a driveway alarm that will detect small moving creatures. As well, certain driveway alarms are designed to only detect vehicles.
3. Cost efficient
For people who are concerned for the safety of themselves and their family, a driveway alarm is an easy choice. The systems themselves don’t cost a lot, and installation is often easy enough to be done on your own. Wireless systems can be bought for under $200, not including the cost of any additional sensors you require. Wired systems can be bought for around the same price or more, but may require professional installation.
4. Endless surface area
Driveway alarms can be interconnected with virtually any number of sensors, which means no matter how long your driveway is or how big your yard is, you can be sure to be informed as soon as an intruder or guest shows up. The added sensors can ensure that your driveway or the area that you want monitored doesn’t have any blind spots, and that nobody could sneak through undetected. As well, the sensor can be placed hundreds of feet away from the base inside that sounds when movement is detected, so it provides a lot of freedom about where the sensors and the base can be placed.
5. Withstands the weather
Driveway alarms are meant to be outside, and so they have been designed to last outside conditions. These alarms can withstand some of the hottest and coldest temperatures on earth. The only thing that might cause a problem is the battery of a wireless system, as especially hot or cold temperatures can affect batteries negatively. The directions on your driveway alarm system will indicate what temperatures it can handle. If temperatures go above or below what is indicated, the batteries should be removed temporarily on wireless driveway alarms.
