Losing electricity is stressful enough without worrying how it'll affect your home security system . Since many electrical outages occur during extreme weather, keeping your home and family safe tends to take precedence over a potential burglar using a power outage as an excuse to find an easy target.
Theft protection becomes even more important if you're away from home at the time of the power loss. Fortunately, you'll rest easy knowing your home is well-protected in any weather — as long as you have the right security system. Here's how losing electricity can affect different home security systems, and what to do about it.
What if I lose electricity?
All security systems — both wired and wireless — have backup batteries that keep your system armed and ready for a predetermined period. However, extended outages are an issue for all alarm systems. When a power outage also affects telephone or internet signals, a wireless system tends to edge out the competition. Wired systems may retain battery life, but if the phone lines go down, the primary mode of communication to the monitoring center is lost. Security systems that use cellular technology, on the other hand, are still able to communicate, so your home can be live-monitored, even in a total outage of services.
Wireless sensors stay active
While wired security cameras can contain a battery backup, wireless accessories, including flood, fire, window and door sensors, all contain their own batteries. These reduce the drain on the main panel battery and provide optimal performance. In the case of a flood or fire threat, working sensors provide peace of mind in an otherwise stressful situation.
While you're out
Since a wireless system can be checked and controlled from anywhere, you'll know the status of your home's security. Even if you're miles away, cellular technology will monitor your home, and you'll be contacted in the case of an emergency.
With a wired system, electric outages mean losing contact if you can't connect to the control center. You won't know the status of your home until you return, and this could make you uneasy.
If you have a working security system in your home, check to see how it'll work in the case of a power outage. Get flashlights, batteries, solar chargers and candles ready and in an easy-to-find location within your home. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also provides a dedicated website of useful emergency preparedness tips for everything from extreme weather to cyber attacks. These contain handy checklists to prepare your home and family for anything.
Vivint can provide you with important home security information, so discuss your optionswith a representative.
