Tips For Troubleshooting Your Home Alarm System In Arlington
False alarms and system glitches can be exasperating, and even worse, could prevent your home security system from working how it should. Thankfully, most problems, from false alarms to dead batteries, are straightforward to fix. Explore our tips for troubleshooting your home alarm system in Arlington. We’ll help keep your household safe and your system operating the way it should.
Test Your Home Security System In Arlington
One of the most effective ways to troubleshoot your property’s defense is to test it yourself! The latest systems allow you to place them in test mode to avoid prompting an emergency response. After moving to test mode, do the following:
- Activate your system as you typically would when heading out.
- Open a door or window protected by a contact sensor, or test other equipment. Shut the window or door so it doesn’t trigger the alarm as you switch out of test mode.
- Allow the alarm to go off for 60 seconds to make sure a signal is delivered to the security provider and an entry is made in the alarm activity log.
- Continue testing sensors as needed
- Review the alarm’s activity log to verify proper function.
No need to worry, monitoring professionals will know that your system is involved in a test. Be sure to turn test mode off when complete. It’s smart to test once a month or whenever you adjust your home’s internet or phone provider.
Check The Position And State Of Motion Detectors
Although an essential element of your alarm system, motion sensors are well known for false alarms. Do your part to prevent them with some easy troubleshooting.
- Do a physical check. Are there objects that could move within the path of the sensor, like drapery caught in a breeze?
- Is the sensor clean? Grime, dirt, and cobwebs can result in poor performance. Ensure the device is clean.
- Does the motion detector have pet immunity you can activate? Some can be set to ignore pets up to 100 pounds.
- When was the battery last replaced? Low batteries might affect performance or lead to false alarms.
- Is a heat source impairing the sensor? Too much heat from direct sun or a fireplace can cause an alarm.
Keep Batteries Ready And Watch Out For Low Battery Notifications
One helpful benefit of the latest home security systems is that they’ll tell you when batteries are running low. If your system is equipped with a control panel or mobile app, you’ll usually discover messages there. Depending on your system, you may hear an intermittent beep when batteries are getting low.
Motion sensors, contact sensors, smoke detectors, and other wireless components have batteries that need to be replaced every so often. It’s best to keep batteries around and establish a replacement schedule. Some systems also have a backup battery for the primary control panel. This backup helps keep your system functioning if you have a power outage and should recharge once the electricity is working again. If it doesn’t, you should replace it.
Troubleshooting Is Simple With ADT Home Security In Arlington
As the top name in home security, ADT creates systems that provide superior functionality and protection. Switching to test mode is easy through the ADT+ app or MyADT.com, and you’ll always be sent alerts when a battery is nearing depletion. Get in touch with Secure24 Alarm Systems, an authorized ADT dealer, to get more details and design a system ideal for your Arlington home. Place a call to (703) 546-7973 or submit our form today!