Resideo

Seven Handy Home Automation Features

A security system with home automation features has many benefits that can add convenience and peace of mind, like cameras, smart locks, and lighting control.

But did you know that there are other ways that home automation can make life easier for you and your family?

Check out these features:

1) See what’s going on at home while you’re away.

  • Know at a glance if a family member has arrived home or left the premises.
  • Speak to babysitters or your children through the Total Connect app for reassurance and to let them know you are watching.
  • Get push notifications, email, and video alerts when events occur, like when you have a delivery or there is a stranger at the door.
  • Monitor key hallways, staircases, and/or doors with live, look-in video.
  • Be notified if a bathtub or toilet overflows or if an extreme temperature has been sensed.

2) Check if the garage door is closed. Have you ever driven away and wondered if you left the garage door open? If you have kids (or another forgetful family member), it can be worrisome when they leave the garage door open. A great solution to this is the MyQ app, which works well with Resideo Total Connect.

With the MyQ app, you can check if the door is closed. You can even accept home deliveries safely even when you’re at work – with the deliveryman on the phone, you can open the door, watch him put your package inside, then shut the door to keep everything safe until you return home.

3) Garage/Outbuilding Monitoring: In addition to monitoring the door of your garage or other building, you can also keep tabs on the temperature inside. If you store items in your garage that can be harmed by extreme heat or cold, adding a temperature sensor can have the system send you an alert if things get too hot or too cold.

4) Vacation Home Alerts: If you are away on vacation or own a vacation home, a “hard freeze” alert can let you know if special measures need to be taken to prevent burst pipes and flooding. In addition, water sensors can detect leaks and send warnings before they become a flood.

5) Power-saving “Mockupancy”: Speaking of vacations, your home automation system can turn lights on and off at random intervals when your house is in “vacation” mode, saving energy while creating the illusion that someone is home and moving from room to room.

6) Lock Programming: With the Total Connect app, scenes and schedules keep everyone safe and comfortable without having to remember to adjust the thermostats, turn lights on or off or lock the doors at night. If you have teens, or sometimes wonder if you locked the door(s), don’t lose sleep worrying. If your teens are old enough to be coming home by themselves after school or late at night, you can have a text message or e-mail notification sent to you to let you know exactly what time your teenager actually arrived home.

7) Flashing Light Ideas: The lights can be programmed to flash all over the house or in certain areas when a smoke detector goes off or the security alarm is activated. It’s sometimes hard to hear all of your various bells and buzzers when you’re watching TV or listening to music in another room, but these events are hard to miss when the overhead lights let you know what’s happening.

 

Interested?  Call Secur-Tek at 919.387.1800 and ask how we can customize a monitored security and automation system for your home. 

Six Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Security Company

Installing and monitoring a security system is an effective way to keep your home, family, property, or business safe. It has been shown statistically that security systems can deter crime, however, the first thing you will want to do is thoroughly check out the Security company you’re thinking of doing business with.  

You can start your “due diligence” by getting answers to these questions:

Is the company you’re considering fully insured? A reputable/reliable security company will have insurance to protect all parties concerned.

Are their installers employees or contractors?  Does the company utilize their own employees, or do they use contracted help? Can they tell you who will be coming out to your home or business to work on your system? If you are having a system installed, the installers will have access to your entire home and its contents, so you want to feel comfortable with that situation. Therefore, you may want to make sure the security company has their own employees and that they go through an extensive background check. Background checks should include a complete criminal history, the sex offender list, and the employee should have multiple references.

Are the company and its employees licensed? In the State of North Carolina, any person, firm, or corporation engaged in an alarm system business needs to be licensed and all service and installation technicians need to be registered.

What is the company’s response time? If you need emergency assistance, or have a question or concern about your security, you shouldn’t have to wait for a response or be delayed in managing it. You want help as soon as possible. Too address this situation, does the company give you a specific contact person and/or is there customer service available 24/7?

How does the company document any security incidents or interactions that require your attention? Be familiar with the company’s policies and practices including logs and written reports. Insurance companies usually require this when you’re working with them on an incident. You should be able to acquire copies of those reports easily and when necessary.

Last but not least – go over the fine print!  How much will my security system cost? What is the length of the monitoring contract? You will naturally ask these questions but be sure to confirm installation costs vs. product costs, service costs, monitoring fees and any other associated charges. Some companies advertise low-cost package deals but charges are added on during the process. Companies may lock you into long term contracts and you must pay even if you sell your home. Be careful!  

Getting the answers to these questions upfront can save you time, money and more importantly, give you and your family the peace of mind you are looking for.

If you are located here in the Raleigh NC, Apex NC or the Triangle, and looking for help analyzing and determining your security requirements, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Secur-Tek, Inc. is locally owned, and our technicians are employees. We can design and install the right system for your situation in a cost-effective, timely manner.

 

Carbon Monoxide in The Home — A Hidden Danger!

Carbon monoxide (CO) is harmful because it deprives the heart, brain, and other vital organs of oxygen. Large amounts of CO can overcome a person in minutes, causing them to lose consciousness and suffocate. Since CO has no odor, color, or taste, it cannot be detected by the senses. This means that dangerous concentrations of the gas can build up indoors and humans cannot detect the problem until they become ill. Furthermore, the early symptoms of CO poisoning are like the flu, which can cause victims to ignore the signs. The most common symptoms felt are headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.

Per the CDC, each year more than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning not linked to fires, more than 20,000 visit the emergency room, and more than 4,000 are hospitalized. 

 

What are the potential sources of CO in your home?

Homes with fuel-burning appliances or attached garages are more likely to have CO accumulation problems. Some common sources of CO are:

  • Clothes dryers
  • Water heaters
  • Furnaces
  • Fireplaces, both gas, and wood-burning
  • Gas stoves and ovens
  • Motor vehicles
  • Grills, generators, power tools, lawn equipment
  • Wood stoves
  • Tobacco smoke

When appliances and vents work properly and there is enough fresh air in your home to allow complete combustion, the trace amounts of CO remaining are safely vented outside your home. Problems occur when an appliance malfunctions. For example, a furnace heat exchanger cracks, vents clog, or debris blocks the chimney or flue.

What can you do to ensure the safety of your family, pets, and friends?

  • Install a CO alarm as recommended by the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA). Install a battery-operated or a plugin alarm with battery back-up on every level of the home – including the basement. Consider buying a detector with a digital readout. This detector can tell you the highest level of CO concentration in your home. Check or replace the battery when you change the time on your clocks each spring and fall and replace your CO detector every five years.
  • Inspect the pilot lights on natural gas appliances to ensure that the flame is blue. When a flame is mostly yellow, it likely is producing CO.
  • When you buy gas equipment, buy only equipment carrying the seal of a national testing agency, such as Underwriters’ Laboratories, and have it serviced by a qualified technician each year.
  • Make sure your gas appliances are vented properly. Horizontal vent pipes for appliances, such as a water heater, should angle up slightly. This prevents CO from leaking even if the joints or pipes don’t fit tightly.
  • If you have a fireplace, have your chimney checked or cleaned every year. Chimneys can be partially blocked by debris and this can cause CO to build up inside your home.
  • Don’t use outdoor equipment inside – like chemical heaters, camp stoves, or charcoal grills.
  • Never use a generator inside your home, basement, or garage or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.
  • Never leave a car running in a garage — even for a couple of minutes with the overhead garage door open.

Protecting your Family 24/7 —  Monitored CO detection

Adding a monitored CO detector outside the bedrooms ensures that the fire department will be called — even if everyone is asleep or drowsy due to the lack of oxygen. When notified of a CO leak, the fire department will react differently than if responding to a smoke alarm and the home will be searched for non-responsive individuals.

A Secur-Tek security system has a backup battery to maintain security and detection for 20-24 hours if fully charged during the event of a power failure. Your keypad will display when the battery needs to be replaced. For instructions on changing battery: Frequently Asked Questions about Home Security Systems (secur-tek.com)

Secur-Tek, Inc. gives you total confidence that your family is protected from CO poisoning 24/7, and we can also design, install, and monitor specialized monitoring systems to fit your specific needs.

Examples include:

  • Monitoring Children – If you have teenagers or children old enough to be home alone, remote access will allow you to be notified when they get home from school. You can use specialized security codes for each child as well as babysitters and view activity in the interior and exterior of your home for extra peace of mind.
  • Monitoring Elderly Parents – If you need to monitor an elderly parent, you can be notified when they get up out of bed, open the medicine cabinet or when there is no activity in the home.
  • Keeping an eye on Pets – Our technicians will put the cameras in places so you can check in on your pets. Temporary security codes for pet sitters will help give you greater peace of mind that your pet is doing okay.  
  • Detecting Water Leaks – When you are not home, even a slow leak can cause serious flooding and expensive damage.  Adding a water leak detector so you will be alerted if this happens can minimize the damage.  Our monitored smart system can even turn off a water shutoff to minimize damage.

Quality Monitoring

 For monitoring services, Secur-Tek partners with Affiliated Monitoring, a leader in the safety and security monitoring industry.

Affiliated Monitoring is certified by the following organizations:

  • CSAA Five Diamond Certified – The Monitoring Association Five Diamond Certificate signifies compliance and assurance that an alarm system has followed guidelines established by best-industry practice. The certificate recognizes best practices utilizing existing standards.
  • UL Listed — UL listed monitoring centers use the most up-to-date technologies.  UL is the trusted resource across the globe for product safety certification and compliance solutions. The UL Certificate is proof that Affiliated’s listed alarm systems meet the stringent standards of the UL.
  • IQ Certified – The IQ (Installation Quality) Certification Program gives consumers a way to identify alarm companies that are committed to providing them with high-quality security and life safety systems.

For more information, please call us at (919) 387-1800 or scroll down and use the form below.

Secur-Tek proudly serves the North Carolina communities of Apex, Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Chapel Hill, Clayton, Garner, Holly Springs, Durham, Raleigh, Morrisville, and Pittsboro

Security & Home Automation