Beyond Driveways – Considerations for Putting Wireless Driveway Alarms to Work

Wireless driveway alarms may have been created to let you know when someone is coming up the driveway, but the technology has advanced to the point where driveway alerts serve many different purposes. Choosing the best driveway alarm system for your needs is a matter of identifying your needs and figuring out which of the many available options will best need them. These questions can help you figure out which features you need in driveway sensors and driveway alerts.

How Far Away from the Transmitter Do You Want the Receiver?

The transmitter is the part of the alarm system that you put in the driveway – or other area – you want to monitor. The receiver is the part that sounds an alert, and is usually inside your home or business. Each driveway alarm system has an effective transmission range, from as low as 75 feet to as much as 2 miles. The distances are generally calculated as “line of sight,” and any obstructions between the transmitter and receiver, including trees, buildings, hills and even the walls of the house, will reduce that range. It’s always better to overestimate the distance than to underestimate it.

What Do You Want to Detect?

The different types of driveway sensors are each best at detecting different types of objects in motion. If you only want to be alerted when a vehicle comes up a driveway, for example, a pressure hose might be your best option. If you want to detect any vehicles moving through or around a wider area, magnetic sensors give you more coverage and are extremely sensitive, but they’ll only detect metal masses. You won’t be bothered if a deer or cow wanders by the sensor. If, on the other hand, you want to detect any motion – pedestrian, animal or vehicle – through an area, a driveway alarm system with infrared sensors is the way to go. Within the infrared sector, you can choose between narrow beam detection – ideal if you want to know when someone or something passes a specific point on your driveway – and fan detection, which will detect any motion within a broad area.

How Many Areas Do You Want to Monitor?

Many wireless driveway receivers can accept input from multiple transmitters, so if you want to monitor several areas, choose one of those. The better quality ones can even distinguish between the transmitters and alert you with a different tone for each one so you know which area is being breached. There are even wireless driveway alarms that allow you to record your own voice alert so you don’t have to remember whether the door chime was for the driveway or the storeroom. The receiver will simply tell you in plain English (or whatever language you choose!)

You can learn about these and other important considerations from a supplier of alert systems like +Wireless Driveway Alarms Biz. Take the time to research a bit so you’re sure to find exactly the right driveway alert system for your needs.

Choosing Wireless Driveway Alarms for Your Property

If you live on a large property, monitoring the surrounding area is a major factor in your security needs. Unlike little suburban backyards, you really can’t put just put up an infrared security monitor to cover the whole property. +Wireless driveway alarms and other types of driveway alerts, on the other hand, can work with your current security setup to help you monitor remote areas of your property. How do you choose the best driveway alarm system for your needs? These considerations can help you make your decision.

Types of Driveway Alarms

There are three basic types of driveway alarms from which you can choose. The deciding factor between the different types of alarms is the type of sensing mechanism used by the system.

Infrared Motion Sensors

Driveway alarms with infrared motion sensors work like typical burglar alarms. The transmitters emit an infrared beam, and when something breaks that beam, they send a signal to a receiver, which sounds an alarm. They are most appropriate for use when you want to be alerted of any movement within the coverage range. In most cases, they can be programmed to ignore small animals, but will sound an alarm if a person on foot enters the area.

Magnetic Sensors

Magnetic sensors can cover much larger areas than most infrared driveway sensors. They will only alarm if they sense the movement of a large metal object, such as a car or truck. If you’re not worried about people or animals on your property and only want to be alerted if a car or truck approaches, these are the most reliable type of driveway alarms.

Pressure-Triggered Sensors

Remember back in the day when you drove over a hose at the gas station and it dinged a bell inside to let the service person know someone needed service? That’s the basic idea behind pressure-triggered sensors, though they’re considerably more sensitive these days. They may employ pressure plates or buried sensors to trigger the alarm when a vehicle passes over it. These are most appropriate for use in a driveway or inside a gate where a vehicle must drive over the pressure trigger in order to enter your property.

Other factors to consider when choosing wireless driveway alarms include the distance from the transmitter to the receiver, the type of terrain between transmitter and receiver, the type of notifications you want to receive, the degree of mobility you need for your alarm, and, of course, your budget.

Choosing the right wireless driveway alarm system is essential to getting the right level of security for your needs. If you’re not sure which type of alarm is right for your needs, talk to an expert in driveway alerts for help.