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.