DIY Security
You’ve got (to remember) the power!
• 4 minutes read
There was once a time when smoke detectors were the only almost “smart” devices connected to your home. If you were unlucky enough to have a battery powered one, you know all too well the incessant chirp of the low battery warning. It is vital that potentially life-saving devices like your smoke detector and your home alarm system always have access to power. When the power is out and the internet is dead, those are the times the people and animals in your home are the most helpless and the times in which you as a homeowner would be most benefited from knowing what is happening in or around your house. That is why Scout alarms have redundant backups for both the power supply and the internet connection.
Would you rather have a security camera with backup power but no internet connectivity? Or a WiFi enabled camera which is rendered useless when the power is out? What is your best bet? These days, you’ve got your Scouts and Nests and Roombas and Canaries and Echos and Wemos, each with their own degree of battery power, or none at all. Most of us can survive with an uncharged Roomba for weeks, but if a technology company in 2016 is billing itself as a home security provider and their devices do not have even basic cellular and battery backup capabilities, they are not serious about keeping your home safe.
In 1959, batteries changed the world by enabling devices to be mobile. But at first, batteries weren’t all that useful for the home security and home automation industries. Unless you were moving to a new home or drastically renovating, there was not a whole lot of reason you needed your home security sensors to be battery operated or mobile, so they were always hardwired into the house. With that said, it’s now 2016! People are popping and dropping rental leases month to month, living bi-coastal lives, always connected to the internet, and changing jobs and cities every 6 months. It’s liberating to have a non-hardwired home security system like Scout that you can bring to your new place or rearrange according to your new life and habits.
But what happens when the power goes out? Some security systems, Scout included, have battery powered sensors with a backup-battery equipped main hub that can switch to a cellular connection when the internet is dead. Other systems - most of the popular WIFI cameras on the market today - require internet and power in order to function, which can leave you in the dark when your home is most vulnerable.
Home security is all about handing you back control in scary or unexpected situations, so when it comes to protecting your home, redundancy is your best bet. That’s right, redundancy is your best bet. Redundancy is your best bet.
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