4 Reasons Why Your Alarm Goes Off Randomly

Home alarms have one important job: to alert you of a possible threat or trouble in your home. If you have alarms that seem to go off for no reason, here are four steps to track down what’s going on:

1. Locate Pets or Small Children

Your toddler or family dog may have wandered somewhere they shouldn’t have and could have tripped on one of your alarm features. This can be annoying, but it also creates an excellent opportunity for you to update your home security. You can teach your kids about home safety or set up barriers to keep pets from crossing the sensors and wandering away.

Pet-Friendly Motion Detectors

Pet owners will be happy to know there are pet-friendly motion detectors available on the market. This security equipment can disregard movement from animals weighing less than 40 pounds. This ensures that your alarm only sounds for real emergencies or threats and not just your pets passing by the detector. Contacting the right security expert can help you select the right pet-friendly equipment for your home.

2. Check for Dead Batteries

A dead battery in one of your components creates a gap in your home security system. Some systems will react to that by setting off an alarm, alerting you to potential problems. Other home security components, like fire alarms, may sound an alarm when the battery gets low. Working fire alarms are one of the most important investments you can make for your family’s safety.

Note: If your fire alarm keeps going off, please replace the batteries or the unit itself. Smoke alarms, properly installed and maintained, play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. If there’s a fire in your home, smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out. – National Fire Protection Association

Tips for Changing Batteries in a Smoke Alarm

If a dead battery is the main culprit behind why your home alarm goes off for no reason, you’re going to want to know how to change the batteries. Most importantly, you’re going to want to know how to change the batteries safely and efficiently. Here are some easy-to-follow steps for getting the job done:

• Find a ladder that is stable enough to reach your smoke alarm.

• Twist or pull open your smoke alarm. In some cases, you will need a screwdriver to pry open your detector.

• Remove the old battery.

• Place the new battery. Make sure the negative and positive connections match the connections in the smoke alarm.

• Locate and press the test button to make sure the new batteries work.

Keep in mind the most common smoke alarms are battery smoke detectors and hardwired smoke detectors. Unlike battery powered smoke detectors, hardwired smoke detectors run on electricity and have constant power unless there is an outage. This is when a backup battery comes into play. It’s crucial to replace the batteries in your security system components regularly.

3. Have Your Sensors Checked

If your sensors were installed incorrectly or in a poor location, or if you’ve made major changes to landscaping and household decoration, then they may trigger ‘for no reason’. For example, sensors installed near a furnace in the summer may act normally, but in the winter sophisticated and highly sensitive products may be triggered by the heat and moving air. A security expert can assess what is happening and why and make the proper adjustments.

Home Alarm Goes Off for No Reason: Search for Signs of Wear and Tear

Even a quality, properly installed security system can start to fail if components become weathered and worn out. This can happen for both indoor and outdoor security systems. Look around your house and keep an eye out for:

• Cracked or rusted component housing

• Charred or frayed wiring

• Signs of leaking batteries

• A unit dangling from its mounting

• Dust and leaf buildup

4. Troubleshoot with Your Home Security System Company

So, what if your home alarm goes off for no reason even after popping in a new set of batteries? Some problems require a technician to solve, and the sooner you make the call, the better. You can contact us at Brinks Home™ with any questions or concerns, and a Support Representative will guide you through the next steps.