Simple Wireless Home Control

 Ever leave your house and get to your destination and realize that you may have left your house door unlocked? Or want to know if your kids are home from school? Or even check and make sure the air conditioning is on during a heat wave?

Well then let me introduce you to Schlage LiNK™.  I just recently installed the "starter kit" on my home recently and set up a subscription. Yes a subscription but at $8/month not such a bad deal considering the use I have been getting from this system. The "starter kit" comes with a single cylinder keypad deadbolt, a "light module", and the bridge. I simply installed the lock, plugged in the "light module" and set up an online account and followed the enrollment procedure and before you know it I had full control of my lock and light module online!


I have since added a "Thermostat" and another lock set, and I have no complaints what so ever. It sends me a text message when someone enters a code. One other feature I thought was handy was the remote unlock feature, it allows me to remotely trigger the lock open when I want to let someone in to my house or a room in my house. I am looking forward to getting the camera, will update this blog when I get one! 
Cheers,
Darren

Recently I personally moved to a new home and was in need of a good alarm system. Although I am a DSC certified alarm installer, I do not install enough of their systems to be able to sell and install. The main reason why was due to the complexity of the programming. If I installed the alarm every day then I am sure it would be easier, however I don't and so the time it takes for me to go through the installation procedure I spend way too much time and end up frustrated. I decided to look for another system that would be easy to install, attractive to look at and with the latest technology to enable me to access the system through my wireless device and change settings and notify my of any events.

I found one and it had a very nice LCD touch pad. Check this unit out this is basic to install and I highly recommend it to a do-it yourself homeowner. We can and will sell this product now. Much nicer than any DSC system.

http://www.gesecurity.com/portal/GESDownload?ID=5174&DID=3834&documenttype=Product%20Brochure

Break in prevention...

There are many ways to prevent a break-in, today I am blogging about locks...

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have decent hardware. New home builders tend to put the cheapest hardware on the door to maximize their profit, it might look good but is seriously just for that purpose, looking good! My suggestion is to make sure that the lock set has a decent quality bolt, generally 1" in length.

Now remove the lock from the door and inspect the collar around the key cylinder. It should be of solid brass construction, not hollow brass construction, one of the major issues with builder grade hardware is that the collar around the lock is of hollow construction and can be punctured with any tool with little force and create an easy by-pass entry. 

Another issue with locks these days is "Lock Bumping". I strongly suggest you do a search on any site for this term, you will know it is a growing problem and some sites are teaching would be criminals how to ply their trade. There are locks you can buy that will prevent this epidemic from happening to you. High Security locks can be purchased from any locksmith, however the problem stems to pin tumbler locks. Pin tumbler locks have pins and springs that can be "Bumped" using a key blank with all deep cuts. Once the key is placed 90% into the lock the key can be tapped the rest of the way in while little turning pressure allows the key to turn...therefore allowing entry to the house. Yes most high security locks are pin tumbler and yes you will find some that have been "Bumped" on your searches, there are locks that use different technology. My preference is "Rotating Disk" primarily created by "Abloy" Rotating disks do not have pins or springs that can be "Bumped" they use 11 disks inside that have to be rotated simultaneously to the correct combination in order to be opened. There are other products that claim they are "Bump Proof" but in my mind if it is pin tumbler I would stay clear.

You can retro-fit some locks with a cylinder that will stop bumping to see if you can: click here

Hope this has been helpful let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to help.

Darren