Security Talk Blog

Over the last few weeks we have investigated the concepts and major companies behind the “home automation” movement. It is difficult to read through even one document in this emerging market without a reference to the Smart Grid and Smart Appliances. There appears to be substantial misunderstanding of these two terms and considering the momentum behind this movement it is important to clarify the terms.

Extracted from a whitepager delivered by Energy.gov: “Smart grid” generally refers to a class of technology people are using to bring utility electricity delivery systems into the 21st century, using computer-based remote control and automation. These systems are made possible by two-way communication technology and computer processing that has been used for decades in other industries. They are beginning to be used on electricity networks, from the power plants and wind farms all the way to the consumers of electricity in homes and businesses. They offer many benefits to utilities and consumers — mostly seen in big improvements in energy efficiency on the electricity grid and in the energy users’ homes and offices.

According to AHAM: Smart Appliances refers to a modernization of the electricity usage system of a home appliance so that it monitors, protects and automatically adjusts its operation to the needs of its owner.

The following six key features that are associated with Smart Appliances:

1. Dynamic electricity pricing information is delivered to the user, providing the ability to adjust demand of electrical energy use.

2. Automatically ―shed or reduce usage based on the consumer‘s previously established guidelines or manual overrides.

3. Integrity of its operation is maintained while automatically adjusting its operation to respond to emergency power situations and help prevent brown or blackouts.

4. The consumer can override all previously programmed selections or instructions from the Smart Grid, while insuring the appliance‘s safety functions remain active.

5. When connected through a Home Area Network and/or controlled via a Home Energy Management system, Smart Appliances allow for a ―total home energy usage‖ approach. This enables the consumer to develop their own Energy Usage Profile and use the data according to how it best benefits them.

6. It can leverage features to use renewable energy by shifting power usage to an optimal time for renewable energy generation, i.e., when the wind is blowing or sun is shining.

Examples of Smart Appliances are:

Freezers, Dishwashers, Cloths Dryers, Alarm Systems, Refrigerators, Range Tops, Ovens, Microwaves…

Smart Grid and Smart Appliances are dramatically shifting the way people everywhere consume energy. Although these appliances may come with a higher price tag in the beginning, the increased saving in utilities combined with government rebates is prompting more and more consumers to replace their old appliances.

Over the last few weeks we have starting covering “Home Automation” and how your fire and security needs integrate with the larger home network. For many of our reader the question occurs; “Why do I want to integrate my fire and security solutions with my home network?” The simple answer is; “In the long run it simplifies maintenance and provides additional levels of security.”

If we look at the evolution of the modern house we trace the development of indoor plumbing, electrical systems, heating/cooling systems, watering systems, telephone systems, TV/entertainment systems, computer networks, wireless networks, home security systems, and fire alarms. As these systems evolve the idea of each system being isolated starts to add complexity and costs to the maintenance of your home. At the primary level you probably ask; “Why can’t I control everything from a central computer (or ipad)?” If you could control all of these systems from your computer you could simply stop wasting resources and stop duplicating communication networks. “Why install more wires for your alarm system… why install more wires for your home entertainment system?” No matter how you look at it …. at some point you will want to stop duplicating systems, and every time you eliminate a duplicate system you start to save money.

Perhaps even more important than saving money and reducing complexity is adding new levels of security and safety for your family. It just takes one dead smoke detector to start compromising the safety of your home. An integrated system would simply report that you have a failing smoke alarm… and you fix it. The security of your doors, windows, garage and exterior building is paramount to the security of your family. Even when I am at work, I want to know that my house is safe for my family. If there is an intrusion in my home… I want to know immediately… no matter where I am. These are the services that an integrated system can deliver to you… as your security systems all report to you over the Internet… even when you are in London for a business meeting.

Last week we covered the basic principles of “Intelligent Buildings”, and this week we will extend the concepts in to the field of “Home Automation.” Although the field of “home automation” is extremely diversified, it does not mean that home owners cannot take individual elements from the field that offer cost savings and life savings benefits. Home owners should start asking questions about, “how does this product integrate into the master home automation plan?”

Home automation is the residential extension of “building automation”. It is automation of the home, housework or household activity. Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security. Home automation for the elderly and disabled can provide increased quality of life for persons who might otherwise require caregivers or institutional care.

A master home automation plan reaches out and embraces your HVAC, lighting, computers, smart phones, audio / video systems, security, medical alerts, intercoms, domestic robots, yard watering, pet feeding, your new electric car and other systems in your house, garage and yard. (Did I forget the coffee maker?) Although this vision was originally proposed more than 50 years ago, it is only recently that the technology and cost have matured to the extent that this vision is now a reality.

This is a great list to start with. Next blog we will continue by look at the organizations and standards that enable an automated home.

Thanks to new helmet cams we can glimpse the real details of a local fire departments day-to-day rescues. Everyday firemen walk into smoke filled rooms, or try to contain fires from spreading to adjoining houses. Until recently many of my impression of a fireman’s activities came from movie footage (Backdraft, Ladder 49, Hellfighters). I guess the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District got tired of these social myths and authorized a few of their firemen to wear helmet cams. A helmet cam does not impede the fireman’s activities but allows us (the community) to follow along on the 911 calls.

Come view this truthful video on the Walnutcreek.patch.com website. Note: during this video pay attention to the beeping fire alarm. If this household did not have a proper fire alarm, the outcome of this video might be very different.

It’s December and the temperature is falling. The fireplace is roaring, the heaters are blowing, and hopefully the trustworthy smoke detector is vigilantly monitoring the whole house. I am sure that this Fall everyone checked the batteries in their smoke detectors and replaced them as needed. But, what kind of battery did you use in the smoke detector?

Hopefully, you did not use rechargeable batteries in you smoke detector, or if you did you used a low self discharge rechargeable battery. Here is why…

Common NiMH and NiCd rechargeable batteries have a high self-discharge rate, making them unsuitable for use in smoke detectors. This is true even though they may provide much more power than alkaline batteries if used soon after charging, such as in a portable stereo. Also, a problem with rechargeable batteries is a rapid voltage drop at the end of their useful charge. This is of concern in devices such as smoke detectors, since the battery may transition from “charged” to “dead” so quickly that the low-battery warning period from the detector is either so brief as to go unnoticed, or may not occur at all.

There are few winners in the rechargeable battery world that you might think as perfect for you smoke detector. Normally, these long lasting rechargeable batteries are constructed with Lithium-ion. However, the down side is that they have a very high discharge rate which can run as high as 12% per month, and the final decay rate is unstable.

Normally, you would just go out and buy a disposable lithium (not lithium-ion) and just toss it each year as a matter of security. However, now there is a variety of rechargeable batteries that are better suited for the slow power requirements of smoke detectors: Hybrid rechargeable… these batteries can save you hundreds of dollars in the long run, and they’re better for the environment than disposable batteries. The best brands come pre-charged and hold their charge for years, so they’re just as convenient as disposables.

I researched the options for these hybrid rechargeable 9 volt batteries and here is a good choice: Premium AccuEvolution 9v NiMH Precharged Low Self Discharge Rechargeable Batteries. AccuEvolution has an extremely low self discharge rate (less than 2% per month at room temp), so it stays charged for quite a while — which is absolutely essential for smoke alarms

An estimated 32 million security alarm systems have been installed in the United States, and most of these are monitored.  The industry adds roughly 3 million new systems each year. Sixty percent of those are in residences, the rest in commercial and institutional properties.

The vast majority of alarm calls — between 94 and 98 percent (higher in some jurisdictions) — are false. In other words,  alarms’ reliability, which can be measured by these rates of false activations, is generally between 2 and 6 percent.  Nationwide, false alarms account for somewhere between 10 and 25 percent of all calls to police. For many U.S. police agencies, false burglar alarms constitute the highest volume type of call for service. In the United States alone, “solving  the problem of false alarms would, by itself, relieve 35,000 officers from providing an essentially private service.”

Recent research suggests that false alarms result from the following:

• User errors, such as using incorrect keypad codes, leaving a door or window open when activating the alarm
• Roaming pets or helium balloons
• Inadequate employee training
• Entering and exiting alarmed premises incorrectly
• Faulty or inappropriately selected equipment
• Poor installation, including failing to install motion detectors in sensible areas or at appropriate heights

As a alarm system owner, your role is the most crucial in managing the problem of false alarms. Here are a few suggestion of how to reduce false alarms:

• Train the necessary people in the use of your home’s alarm system
• Be familiar with your monitoring company’s procedures if you receive an alarm signal from your home.
• If your system includes a back-up battery for use during an electrical power loss, check to make sure that it is fully charged.
• Regularly check alarm contact switches/magnets on doors and windows for damage or looseness.
• If your system has glass-break detectors, call your monitoring company to verify that they have been adjusted properly so that loud noises such as thunder or nearby construction will not set off the alarm.
• Check that all doors and windows are locked and cannot be inadvertently opened by a strong breeze.
• Motion detectors should be aimed away from air vents, sources of heat, fireplaces and windows.
• Periodically test your alarm system with the monitoring station
• Always advise your alarm monitoring company before any interior remodeling

You should also talk to a professional alarm monitoring and installation company and have an expert explain the dozens of recent advance in monitoring equipment. False alarms are expensive to you and to your local police department, but through proper education and equipment you can dramatically reduce false alarms and increase your home’s security.

After blogging about smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors for the last few months, I decided to replace all the smoke detectors in my home with a combination detector.    This new generation of combination detectors provide protection against fire and Carbon Monoxide (CO) all in one unit.   The second factor that makes these combination detectors practical is the price…  there are many choices in these dual units that are almost the same cost as a single unit.

I plan on adding a combination alarm on every level of my home and make sure my family has the maximum protection possible.   (note:  these new detectors also install with a minimal effort)

I know… Fall is here and I need to clean gutters, insulate a few windows, prepare the yard for winter, and get ready to start watching a season of football, but these new alarms will have to come first.

Every year when Fall begins cooling the evenings down I start hearing more and more fire alarms from the local fire station.   I asked our local fire chief if there were pronounced reasons for this noticeable increase in residential fires.   Here are our fire chief’s reasons for the seasonal increases in residential fires:

1.  Some residences do not inspect their stoves, chimneys, fireplaces, and other solid-fueled heating equipment.  Advise… all heating devices should be checked annually.
2.   People buy new electrical heating devices each Fall and attached them to overloaded electrical outlets.   Advise… plug electrical heaters directly into the wall socket and isolate the heating device away from walls and beds.
3.  Some residences stock the fireplace up and then leave the room for the night.   Advise… if you want to leave your fireplace burning overnight, then please install a glass safety door.
4.   People leave space heaters on when they leave the room.   Simple advise… Never leave space heaters on when you leave the room.
5.   Some residences do not pay attention to the maximum light bulb wattage for their lamps which results in the lamps overheating.     Advise…  do not exceeding the maximum light bulb wattage for your lamps.

General advise…   when Fall comes around please purge your house of stacks of newspapers and magazines.   Check the batteries in your smoke detectors.   Check your fire extinguisher… or perhaps add a few new fire extinguishers around the house or in the workshop.  Don’t leave candles burning when you are not in the room.

The last piece of advice was… “If you have questions call your local fire department.”   Trust me, they have seen it all and can give you really good advise.

In our modern day-to-day world it often seems like we are spiraling into more and more complexity. A good example of complexity sits right in our homes… we have multiple boxes to control our entertainment systems, multiple internet networks, multiple phone systems… and on and on. The real question is “why do we need so many disparate systems?” What if you could simplify these systems and have all the pieces of your house security, entertainment, home automation, and communications talk to one another over a common network? If you think about it for long it starts to make sense… as now days everything has a computer inside of it?

Before we talk about the solution, let’s make a list of the devices that should be able to communicate across a common network.

• Alarm Monitoring
• Environmental Monitoring and Control
• Security Locks and Alerts
• Home Entertainment
• Communication Systems (PCs, Pads, Cell Phones)

If this list of devices all talked to each other… you could check your alarms from the office, shut down the heaters, and leave a message for your spouse about being late for dinner… all through the same system.

The good news is… we can help set this integrated system up for you.   Our sales people and engineers understand every nuance about simplifying your home with an integrated solution.   We utilize the latest generation of structured wiring solutions, secure wireless networks, along with control programs for your PC and even monitoring options for your cell phone.   Come talk to us.

Several years ago I was working in my home office when I saw a wall of fire blazing across my neighbors field… headed straight for my house.   My wife called the fire department while I started soaking the wooden porches on the fire side of the house.   The response of the local fire department was astounding, as within 5 minutes we had 4 fire trucks surrounding the 2 acre blaze.   I lost several trees and all my plastic yard irrigation melted, but I still felt lucky.

After the fire was out I asked our local fire chief what were his recommendation on fire prevention around the house.  Here are just a few items on his check list.
1.  Always have good hoses with a good hose nozzle attached.
2.  Create and maintain a clearance around your house
3.   Cut weeds and dry grass before 10 a.m. when humidity is higher
4.  Follow proper guidelines for burning debris

In addition to fire chief Gary’s advice I would encourage all rural residents to check their local Department Of Natural Resources and see what your state recommends for proper fire safety outside the home.

Here is a great link to “Washington State Department of Natural
Resources”