Placing an intruder alarm: Where should they go?
Video transcript:
Hello, my name is Buzz Coates, Norbain’s Security Solutions Specialist,
and today I'm going to talk to you about PIR or detector placements
when used with an intruder alarm system.
The Intruder industry is fraught with false alarms
and this could be lessened if we put detectors in the right place.
PIRs or detectors are probably the most common form of detection
that we use with an intruder alarm system.
And with those, they basically monitor across the sectors that it sends,
the emission of infrared, or IR from someone's body,
which is different to the background heat.
So basically, as an intruder moves across the scene,
a change in state is actually monitored by the Pyro
and that then changes the state of the relay to detect an alarm.
PIRs come in various shapes and sizes.
Basically, you can have the typical one
that you see up in the corner of the building.
You get 360s. And then you also get other deliverants that are outside.
Sometimes you get those with dual, with quad,
or even maybe different technology inside the same unit of a pyro
and microwave known as a Dual Tech.
Common placement of a PIR is normally in the corner of a room
at about two and a half metres height.
And these will be used to cover small rooms and hallways,
but also to cover the door entrance into that room.
From here on we're going to talk about a few tips
that you can use in order to reduce false alarms.
First one is try not to place them looking at a radiator, or a fire or a boiler.
And definitely don't try and install one directly above one.
Also never point directly at a window or an area which is affected by sunlight.
In addition, it's not wise to have it looking so that headlights from cars
directly hit it, or sunlight for that matter as well.
Ideally, if you imagine a room where you've got a window
down the left hand side,
ideally you want to point the PIR away from the window
towards the door, angling it away from the window.
Also avoid drafts because if you don't install the PIR correctly
air getting into the PIR and moving causes convections,
which can cause a false alarm.
It may well be the room is slightly larger
and you may think about using a 360 degree or a ceiling mounted PIR
and that's a good choice.
But avoid, again light shining directly into the PIR.
It's good to note that many PIRs nowadays do have white light filtering.
So if you have that facility, well then make sure you choose the right PIR.
And if you're thinking about putting PIRs externally on to your house
to cover you for detection of intruders,
well then again the same rules apply -
avoid PIR as being hit by headlights and also direct sunlight.
If you are using cameras with built in IR LEDs,
again, don't have those pointing directly at the PIR.
So we're going to talk about a few tips now
in order to try and cut down false alarms.
Instead of just using a single Pyro PIR,
how about using a dual tech whereby you use PIR technology,
but also included in that is microwave technology as well.
Both of these technologies have to be triggered in order to create an alarm.
Or you might even think about using a dual Pyro PIR,
whereby it has two Pyros in the unit
and both, again, have to be triggered to create an alarm.
You could as well use that in conjunction with a camera.
So you have verification from the point of view of detection,
but also video to verify you have an intruder.
Also with PIR so you can have dual logic and quad logic technology
whereby two sensors or two sectors have to be activated to cause alarm,
or in the case of quad or four sectors have to go into alarm in order to trigger.
And in summary, it may well be that the PIR is not the best product to use.
In some circumstances, it may be that it's better to consider
Beams, Lidar, Radar... it's up to you.
So if you'd like to find out more
head over to Norbain TV on YouTube,
or even better, give us a call.