Best Security Products blog

If you are moving soon, you are not alone. In the United States in 2015, out of 282,556,000 people, 40,093,000 moved. That’s about 14%.¹ But all of those people are not well informed about the special considerations needed for home security when moving. Moving your belongings from one house to another can pose a security hazard if you are not in the know about how to keep yourself and your property safe.

1. Change the locks on your new home as soon as you move in. This may seem obvious, but many people do not do this, and it makes you vulnerable to break-ins. Even though you may know and trust the people from whom you have purchased your home, you do not know who else has a key to the house.

2. Change your address before you move. If mail arrives at your old address after you have moved, the new tenants may have access to your personal information such as credit cards, health and insurance records and government mailings. Let the post office your address has changed, and contact the companies that may be mailing information to you.

3. Install your home security system as soon as you close on your new home. You do not want to go one day without the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your home is protected. Make an appointment with your security company to install or connect your system when you get the keys to your house, so you are protected against burglary as soon as possible.

4. Get to know your neighbors. Often, when moving into a new neighborhood, you won’t know your neighbors. Make it a priority to get to know them as soon as possible. Neighbors can be one of the best safeguards against burglaries, as you watch out for each other’s’ homes.

At Best Security Products, we are experts in Home Security Systems. Please call or email for a consultation: 1-800–988–2378 sales@bestsecurityproducts.com

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It is a common fear many of us share: fire. Whether that fire happens at home or while we are at work or in another location, fire is tragically dangerous. Smoke inhalation, falling debris, being lost in darkness and unable to find an exit and being overcome with toxic gases are all examples of the horrible things that can occur when someone is caught in a fire.

There is good news, however, in the form of a simple act that may save your life: sleeping with your bedroom door closed.

Scott Friedman reports for NBC5 on this new research. We’ve pulled some highlights from the report for you; click the video below to watch the whole thing.

From the video:

Firefighters have long known that a closed door helps keep smoke out, but new research is showing how it also changes the flow of heat and toxic gases in a fire.

According to Underwriters Laboratories Steve Kerber, “If you can’t get out of your house, then the best thing you can possibly do is to get a closed door between you and where the fire is.”

It only takes about 3 minutes for a fire in the lower story of an open floor plan house to fill an upstairs bedroom with smoke – because that bedroom door is open.

The bedroom with a closed door, however, maintains clear air and some visibility.

The closed door also keeps out dangerous heat. While the temperature in a burning hallway can be 600 degrees, the temperature on the other side of a door from the hallway can be as low as 100 degrees.

When the door is opened, however, the room will fill with smoke and the temperature can quickly rise to 150 degrees.

“Even the cheapest, hollow core door may last up to five minutes before fire burns through it. And a solid wood door could last ten minutes or more,” says Scott Friedman.

Watch the video below:

According to Jeff Rossen (Today.com), the smoke detector you are relying on to keep you safe, may not be adequate.

He points out that just because the burning toast in your toaster causes your smoke detector to go off, does not mean that your smoke detector is super sensitive or giving you the protection that you need. The smoke from burning food is different from burning furniture. And in fact, in a real fire, your current smoke detector may not be activated in time to save you.

The most common type of smoke detector, used in 90% of homes, are inexpensive and easy to find and rely on ionization technology. These types of smoke detectors are designed to detect fires with fast flames. However, sometimes the most deadly fires are the smoldering, smoky types of fires, and ionization alarms do not work as well at detecting these fires. They either do not go off at all, or they go off too late.

Don Russell, scientist at Texas A&M has run hundreds of tests, and set up a special test at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. After placing 3 of the ionization smoke detectors in a room with a couch, the fire fighters ignited the couch in a smoldering fire.

Even after the room fills with smoke, the detectors do not go off until 36 minutes after the fire begins, and right before the couch is about to burst into flames.

Don Russell says this is way too late. He insists that you wouldn’t be able to get out of the room reliably if this were a real emergency.

The good news is that there is a better smoke detector available, that gives you better warning in these types of fires. It is called the photoelectric smoke detector. In another test, the photoelectric detector activated 17 minutes in with barely any smoke in the room.

Watch the full report by clicking the video below:

The take away message is that to be fully protected in your business or home, it is necessary to have both kinds of smoke detectors: ionization and photo electric.

At Best Security Products, we can help you with all commercial and home fire security and safety needs. Give us a call at 1-800–988–2378 sales@bestsecurityproducts.com