5 Simple Facts About Driveway Motion Sensors

Whether you live alone or have a family of ten, your primary concern is to keep you and your family safe. There are many features you can install in or around your home to help keep you safe, like a home alarm system, lights, or a fence and gate. Another such feature is a driveway motion sensor. These sensors notify homeowners when someone trips the alarm in the driveway, giving them a heads-up to intruders. Driveway motion sensors have become more refined, and are now available with many features.

1. Long range wireless reach

You’ve got a lot of leniency about where you can put the sensor versus where you can put the receiver. Almost a kilometer, in fact. This allows you to put the sensor further up your driveway, if necessary, or put the receiver in any room of the house without having to worry if the two parts can still communicate.

With a wireless communication signal, there is no need for invasive wiring to connect the sensor with the receiver, and it allows for both pieces to be moved around as needed without requiring any major work.

2. Good in any weather

Depending on where you live, you may be subject to some pretty nasty weather – whether that’s high heat or freezing cold winters, you’ll want sensors that can handle it all. Some systems can handle heats as high as 50 degrees Celsius and as low as -35 degrees Celsius. Within these temperatures, the systems are guaranteed to operate normally. Temperatures beyond that range may compromise the battery life or damage the sensor.

3. Long range sensor reach

Once the sensor is in place, it can reach out up to 50 feet, usually in a fan shape – depending on the model. This allows homeowners to select from a variety of placements on their driveway, allowing for the sensor to be tripped no matter where the intruder enters from.

If one sensor won’t do the trick, homeowners can purchase multiple sensors and connect them to one receiver. Some systems may have a maximum number of sensors that can be connected to one receiver, but the amount of space that would be covered by those sensors would be significant, and if really necessary a second receiver could be added which would allow for more sensors to be connected.

4. Long battery life

You don’t want to have to be swapping out batteries in your sensors all the time, that’s just a pain. Sensors can have a battery life of approximately two years. It’s a good idea to check the system on a regular basis, but the long battery life saves you the hassle of changing batteries too frequently.

5. Pet immune

If you have pets, or live in an area with a lot of small and medium sized wildlife (like squirrels, rabbits, or mice), a pet-immune driveway motion sensor is a no-brainer.

Without it, your pets and any other small animal that may cross the pass of your sensor are going to trip the alarm. This will cause a “boy who cried wolf” situation – with the alarm constantly being tripped, you will stop paying attention, and you may not recognize when there is real danger. A pet-immune system will allow your pets and small wildlife to run about, but you’ll still be notified when a person or vehicle enters your driveway.

These alarms work because of their two sensors which both need to be tripped in order for the notification to be sent to the receiver. Small animals aren’t able to trip both at one time meaning they’re off the radar.