Remembering your alarm is one while still at home

[Tomgru]

Looking for a clever way to remember that the alarm is one when still at home (in stay mode). We always seem to forget and then open a door (e.g. to let the dog out) and set it off.

thoughts?

[tome10]

Door Unlocked by lever to disarm. It apparently needs a delay in the retro alarm platform, and you may or may not be able to set this delay.

[Richel]

Looking for a clever way to remember that the alarm is one when still at home (in stay mode). We always seem to forget and then open a door (e.g. to let the dog out) and set it off.

thoughts?

Integrate your alarm system with Homeseer plugin (I have had DSC integration at my old home and Envisalink now at my new home). Using motion sensors, create event that disarms system with motion (e.g., in kitchen) in the morning.

Elliott

[jmaddox]

How about a recessed contact inside the deadbolt receiver. The act of unlocking the deadbolt releases the contact which then turns off the alarm.

For added security you could only enable this when in stay mode.

You could either use a zwave deadbolt that locks when the alarm goes into stay mode. Or you could have the alarm fault if you tried to set stay mode and the deadbolt was not engaged.

[Tomgru]

definitely some interesting ideas..... but still with some challenges.
we have a dog that sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night to go out, and my wife may go to any of several doors downstairs to let her out.

So if I use motion, it turns off the alarm when she gets up (say 3am).. but then it's off rest of the night.

My other problems is that if I do it with some sort of door latch/lock, the slider won't work, which is of course the main door she lets the dog out of first thing in the morning.

So i'm thinking that instead of being automated.... I just need something that reminds us it's actually on. Two ideas are the new HS2000 dimmers... having some of the LEDs go to red when the alarm is on.

Or similar with the HSM200 sensors... use maybe 3 of these in strategic places throughout the house. But both choices are a bit pricey to just get a light to glow red :-)

[wadesready]

Looking for a clever way to remember that the alarm is one when still at home (in stay mode). We always seem to forget and then open a door (e.g. to let the dog out) and set it off.

thoughts?

I have a small light right next to the door. If my house is the armed mode, every time I walk past the pir sensor in the livingroom (I have to pass thru on the way to the door) the light will come on for 30 seconds to remind me it is armed.

[RJS]

I have a small light right next to the door. If my house is the armed mode, every time I walk past the pir sensor in the livingroom (I have to pass thru on the way to the door) the light will come on for 30 seconds to remind me it is armed.

or have Homeseer speak a gentle reminder.

- Robert

[Tomgru]

or have Homeseer speak a gentle reminder.

- Robert

Hmm... thought about this , but the WAF is pretty low when HS speaks and she doesn't expect it. think would be worse in middle of night :-)

Like lamp idea maybe.

[jmaddox]

how about using a motion sensor to disable the alarm. Then a follow up event that arms the alarm when the door is opened twice or when the motion sensor indicates no movement.

[dzee]

Hmm... thought about this , but the WAF is pretty low when HS speaks and she doesn't expect it. think would be worse in middle of night :-)

Like lamp idea maybe.

I put the Star Trek TNG computer sounds in WAV files with varying levels of urgency I call info, alert and warning.

Info is the door ring for crew quarters, alert is the computer acknowledgement sound after a command, and warning is the double-tone they played before announcing things like warp core breach. I use them similarly and they're easy to pair up with the situation when selecting them in the media list. Info might be announcing caller ID. Alert is something like the garage door being left open. Warning is something urgent like a water leak detection.

Putting these tones before the speech really makes an amazing difference because people are conditioned to not be startled by bings and dings, but the sudden sound of a strange voice is tough to get used to even when you programmed it and expect it at some point.

Try doing something with a chime or soft reminder sound of some sort before your Speak commands, and you'll be amazed what a difference it makes not only in WAF, but even to yourself.

With regard to your alarm on reminder, do you have a motion sensor near the doors? Use it to play a little ditty as someone approaches to open the door from the inside.

[Tillsy]

I put the Star Trek TNG computer sounds in WAV files with varying levels of urgency I call info, alert and warning.

SNAP! I have two TNG tones before each speech - for general information there is the intercom "pulse" when a crew or computer pages across the ship, for warnings there is the single tone chime.

[Tillsy]

Looking for a clever way to remember that the alarm is one when still at home (in stay mode). We always seem to forget and then open a door (e.g. to let the dog out) and set it off.

thoughts?

This was a problem for 15 years in my home if we went outside later in the morning, or in the past year letting the dog out in the morning, and forget the security system was in "stay" mode overnight - the second the rear sliding door is opened the alarm goes off!

While I had my blinds automatically closing at sunset, opening them was something you manually triggered - so again open the blinds, open door, and WACKA WACKA WACKA WACKA....

However recently I integrated my security system into HomeSeer, so with that I now know when the alarm is armed and disarmed. To that end I now automatically open the blinds if disarmed during daytime. This has automatically meant that if one walks up to the sliding door the blinds are actually shut and thus 1) The alarm is obviously still on, 2) To open the blinds you need to disarm the alarm. As an added measure if the blinds are opened whilst the alarm is armed a warning is played that the security is still on and to not open the door.

So after annoying ourselves as well as our neighbours with this for 15 years, we just couldn't seem to stop ourselves making that mistake, it has not happened once in the past couple months since doing the above - and that's solely from the blind automation, we've never yet had the verbal warning go off reminding us to not open the door.

[Monk]

SNAP! I have two TNG tones before each speech - for general information there is the intercom "pulse" when a crew or computer pages across the ship, for warnings there is the single tone chime.

I like the idea of the info/alert/warning tones. Can someone link samples to the TNG sounds?

[Tillsy]

I like the idea of the info/alert/warning tones. Can someone link samples to the TNG sounds?

Here are the two tones I use - I wrote a script that will prefix any speech with the intercom sound unless there is a ! at the start and I instead play the alert one. I've had to ZIP them as the forum wouldn't let me upload MP3.

So for example when arming the security system [ALERT SOUND] Unable to arm security due to open back door
Or if the kids leave their bathroom exhaust fan on [ALERT SOUND] Turning off bathroom fan
Or when the dish washer is finished [INTERCOM SOUND] Dish washing complete
Or when the washing machine is finished [INTERCOM SOUND] Clothes washing complete

[Tomgru]

In our new house i ended up installing HD200s everywhere.... most blink red when the alarm us in.... very hard to miss from anywhere in the house. Works great!