Warning: My wife's comment about our own system made me check every install from last year

I was showing my wife how the new glass break sensors work, and she just said, 'It's cool, but if someone actually broke in, I'd just freeze. All these beeps and lights are for you, not me.' I mean, she's not in the trade at all. It hit different because I realized I'd been installing for other techs, not for the people living there. I went back and looked at my last 15 jobs from 2023, and in like 10 of them, the keypad was in the garage or a back hallway, not where someone would actually see it first thing coming home. Now I always ask, 'Where do you drop your keys?' and put the main panel there. Has anyone else had a client or family member point out something obvious you totally missed?

4 comments

4 Comments

hall.jenny2mo ago

Okay but is it really that big of a deal? Most people just arm and disarm the thing. They aren't staring at the panel all day. My keypad is in my laundry room, I punch in the code when I get home and that's it. I'm not looking for a light show. If your system works and the alarm goes off when it should, you did your job. Not everything needs to be a perfect user experience.

susan816d ago

That stair sensor thing violag80 mentioned actually made me rethink my whole stance. I used to be like you, thought most people just punch in a code and move on with their day. But a buddy of mine has a panel in his hallway and the backlight is so bright at night it wakes up his kid every time he disarms it. Little stuff like that adds up over time, you know? If the alarm works but the family dreads using it, I feel like that's a failure on some level.

violag802mo ago

Yeah, a friend had a client whose kid kept setting off the alarm because the motion sensor pointed right at the stairs. Totally obvious once you see it. Like hall.jenny said, it works, but if it bugs the people living there, did it really?

paige1662mo ago

That "did it really work" question hits home. I've seen that stair sensor issue more than once. A good installer should walk the home with the family after setup to catch those daily life blind spots. Sometimes moving a sensor a few inches or changing its angle fixes the false alarms without losing coverage. The goal is security that fits how people actually live, not just a system that passes a tech test.