Alarm Systems and Saving Money: A Consumer Guide

In our current economic climate, saving money is on top of everyone’s mind.  Many of us are facing challenges that may not have been expected or foreseen, and we need to take steps to tighten the belt a little here and there.

As you sit down to look over your household budget, keep a few things in mind before you decide to put your security system on the chopping block, it may just save you money by keeping it!  Here’s three ways a monitored alarm system can save you money:

1.) Insurance discounts.  What kind of article on keeping an alarm would this be, if I didn’t mention insurance company discounts?  Many, if not all, home owners insurance policies offer a discount on your insurance rate for having a professionally monitored alarm system.  The amount of discount varies by both the real property value, and the type of alarm system you have.  For example, having a system that monitors for Fire, Flood, and Burglary will likely receive a higher discount percentage than a system which is only monitored for burglary.   Keep in mind, you can almost always add on to your current system to include other types of monitoring in order to increase your insurance discount, and increase your peace of mind!  Typical discounts we’ve seen in Utah are between 10 – 20% off!  That’s significant savings, and can actually pay for the service in many cases!

2.) Energy Savings.  Most alarm systems today are capable of much more then just the plain, basic noisemakers of the past.  Your alarm is not your parents’ alarm – we’ve advanced in the alarm technology by leaps and bounds over just the last couple of years, and there are many exciting new things coming down the pipe.  One of the current advances is in energy savings.  Your alarm system can be tied into your thermostat and lighting system.  What this does is allow for great energy management.  For example, let’s say you leave the house and arm the alarm.  Once the system is armed, it can be programmed to raise (or lower) your thermostat setting by a few degrees while you are out of the house.  When you return, and disarm the alarm, the temperature returns to your favorite setting.  Same concept with the lights.  When you arm the alarm in an “away” mode, it can shut off any lights that were left on in the house.  I personally love this feature for when the kids leave the lights on in the basement and bathrooms.  This helps you save energy, thus, keeping a few extra dollars in your pocket.

3. ) Crime Deterrent.  Of course, the entire main reason behind an alarm system is also a money saver.  Crime deterrent.  It’s a fact that having a monitored alarm system reduces the chances of incurring a loss.  That’s why you get an insurance rate discount.  If your house looks like more of a risk than another, the burglar is likely to pass you by, and select a new target.  This saves you money in several ways.  First, you don’t lose your stuff, so you don’t have to replace it.  Second, you don’t have damages to your home, like a broken window, or kicked in door, so you don’t have to spend money on those repairs.  And finally, you don’t incur a loss to claim on your insurance, so you keep you insurance rates low.   That’s not even considering the peace of mind and stress savings!

So, next time you review the budget, keep in mind these three simple ways that your alarm system can actually save you money in the end!

If you’d like to discuss ways of upgrading your current system to some of the more advanced features discussed here, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to help!

-T.J. Ogilvie

Vantage Voltage, LLC

info@vantagevoltage.com

Parade of Homes Half Over – Come check us out!

The 2012 Parade of Homes is about half over now!  Come check out our work at Home #13, by Raykon Construction.  The home is located in Lehi, Utah.  Visit www.uvparade.com for tickets and more information.

The parade will continue all of next week, and end on the 23rd at 9:00pm.  The homes are open daily from noon until 9:00pm.

Vantage Voltage has done the following work in this home:

-Whole House Audio System

-Elan g! Automation system

- Theater Speakers (Theater will be finished later this fall.)

-Theater Lighting Control

-Thermostat HVAC automation and control

-Security System

All of these systems are tied together with our premier Elan g! home automation system, allowing complete home control from anyplace in the world!

Thanks!

2012 Utah Valley Parade of Homes is here!

Time once again for the Parade of Homes in Utah Valley!  Learn more about the homes, get maps, and purchase tickets at http://www.uvparade.com

We are proud to be working with Raykon Construction this year on a home in Lehi!  Come check out our work in home #13 this year!

We are featuring our ELAN g! Home Automation system, whole-house audio, alarm system, and HVAC control.  We are doing the theater, but time and budget has caused the completion of the theater to be put off for a bit.

Hope to see you there!

Alarm.com has a new look

Have an Alarm.com account to remotely manage your security and automation system?  Well, be prepared – tomorrow, Jan 5th, you’ll see a new look when you login to your account.

Here’s the official announcement:

“Based on consistent feedback, you will see a new look when logging into your online account. Changes have been made to provide you with a more stylish, refreshed website to manage your security system settings. All of your account features and functionality are still the same. We hope you enjoy the updated Website powered by Alarm.com the next time you log in.”

Need an Alarm.com account?  Just contact us!

Home Control & Automation Made Easy (And Affordable too!)

Today’s electronics are really amazing and awe-inspiring (Awesome, if you will…) devices.  The possibilities of your average home electronics are endless.  You can do just about anything you can imagine with you cell phone these days.  Heck, why are even still calling them phones?  Voice communications are certainly a secondary function of “cell phone” in modern times.

Your home is filled with a number of high tech, amazingly advanced electronics.  You televisions, blu-ray players, home security systems, audio/video equipment, lighting control, and HVAC system are all modern day miracles of invention in inspiration.

Most likely, each of these systems, or as we like to call them, “sub-systems” are working great in their own little realm of your home.  Your thermostat keeps you warm and cool, your security system keeps you and your property safe, etc, etc.  That’s great, they are doing their job.

However, Vantage Voltage contends that it isn’t enough to simply have all your devices working.  No, a house full of working equipment just doesn’t cut it for us.  All of your gadgets need to be working together! 

Imagine using your iPad or other tablet to adjust lighting, blinds and your alarm settings while sitting on the couch enjoying a great movie.  Lost your remote?  No problem, just pull out your cell phone to adjust the volume on any TV in the house.

Working Together?  What exactly does that mean?

Well, it can mean any number of things, really only limited by imagination, and budget.  It means that rather then all your systems just functioning in their own little realm of your home, all alone, they communicate with each other and work together to do more then any of them can do alone.

For example, Energy Management:  This is a great example, as it can be done inexpensively and provides for a great return on your investment, by saving you money on your energy bills.  Let’s see how it works:

Your HVAC system, lights, and security systems all tie together to a central controller, or processor.  When you leave your home and arm the security system in the away mode, a command is sent to the central processor telling it that you have left the house and armed  the alarm in away mode.

The processor then communicates to your thermostat and lowers the temperature (or raises it, depending on the season) a few degrees.  This saves you money on your heating and cooling costs.

The processor also checks all the lights in the house, and turns off any lights that you forgot to turn off when before you left.  This saves you money on your electric bill.

In turn, you can also program the system to reverse these steps when you come home.  It can turn on lights when your garage door is opened, so you can easily see your way to the alarm keypad and not kill yourself on all the toys your kiddos left out.

How about when you wake up in the morning, press one button on your iPad or Android Tablet, and and have specific lights turn on in the house, your favorite TV or radio program turn on in just the right rooms, to just the right volume, and perhaps a coffee maker or toaster turn on to help you start your day?  All with one button.  Easy.

Vantage Voltage makes it happen within your budget!

We love this stuff.  We eat and breath automation and control systems, we’re rather geeky that way.  And proud of it.  We are also proud of our design team, and their ability to work up a great system for your home, at an amazing price.  The thing about home control and automation is that you can spend a little, or a lot on it.  It’s really up to you.

Our team will meet with you at your home or place of business, and discuss your needs, wants and budget.  Several options will then be worked up and presented to you, at which point revisions and changes can be made until the system is just right for you.  Our professional installation crew will then install the system in your home, and give you training on how to use it.  (Although you won’t need much training with our systems, they are very intuitive, easy, and fun to use!)

Our consultations are totally, 100% free, and our sales staff is NO-PRESSURE!  We just want an opportunity to present our company and capabilities to you, our company and products sell themselves – we don’t need high pressure sales staff to do it.

Contact Us Today to setup a free, in-home consultation.