AFTER A HOME FIRE, THE HOMEOWNER SHOULD IMMEDIATELY CALL THEIR INS...
22.
After a home fire, the homeowner should immediately call their insurance company or the
insurer’s agent, and then call their mortgage company.
A.
True
B.
False
Chapter 15
SAFETY AND
SECURITY LIGHTING
Locksmith and Security Professionals’ Exam Study Guide
122
Locksmith and Security Professionals’ Exam Study Guide
Lighting is not only a low-cost form of security, but it also can help to prevent accidents, create
moods, and enhance the beauty of any home. This chapter shows how you can make the best
use of lighting inside and outside your home.
A dark house is an invitation to crime and creates a high risk for accidents. When you approach
your home late at night, you need to be able to walk to your entrance without tripping over some-
thing—or
someone—in your path. Once you’re inside, you need to be able to move from room to
room safely. Your home should be well lighted
on the inside, in the areas directly outside the doors,
and throughout the yard. Well lighted doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of light; it means having the light
sources and controls in the right places.
Light Sources
Our most common light source is the sun, which we cannot control. We have arti ficial light sources
available for use at night and in some indoor locations during the day. Important differences among
artificial sources include color, softness, brightness, energy efficiency, and initial cost.
Light sources you might consider for home use include standard incandescent, halogen, fluores-
cent, and high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting. The HID family of lighting includes low-pressure
sodium, high-pressure sodium, mercury-vapor, and metal halide lights.
An
incandescent
light source relies on heat to produce light. The standard bulbs used in most
homes are incandescent (lighting designers call them A-lamps). They have a metal filament that is
heated by electricity. Standard incandescent bulbs are inexpensive, readily available, and suitable for
most home fixtures. They light almost immediately at the flip of a light switch. However, using heat
to produce light isn’t energy efficient; in the long run, incandescent lighting can be more costly than
other sources that require special fixtures.
Halogen, a special type of incandescent source, is slightly more energy efficient than standard
incandescent lighting. A halogen bulb uses a tungsten filament and is filled with a halogen gas.
Fluorescent lighting
uses electric current to make a specially shaped (usually tubular) bulb glow.
The bulbs come in various lengths, from 5 inches to about 96 inches, and they require special fix-
tures. You might not want to use fluo rescent lighting with certain types of electronic security systems
because it can interfere with radio reception. And you wouldn’t ordinarily use fluorescent light ing out-
doors in cold climates: it’s very temperature-sensitive.
For outdoor lighting, you might use high-intensity discharge (HID) sources, which are energy-effi-
cient and cost little to run for long periods of time. Like flu orescent lighting, HID sources require spe-
cial fixtures and can be expensive ini tially. Another potential problem with HID sources is they can
take a long time to produce light after you turn them on. Startup time can be unimportant if you use
a light controller to activate the lights automatically when necessary.
Light Controllers
Timers are among the most popular types of controllers for indoor and outdoor lighting. The newest
timers can do much more than just turn lights on and off at preset times. Programmable 24-hour wall-
switch timers, for example, can turn your lights off and on randomly throughout the night and early
morning. This feature is useful because many burglars will watch a home to see whether the lights
come on at exactly the same time each night—an indication the home is empty and a timer was pre-
set. Another feature of some new timers is built-in protection against memory loss. After a power fail-
ure, such timers “remember” how you programmed them. Some models adjust themselves
automatically to take into account daylight saving time changes. Most timers used by homeowners
cost between $10 and $40.
Safety and Security Lighting
123
Installing Motion-Activated Outdoor Lighting
A motion-activated light can be installed virtually anywhere indoors or outdoors—
on the side of home, on a porch, in a garage—wherever it’s needed. Many of these
lights are simple two-wire installations in which the hardest part of the process is the
proper positioning of the lighting unit. Models are avail able in various colors and styles
to match any decor.
Another low-cost way to control lights is with sound or motion sensors. You can buy one of these
sensors and connect it to, say, a table lamp in your living room. When you (or someone else) walk
into your living room at night, the light will come on automatically.
Some
floodlights
come with a built-in motion sensor. If you install floodlights out side at strategic
places, they will warn you of nighttime visitors. You might install one facing toward your driveway,
for instance, so it lights the area when a car pulls in. Floodlights generally sell for less than $50.
Preventing Accidents
To prevent accidents at night, you need to be able to see potential hazards. When walking down a
flight of stairs, for instance, it’s important to be able to see whether any objects are in your way. In
too many homes, people have to stumble through dark areas or grope for a light switch, or a series
of light switches, before reaching the bathroom or kitchen.
Can you use motion-activated sensors to avoid this problem? You’d probably need many of them
to cover every path you might take at night. Simpler and more convenient options are available.
One useful practice is to install night lights near your light switches, so you can reach them more
easily. Night lights cost only a few dollars each, and they consume very little power. Another option
is to use three-way switches. These let you turn a light on and off at more than one location, such as
at the top and bottom of a flight of stairs.
The most convenient way to use lighting indoors is to tie all (or most) of the switches into an eas-
ily accessible master control panel. Then, you could turn on a specific group of lights simply by push-
ing a button. One button could turn on a pathway of lights from, say, your bedroom to the bathroom.
By pushing another button, you could activate a pathway of lights from your bedroom to the kitchen.
Some or all of your outdoor lights also could be tied into your master control system.