Does New Orleans Weather Affect Home Alarm Systems?

Everyone in New Orleans knows that we have our fair share of ghosts and hauntings, but they’re not always to blame when your alarm goes off for seemingly no reason. Sometimes it could just be the weather. 

After all, the local weather is known for high temperatures and brutal humidity. Extreme weather and environmental conditions can affect the reliability of any electrical device, and home alarm systems are no exception. 

Here’s what you should know about how our weather affects security systems. 

What’s the Local Weather in New Orleans, Louisiana? 

Humidity levels here have been ranked the highest in the country, sometimes ranging as high as 90%. Temperatures can hover around the low 90s with frequent mid-afternoon showers during the long summertime. Those factors lead to steamy conditions that can cause home alarm system devices to act weird, break down or have shorter lifespans.  

Why Should You Avoid False Alarms?

If we have a home alarm system, we should do all we can to avoid false alarms. False alarms can have many adverse effects, such as causing fear, chaos, disruptions to emergency services, and wasted public resources. 

Weather Can Cause Home Alarm System False Alarms

Having first-hand experience and understanding of how local New Orleans weather can contribute to false alarms and other problems gives us an edge that can be leveraged for prevention. 

When you do all you can to false alarms, you’ll be worried less and valid threats will get handled quickly with greater efficiency. 

Motion detectors 

Motion detectors rely on the interruption of an infrared light beam. Low-quality sensors can be more sensitive and go off more often when they get too warm. The sensor can have trouble reading the beam when it gets too warm, triggering a false alarm.

Smoke detectors 

Heat and moisture aren’t good for smoke detector technology and can cause false alarms. Steamy conditions can trick smoke detectors into thinking a fire has started. Your smoke detector can’t distinguish moisture particles from smoke because both set off the sensor in the same way. 

There are two kinds of smoke detectors, and Fire Marshalls recommend using systems that combine both technologies. Ionization smoke detectors are more likely to cause false alarms due to humidity.  

With ionization technology, smoke detectors have two detector plates with a small electrical current between them. If there’s smoke in the air, particles will disrupt this electrical current, triggering an alarm. Humidity can affect ionization technology the same way smoke does, causing false alarms. 

Prevention Tips To Overcome Humid Environments

Device Location 

• The mounting location and positioning of devices can play a significant role in withstanding adverse environmental conditions. 

Decrease humidity levels 

• Consider purchasing a dehumidifier for your home or office to remove excess moisture.  

Increase ventilation

• Use the exhaust fan in your kitchen while cooking.
• Turn on the exhaust fan in your bathroom while showering. 
• Change air conditioning intake filters.

Weather-Proofing Outdoor Video Surveillance 

Different types of weather disrupt various components in different ways. Heat, humidity, and other weather conditions can penetrate outdoor surveillance cameras and disrupt functioning. 

Electronic surveillance equipment, such as cameras, need to be within a specific temperature range to operate correctly. 

The positioning, or mounting location, of cameras plays an important role in how well they can handle the heat. Positioning the camera under an overhang, away from heat-conducting materials, and with enough distance from the mounting surface to allow for cooling airflow are all factors that can contribute to better weather resistance. 

Weatherproof Cameras & Housings 

All outdoor security surveillance cameras will come into contact with the weather, often more than a few times, especially in New Orleans. Weatherproof surveillance cameras can endure rougher, harsher weather conditions. They’re designed to operate for extended periods under unusually harsh rains and extreme temperatures with less risk of damage, costing you less in repair or replacement costs in the long run. 

Camera housings are especially useful for small and medium businesses and lite commercial applications where more protection may be required. They can be used on outdoor network cameras to prevent damage caused by rain, dust, and occasionally objects thrown at the camera. 

The different types of weather a camera must go through may cause it to break down or erode, which means failures may be imminent, particularly the lens could get damaged. Housings will protect the lens and maintain video footage quality and clarity. 

Extreme weather conditions are a normal part of daily life in New Orleans, especially when it comes to heat and humidity.  

New Orleans Home Alarm Systems Near Me 

As a locally owned and operated home security company, ABC Fire and Burglar Alarm proudly serves New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, Laplace, Destrehan, Luling, Houma, Harvey, Gretna, Belle Chasse, Chalmette, Slidell, Mandeville, Covington, Hammond, and surrounding areas.

For More information, contact us today to receive a free quote.