Home GLASS Improvement

Security Glass Protection – How to Protect Your View

Much to the delight of Home and Business Owners, Modern Architects are designing buildings with lots of beautiful glass which let in natural lighting. A home or office with large windows and glass openings can provide the feeling of bringing the outdoors in while presenting you with views that will certainly add to the ambiance of any environment.

Unfortunately, burglars and other evil-doers love your windows as well. Rather than try and pound through a door or pick a lock, a burglar interested in a quick in-and-out will simply smash your window and quickly grab what they want. With statistics showing that up to 25% of residential break-ins occur through windows and glass openings, how do you protect yourself?

Don’t throw up some ugly Wrought Iron Grates or install expensive Roll-down Storm Shutters. There are actually several, completely un-obtrusive ways to protect your glass openings that still let the light shine through!

If your protection plan includes an Electronic Security Alarm System, you can simply attach a shock or vibration sensor to the glass or the window frame. Shock/Vibration sensors react to the vibration or bending of the glass that occurs when a window is smashed or broken. Depending on the sensitivity and the technology employed, a shock/vibration sensor can cover up to 10′ of glass. Since they can be seen from the outside, they provide an exceptional visible deterrent and they can offer 24-hour protection for hard to cover skylights, storefront or bathroom windows.

If you are trying to protect multiple panes of glass, each panel should have its own shock/vibration sensor. You should also know that shock/vibration sensors can cause false alarms from loud noises, close lightning strikes, or from the vibration caused by large trucks or machinery rolling past.

Acoustical glass break detectors offer another flexible alternative to protect your windows. Acoustical Glass break detectors “listen” for the sound of breaking glass. By breaking thousands of pieces of glass, security engineers have recorded the entire high frequency spectrum of the sound associated with breaking glass.

Whether it is solid plate, wired, laminated or tempered glass that shatters on impact, the sound associated with the glass breaking will fall within a known frequency across the audio band and cause an alarm. Acoustical Glass Break Detectors offer ranges up to a 30′ radius which means a single detector can sometimes protect an entire room, which can make them a cost effective alternative to the Shock/Vibration Sensors.

Since Acoustical Glass Break Detectors are listening devices, the effective range can be greatly reduced by blinds, drapes and other window coverings. Careful placement and full testing should be considered standard installation procedure.

Many manufacturers offer combination glass break, reed switch window contacts to help protect single windows from being opened or broken. If you require 100% perimeter protection, you should consider a combination glass break, window contact for each window that is accessible.

Remember that acoustical glass break alarms are prone to false alarms that can be triggered by sudden loud noises or certain high frequency sounds. Some manufacturers have answered the false alarm problem by creating “dual technology” detectors. These detectors require that a secondary event occurs simultaneously with the sound of breaking glass in order to cause an alarm.

The most common secondary technology is a shock wave sensor. When a pane of glass is broken in its frame, there is a low pressure shock wave that occurs. The low pressure shock wave and the high frequency sound of breaking glass will occur simultaneously. In order to cause and alarm, both events need to occur within milliseconds.

Now, these electronic means of protection can only be utilized if you have a security alarm system installed in your home or business. As they do not prevent the breaking of the window, the sole intention of the glass break detectors is to set off a loud audible alarm in the hopes of scaring off intruders after they have gained entry.

In theory, this works great and glass break detectors have proven to be an invaluable resource in reducing the losses due to theft. But how do I keep the Burglars Out?

According to the FBI, the average burglar will give up trying to forcibly enter your home after 4-minutes.

Modern Security Laminates can turn your ordinary windows into Burglary Resistant Barriers. These polyester laminates are a thin as a piece of paper and they roll onto existing windows like wallpaper, yet they can provide you with an impenetrable barrier to smash and grab burglaries.

In addition to burglary protection, security laminates offer excellent protection from flying glass during hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes, all while blocking up to 99% of the suns harmful ultraviolet rays.

You can have these security laminates professionally installed, or you can order pre-cut do-it yourself kits. It takes about 10-minutes to install the laminate on an average size window, and it will provide a lifetime of protection.

About the Author

Roy Stephenson is a Security Consultant with over 21 Years Experience Designing and Installing High End Integrated Security Systems. He is currently the VP of Marketing at Security Systems

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Tags: alarm system, alarms, bathroom window, bathroom windows, glass, glass break detector, glass break detectors, glass protection, security alarm system, security glass, security laminate, security laminates, security systems, tempered glass, window, window frame, Windows