Whether you want to protect your home, business or both, the simple and common procedure for doing this is by installing an alarm. There are a large variety of alarms, available in a large number of price ranges, to fit any budget.

If you are in the market for a burglar alarm for your home of business, it is worthwhile to know a bit about how burglar alarms work. The concept as to how alarms work is quite simple. Think of the alarm as an electric circuit, which has been built into the door to your home. Since electricity can only flow when the circuit is closed, that is when the electricity has a place to flow to, the circuit is considered complete, or closed.

In a closed-circuit alarm system, when the circuit is broken, as for instance when a door is opened which stops the flow of electricity in the circuit, an alarm is sounded. An open-circuit alarm system works the opposite way. In this system, when the door is opened the circuit is completed and the electricity begins to flow, causing the alarm to sound.

A closed-circuit alarm system is a bit more secure because in order to deactivate the open-circuit system, all the burglar needs to do is cut the wire to render the alarm non-functional. The closed circuit system uses a magnet to detect the opening of the door or window, which then opens the circuit with the use of a spring which pulls the circuit open. When the current is cut, a relay is closed and an alarm rings, alerting the homeowner, police or security company that there has been a breech in security.