Entrance alarms have primarily been associated with businesses, such as retail shops, nursing homes and banks, but they have enjoyed a recent rise in popularity for common uses in households. Entrance alarms are especially useful in homes with small children or disabled or elderly persons. Replacing locks on your doorways with child-proof locks are not only time-consuming, but can also become quite costly if you have a larger home. An inexpensive, yet very effective alternative would be to place entrance alarms are those doors which can easily opened by those who should not wander outdoors alone.
In addition to this very practical use, entrance alarms can be used on household appliances which need to be kept closed, such as refrigerators or freezers. As our side-by-side refrigerator in the kitchen is quite small, we have a secondary one in the garage to hold the many water bottles, soft drinks, juice drinks or other bulk items we can’t usually fit inside. We also use the freezer to store extra meat, pizzas, ice cream for special occasions, etc. On more than one occasion, I’ve gone into the garage only to discover that a door has unintentionally been left open and all the food inside has spoiled. Not only does this waste electricity and food, but is also quite messy, as in the case of the ice cream! Installing an entrance alarm on the doors will help the last user know that the door is securely closed or if it “pops back open.”
The alarm can also be placed on pantry doors. My 17-month old has learned how to slide the pantry door open and grab a box of cereal when she feels like having a snack. This results in cereal being all over the floor, of course, so installing an alarm on the door would be extremely helpful in helping us save money on our grocery bills. The older kids also like to snack a little too often so he alarm would also serve as a deterrent for them, since I will know when they try to sneak something.
Some of the closet doors in our home cannot be fitted with locks or other safety devices, which means that a crafty little one has easy access to the closet where cleaning supplies are kept. Thankfully, she has been unable to get past the brooms and mops thus far, but her curiosity will lead her to quickly learn how to remove those obstacles. An entrance alarm on this door will notify all of us in the house if she tries to get into that closet again.
Look around your home and think of all the places where you could use an entrance alarm. You may be surprised at the many uses for this simple device.
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