Crime is a concern in South Africa. According to a Stats SA survey, the 2017/18 year saw more than 1.5 million incidents of household crimes in the country – 5% higher than the year before. South Africans have been forced to take extra measures to protect themselves, their assets and their loved ones. Getting a home security system installed is simple enough – but that’s before taking into account our country’s propensity for random acts of load-shedding. In this article, we discuss what load-shedding means for home alarm system owners and what can be done to minimize its impact on your home security.

A Quick Definition Of Load Shedding

South Africa’s power capacity cannot meet its current demand since there haven’t been enough new power stations built in recent years. Electricity supplier Eskom started implementing a method of managing imbalances in supply and demand called “load shedding” which is facilitating scheduled power cuts in different areas for hours at the time. Eskom announced in late November that these power cuts would resume nationwide, until further notice.

The Effects Of Load Shedding On Security Systems

Most of the equipment used in modern security systems require electrical power to function. While your CCTV cameras, alarm and other tools may have backup power from batteries, sudden power cuts can throw a spanner in the works, resulting in:

• System failures, which mean threat detection and response time is compromised.
• An influx in alarm alerts due to tripped alarms, meaning security companies agents must call or visit each home where alarms have gone off.
• A lack of street lighting, making entering and exiting your home potentially dangerous.

To prepare your security system for load shedding, you can do the following:

• Check and recharge the batteries on your alarm system frequently.
• Get battery-powered LED lights to for visibility for CCTV cameras if load shedding happens at night.
• Double check batteries during load-shedding.
• Be extra aware of your surroundings and take note of any suspicious activity

If you don’t feel that your current home security system is sufficient for keeping you safe during load-shedding, then you need to contact Active Motion today. We can help you keep your property, family, and belongings safe with a more secure solution.

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