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Spiders so big they’re triggering alarms
Have you experienced any odd occasions where your alarm has been triggered for no apparent reason? Your panel may identify which sensor has been disturbed but there’s no obvious reason why? It could be that you have been a victim of an intruder of a different kind: a giant spider!
While Halloween may be an appropriate time of year for ghoulish arachnids and spooky cobwebs it’s actually warmth and romance that are tempting the 8 legged beasts into our homes! As the weather turns chillier and male spiders reach maturity, they come into homes to seek out female spiders.
This may be setting off alarm bells for you – literally! Some are so big that they’re setting off burglar alarms! Actually, in reality they don’t have to be huge to do this; all it takes is a spider to crawl directly over a sensor to fool it into thinking there’s some kind of intruder. When you consider that a burglar alarm sensor’s job is to detect movement at a distance of several feet, something moving over its direct surface is going to trigger it just the same.
How to prevent spiders triggering your burglar alarm
Setting your alarm off is a bit of an inconvenience and the spiders aren’t harmful but it can be annoying for neighbours (especially in the middle of the night when spiders tend to be most active), false alarms will reduce the chances of anyone responding to a genuine alarm and if you’re out of the house at the time it could be going off for a while. There are, however, a number of things you can do to prevent this happening.
Use peppermint spray
Spiders don’t like the smell of peppermint spray but it won’t do them any harm (we definitely don’t want to be killing spiders). Spray it around your home, especially in the nooks and crannies where spiders like to gather, and it will encourage any spiders to relocate back into the garden. Tea tree and eucalyptus oil will achieve similar effects.
Conkers
Many say that conkers emit a scent that spiders don’t like and there are plenty of them around at this time of year. Place them on window sills and near doors to ward them off.
Be vigilant for cobwebs
Keep an eye out for cobwebs and clear them straight away. Pay particular attention to corners and, behind and underneath furniture and dark areas that spiders favour. Obviously you should always try to keep your alarm sensors free of cobwebs as this is a clear indication that it’s become a hotspot for spiders!
Obviously, if your alarm does go off, your panel should tell you which zone has triggered it so take a look to check for signs of webs on these sensors and that should give you an indication that this is the cause
Obviously, if your alarm does go off, your panel should tell you which zone has triggered it so take a look to check for signs of webs on these sensors and that should give you an indication that this is the cause
If you are getting repeat false alarms there may of course be something else going on. We can take a look and test the system to find out what the issue is and get that sorted for you. Just call us on 0345 833 5543 (though we’re not sure our engineers are up for catching spiders!).