Being fully aware of what is going on around your home, both day and night, is a good strategy for home security. And having measures in place that make a break-in to your home very difficult when you aren't there decreases the likelihood that a successful home intrusion will take place. And advancing technology continues to arm homeowners with more and more sophisticated ways to protect their home and family with devices that constantly monitor what is going on around the home.

One of those devices is the simple motion detector. For years they have been used in other applications like garage doors where it prevents allowing the door to close if it senses movement or a blockage underneath the door. But now they are being increasingly used in home security systems to help inform the homeowner of outside movement,especially at night, and also even set off surveillance systems that can capture on video what is happening as well.

So how can you include motion detectors in your home security system? One of the most simple ways to do so is just to install lights around the house at strategic spots that have motion sensors in them and turn on automatically when triggered at night. These kind ofr lights can be found at any hardware or home improvement store and are very inexpensive. They can be wired into your home lighting system and turned on manually, or you can also use battery powered units that are light sensitive and can only be activated when darkness falls. Just be sure to replace the batteries regularly.

For more advanced home security systems, motion detectors can be used to trigger the home alarm system when activated. They are often installed inside the home in addition to sensors that monitor the doors and windows. If someone does gain entry to your home while you are away they will detect the movement and trigger the alarm. This works very well if you don't have pets or small animals that would be moving around the home and could trigger false alarms.

They also can be used outside to turn on video surveillance cameras for more advanced security systems. When installed with video cameras, they can trigger the camera to begin recording whenever motion is detected, and also notify you of the movement if you are home. Since the video camera only captures the action when motion is detected it doesn't have to be on all the time and this saves a lot of video tape or hard drive space depending on how the camera saves the video information.

As you can see the humble, hard working motion detector can be used in a variety of ways to help guard your home and family. Why not begin thinking about how you can include them to enhance your own security system today?