Unfortunately, your home security system isn’t self-sufficient when it comes to power. It’s going to need batteries. Now, most systems tell you when it’s time for your home alarm battery replacement. The system control panel may display a message such as “call technician” or it may flash a battery symbol. Depending on the type of system you’re working with, home alarm battery replacement may be a relatively simple endeavor or it may be something you need professional assistance with.
Here are the steps, generally speaking, that you’ll take in the home alarm battery replacement process:
- Get the right replacement battery. The battery for your system isn’t something you’re going to find at the grocery store. You’re going to have to check with a hardware store or other type of do-it-yourself retailer. Check the owner’s manual to find out what kind of battery it is that you’re going to be looking for.
- Start at the front panel. In most systems, the home alarm battery is located behind the cover of your control panel. There, you’ll see the battery with two cables attached to it.
- Enter the engineer’s code. Generally speaking, your system is going to have a code used by engineers to disable the alarm on a temporary basis. If you don’t enter this code, it’s likely that you’re going to trip the alarm when you unclip the battery cables. If you don’t have the code, you can still replace the battery but you’re going to have the alarm going of while you do it.
- Turn off the breaker. Shut down the power to the box. If you don’t have the engineer’s code, turning off the panel’s power supply should keep the alarm from tripping. Just make sure you turn the breaker back on after the home alarm battery replacement or you’ll wonder why you can’t make the system work again.
- Replace the battery. Take the leads off the old battery and take it out. Put the new battery in, and replace the cables. If you didn’t use the engineer’s code, you’ll probably get a system message that says something like “tampering” or “zone open” and the alarm may continue to sound.
Replace the cover. Once you replace the home alarm system cover, this should cause what’s called a “tamper switch” to go back into place. This should cause the system message to go away and it should also silence the alarm, if it’s still going off.
