# Adafruit IO Home: Security ## Overview ![](https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/assets/assets/000/061/004/medium800thumb/sensors_front_alarm.jpg?1536181793) ## Home Security A _smart_ home is a _safe_ home. In this guide, we're going to take our cardboard smart-home and equip it with sensors to protect the home against intruders, wanna-be burglars, and invisible chemicals.  ### What is the IO Home? Interested in making your house a bit smarter?  Why not start _small _by building a  **Cardboard**   **Smart**   **Home**! Adafruit IO Home is a series of learning guides covering all aspects of a smart house: from temperature monitoring to an intelligent home security system.  _Want to scale up from the cardboard home to a real home?_  We've selected real-world components, sensors, and hardware which can also be installed in your home, office or laboratory! # Parts ### Door Sensor We'll be building a small front door (out of cardboard, of course) for our home. We'll use a reed switch and magnet to detect if the door is open or closed. We'll be adding a toggle-block on our Adafruit IO dashboard to arm/dis-arm the system. ### Magnetic contact switch (door sensor) [Magnetic contact switch (door sensor)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/375) This sensor is essentially a reed switch, encased in an ABS plastic shell. Normally the reed is 'open' (no connection between the two wires). The other half is a magnet. When the magnet is less than 13mm (0.5") away, the reed switch closes. They're often used to detect when a... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/375) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/375/guides) ![Top view of magnetic contact switch with three screws.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/375-01.jpg) ### Motion Sensor We'll also utilize a PIR sensor to detect any intruders who hang out in front of our house after dark. ### PIR (motion) sensor [PIR (motion) sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/189) PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 20 feet away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This one has an adjustable delay before firing (approx 2-4 seconds), adjustable sensitivity **and** we include a 1 foot (30 cm) cable with a socket so you... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/189) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/189/guides) ![Angled Shot of the PIR (motion) sensor.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/189-04.jpg) ### Air Quality Sensor Now, what about the thing most people don't think to monitor? We're talking about _invisible_ intruders - gasses and air particulates. While gasses and volatile organic compounds are already inside your home - you'd benefit from adding the ability to measure them. The SGP30 Air Quality Sensor is one of our favorite sensors - it can monitor both the amount of [Carbon Dioxide](https://www.co2meter.com/blogs/news/1209952-co-and-co2-what-s-the-difference) and [Volatile Organic Compounds](http://www.npi.gov.au/resource/total-volatile-organic-compounds) in your home's air. ### Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout - VOC and eCO2 [Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout - VOC and eCO2](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3709) Breathe easy with the SGP30 Multi-Pixel Gas Sensor, a fully integrated MOX gas sensor. This is a very fine air quality sensor from the sensor experts at Sensirion, with I2C interfacing and fully calibrated output signals with a typical accuracy of 15% within... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3709) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3709/guides) ![Angled shot of a Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/3709-07.jpg) ## Alarm System  A piezo buzzer and a NeoPixel Jewel are used in this guide as a combination of visual and audio alerts to notify you when your home has detected an after-dark intruder. ### Part: Piezo Buzzer quantity: 1 Small, but mighty, buzzer. [Piezo Buzzer](https://www.adafruit.com/product/160) ### Part: NeoPixel Jewel quantity: 1 NeoPixel Jewel - 7 x 5050 RGB LED with Integrated Drivers [NeoPixel Jewel](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2226) To use this guide, we'll need a microcontroller capable of connecting to Adafruit IO. The Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 is used in most of our Adafruit IO Guides. ### Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers [Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake, it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores. This is the  **Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266**  - our take on an... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2821/guides) ![Angled shot of black, rectangular WiFi development board.](https://cdn-shop.adafruit.com/640x480/2821-07.jpg) ## Materials You'll need these extra materials to assemble the home security system. ### Part: Breadboard quantity: 1 Half-Size Breadboard [Breadboard](https://www.adafruit.com/product/64) ### Part: Breadboarding Wire Bundle quantity: 1 You'll want some of these wires to hook up your sensors. [Breadboarding Wire Bundle](https://www.adafruit.com/product/153) ### Part: Solder quantity: 1 Mini Spool, 100g of 60/40 rosin-core solder. [Solder](https://www.adafruit.com/product/145) ### Part: Right Angle USB Cable quantity: 1 USB Cable which bends at a right angle, can fit easily inside the house. [Right Angle USB Cable](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1318) ## Tools Owning, or having access to, these tools will make this guide much easier to follow. If you do not have access to them, pick some up from the Adafruit Store. ### Part: Ruler quantity: 1 Our snazzy PCB reference ruler. You don't need THIS ruler, but you do need a ruler. [Ruler](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1554) ### Part: Helping Hands quantity: 1 Helping Third Hand Magnifier W/Magnifying Glass Tool [Helping Hands](https://www.adafruit.com/product/291) ### Part: Soldering Station quantity: 1 Hakko FX-888D [Soldering Station](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1204) - X-Acto Knife, Box Cutter, or Sharp Knife - Hot Glue Gun - Double Sided Tape - [Next Page](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-io-home-security/putting-it-together.md) ## Featured Products ### Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers [Adafruit Feather HUZZAH with ESP8266 - Loose Headers](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) Feather is the new development board from Adafruit, and like its namesake, it is thin, light, and lets you fly! We designed Feather to be a new standard for portable microcontroller cores. This is the  **Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266**  - our take on an... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2821) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2821/guides) ### Raspberry Pi Zero W [Raspberry Pi Zero W](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3400) If you didn't think that the Raspberry Pi Zero could possibly get any better, then boy do we have a pleasant surprise for you! The new **Raspberry Pi Zero W** offers all the benefits of the Pi Zero v1.3, but with one big difference – **built-in...** In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3400) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3400/guides) ### Magnetic contact switch (door sensor) [Magnetic contact switch (door sensor)](https://www.adafruit.com/product/375) This sensor is essentially a reed switch, encased in an ABS plastic shell. Normally the reed is 'open' (no connection between the two wires). The other half is a magnet. When the magnet is less than 13mm (0.5") away, the reed switch closes. They're often used to detect when a... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/375) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/375/guides) ### PIR (motion) sensor [PIR (motion) sensor](https://www.adafruit.com/product/189) PIR sensors are used to detect motion from pets/humanoids from about 20 feet away (possibly works on zombies, not guaranteed). This one has an adjustable delay before firing (approx 2-4 seconds), adjustable sensitivity **and** we include a 1 foot (30 cm) cable with a socket so you... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/189) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/189/guides) ### Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout - VOC and eCO2 [Adafruit SGP30 Air Quality Sensor Breakout - VOC and eCO2](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3709) Breathe easy with the SGP30 Multi-Pixel Gas Sensor, a fully integrated MOX gas sensor. This is a very fine air quality sensor from the sensor experts at Sensirion, with I2C interfacing and fully calibrated output signals with a typical accuracy of 15% within... Out of Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3709) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3709/guides) ### Piezo Buzzer [Piezo Buzzer](https://www.adafruit.com/product/160) Piezo buzzers are used for making beeps, tones and alerts. This one is petite but loud! Drive it with 3-30V peak-to-peak square wave. To use, connect one pin to ground (either one) and the other pin to a square wave out from a timer or microcontroller. For the loudest tones, stay around 4 KHz,... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/160) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/160/guides) ### Raspberry Pi Camera Board v2 - 8 Megapixels [Raspberry Pi Camera Board v2 - 8 Megapixels](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3099) Snap, snap! The Camera v2 is the new official camera board released by the Raspberry Pi Foundation! The **Raspberry Pi Camera Board v2** is a high quality 8 megapixel Sony IMX219 image sensor custom designed add-on board for Raspberry Pi, featuring a fixed focus lens.... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/3099) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/3099/guides) ### Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - 60 LED/m [Adafruit Mini Skinny NeoPixel Digital RGB LED Strip - 60 LED/m](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2964) So thin. So mini. So teeeeeeny-tiny. It's the 'skinny' version of our classic NeoPixel strips! These NeoPixel strips have 60 digitally-addressable pixel Mini LEDs per meter and are very affordable and are only 7.5 mm wide, 5 mm if you remove the strip from the... In Stock [Buy Now](https://www.adafruit.com/product/2964) [Related Guides to the Product](https://learn.adafruit.com/products/2964/guides) ## Related Guides - [PIR Motion Sensor](https://learn.adafruit.com/pir-passive-infrared-proximity-motion-sensor.md) - [Adafruit Feather HUZZAH ESP8266](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-huzzah-esp8266.md) - [MicroPython Basics: Blink a LED](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-blink-a-led.md) - [Edge-Lit Tavern Sign with WLED - Control with WiFi or IR Remote](https://learn.adafruit.com/edge-lit-tavern-sign-with-wled-control-with-wifi-or-ir-remote.md) - [MAC Address Finder](https://learn.adafruit.com/mac-address-finder.md) - [Mystery Box: Haunted Radio](https://learn.adafruit.com/mystery-box-haunted-radio.md) - [3D Printed IoT On Air Sign for Twitch](https://learn.adafruit.com/3d-printed-iot-on-air-sign-for-twitch.md) - [PyPortal Trivia Time with the Open Trivia Database](https://learn.adafruit.com/pyportal-trivia-time-open-trivia-database.md) - [Gemma M0 Sheikah Pendant](https://learn.adafruit.com/gemma-m0-sheikah-pendant.md) - [Making Adabot: Part 1](https://learn.adafruit.com/making-adabot-part-1.md) - [Overwatch Prop Gun: Lucio's Blaster Pt. 3](https://learn.adafruit.com/overwatch-prop-gun-lucios-blaster-pt-3.md) - [MicroPython Displays: Drawing Shapes](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-displays-drawing-shapes.md) - [MicroPython Smart Holiday Lights](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-smart-holiday-lights.md) - [MicroPython Hardware: Analog I/O](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-hardware-analog-i-o.md) - [MicroPython Basics: Loading Modules](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-loading-modules.md) - [MicroPython Basics: ESP8266 WebREPL](https://learn.adafruit.com/micropython-basics-esp8266-webrepl.md) - [Mystical LED Halloween Hood](https://learn.adafruit.com/mystical-led-halloween-hood.md)