Smart Home & Business Automation
in Orange County
Take control of your environment with Epic Alarm’s automation systems. Manage lights, locks, temperature, and more — from anywhere — for ultimate comfort, convenience, and energy efficiency.
Connect Your Home
or Business
Our automation technology brings your systems together into one smart platform. Adjust settings from your phone, set routines, and let your space work for you.
Comfort Meets
Efficiency
Security and Control,
Combined
Designed Around You
The all-in-one solution for intrusion detection, access, video and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions we actually get asked about locks, lights, thermostats and Scenes. For pricing, scheduling and general enquiries, see our general FAQ.
How long does a smart lock actually last?
Expect three to five years, and be aware the spread is wide. We have seen some fail inside a year and others run past six. What decides it is how hard the lock works and where it lives: a busy household throwing the bolt sixty times a day wears one out far faster than a quiet one, exterior doors take rain, dust and sun, and direct sunlight is measurably harder on them. Coastal properties fare worst, because salt in the air is hard on all household electronics. The manufacturer warranty is one year. See how long a digital door lock lasts.
What is a Scene, and what can it not do?
A Scene is a single button that takes several actions across several devices at once: arm the system, lock the doors, drop the lights. Worth knowing up front what it is not. A Scene is an on demand rule, so it cannot be put on a schedule, and the order of its actions cannot be rearranged. If you want something to happen at a set time, that is a different feature. See how Scenes work and creating and editing a Scene.
Can I arm the system automatically at night?
Yes, but not through Scenes. Smart Arming replaced the older scheduled arming for residential customers in late 2022, and it is designed to reduce false alarms rather than simply fire on a clock. Commercial subscribers on certain plans get a different version built for business use. See enabling Smart Arming.
Will my existing Nest thermostat work with the system?
It can, with two conditions: the system has to be an Alarm.com system and you have to be on the Ultimate plan. If both are true we can integrate the Nest you already own rather than replacing it. See will my Nest thermostat work with Epic Alarm.
A device says "malfunction". What does that mean?
It means the device has gone offline and is no longer talking to the Z-Wave network. Start with power, because Z-Wave devices are powered in different ways and a light module, a lock and a thermostat all fail differently. Most of these we can work through with you over the phone. See troubleshooting a Z-Wave device in malfunction.
Can I add devices myself later?
Yes. Pairing and removing Z-Wave devices is a documented process rather than an engineer visit, so a lamp module or an extra lock can be added without waiting for us. See pairing or removing Z-Wave devices. If you would rather we did it, we will.
Can the system tell me when a door has been left unlocked?
Yes. You can build notifications for a lock left unlocked, for lock activity generally, and for a lock reporting a low battery, so the failure mode you care about is the one that reaches your phone. See creating a lock left unlocked notification.
The lock is eating batteries. Is that normal?
Batteries in a smart lock are consumables, and a busy exterior door will get through them faster than an interior one. Replacing them is a job you can do yourself, and the low battery notification exists so you find out before the lock does something inconvenient. See replacing batteries on a Yale smart lock and replacing thermostat batteries.
Does automation make false alarms more or less likely?
Less, if it is set up deliberately. Automation that arms the system reliably at the right time, and that tells you a door was left unlocked, removes the human error that causes most false activations. Automation bolted on carelessly does the opposite. Most Orange County cities charge after a small number of false alarms, so this is not an abstract concern. See your city page for the local rules.
What happens to the automation if the internet goes down?
The alarm side and the convenience side behave differently, and it is worth being clear about which is which. Security signalling is designed to survive a connection loss. Remote control of lights, locks and thermostats from your phone is not: that needs a path out of the building. Local operation of the devices themselves carries on. See our monitoring page for how alarm signalling is protected.
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Getting started is simple. Answer a few quick questions and we’ll give you a straightforward, honest quote.