advice on home security systems: alarm

[p1tse]

any advice on what to look out for and budget?

 

[Twentyten]

 

[mercedes]

From what I've heard, Yale do a cracking alarm sytem with as many features as you need.
B&Q do them.

 

[KavKav]

The perfect solution (without the lead) as a first line of defence against thieving scroats who would break into your home.
Second line of defence is a most useful item called a baseball bat, for defence only, natch!

Less of a problem in the States, scroats who break into houses tend to get shot, and as a Oklahoma detective told me a few years ago, "Boy, if you have an intruder in your house, you shoot (in self defence of course) the sonofabitch and you shoot to kill, then da bum will be in no position to sue you"

Wonder why housebreaking is less popular over there?

 

[p1tse]

looking at ADT starts from £450

had a quote from a local fitter:
- wired 3 sensors £520+vat
- wireless £380+vat

wireless system cost more, but less labour intensive, but has control unit and keypad in one, so bigger units

i assume these pro used equipment would be better graded than B&Q ones?

anythoughts?

 

[paulyoung666]

as much as home security matters , make sure your contents insurance covers you fully , also , make sure that you are secured to the standard the policy requires , a friend of a friend had their claim thrown out because they only had a 3 lever lock on the back door instead of a 5 lever one , and the burglary didnt even happen through that door :bang:

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

I used to install alarms for a living and TBH the best form of security is to keep the b*ggers out rather than detect them once they are in.
Most insurers will give discount only with NACOSS certification.
Spend some money on good quality locks, window locks and hinge bolts etc. and put up a dummy box outside. This is a visible deterrent, and most opportunist thieves don't know the difference.
Give your local plod crime prevention team a call for advice.

 

[JDholic]

I used to install alarms for a living and TBH the best form of security is to keep the b*ggers out rather than detect them once they are in.
Most insurers will give discount only with NACOSS certification.
Spend some money on good quality locks, window locks and hinge bolts etc. and put up a dummy box outside. This is a visible deterrent, and most opportunist thieves don't know the difference.
Give your local plod crime prevention team a call for advice.

Quoted for truth. Only recently changed jobs from a similar job. Far better to stop them getting in entirely.

An alarm is only really effective if it's monitored in some way through an external ARC (Alarm Recieving Centre) who call the police/keyholder straight away. This is costly though with a dedicated phone line and a yearly charge. An alternative is to get a GSM autodialer that is programmer to ring certain numbers.

 

[Suvv]

I recently got a Yale wireless alarm from Quicksafe. Easy to install and use.
I used to have a professionally fitted one but it cost £50 a year for maintenance
The box outside is the deterrent.

 

[p1tse]

thanks all

for piece of mind we are getting an alarm and security light, due to what has happened to us recently.

however i would like to make the window which was attempted to break into more secure.

any advice for extra protection on a 1 metre high by half metre pvc window? someone tried to prise it open ;-(

 

[Steep]

Bars or a grill? you could even have a retractable grill fitted.

 

[p1tse]

Bars or a grill? you could even have a retractable grill fitted.

maybe the safer the bets, but it's not very practical

thanks for the thoughts though

 

[david1701]

thanks all

for piece of mind we are getting an alarm and security light, due to what has happened to us recently.

however i would like to make the window which was attempted to break into more secure.

any advice for extra protection on a 1 metre high by half metre pvc window? someone tried to prise it open ;-(

for the glass use triple glazing its massively hard to break, for the mounts if there are a few and spaced around it aint gonna prise too easily

 

[p1tse]

what sort of mounts?