So I've been in my new house for a little over a year now, and my wife and I have decided that it's time to have a security system installed (either professionally or do-it-yourself). At this point, I'm leaning towards a more simple approach...don't want to pay a monthly charge for monitoring or anything like that. I just want to set up a system that can detect glass breakage, monitor a couple doors, and maybe a motion sensor too. Can anyone make any recommendations? Any members here have security systems that they've been happy/unhappy with? I'm just starting my research now and would appreciate any input....

Caveat emptor.

The ratio of false alarms varies from 98% to 99% depending on jurisdiction, and there is little evidence to suggest that these systems reduce crime.

There is arguably a slight deterrent effect from the signs and placards. Other than that, I am personally unaware of any burglary that was either foiled or successfully prosecuted because of an alarm system, and I can't find any statistics showing that they help.

I'd say there's a lot to be said for having another layer of warning between me and my wife (in a bedroom) and an intruder. Add on the fire monitoring and they can add some piece of mind.

The smash and grab that could occur when I'm gone is the least of my concerns. It's just "stuff". It's what can happen when I am home that worries me most.

-Mark

Large German Shepherd, Rottwieller or Doberman + a Mossberg 500/590 and a 1911A1.

Just once I would like to see someone ask "What alarm?" and not receive the answer "dog". Never happens...

Really, dogs and alarms are not the same thing.

I'm a fan of alarms for the early warning that they provide -- but if you're looking for a serious law enforcement response to alarms you're probably not going to find that.

One of my work responsibilities is alarm technology for commercial & office properties -- needless to say, it hasn't evolved much since the 1950s
B

I was asking the same question a couple of years ago. I finally settled on an Ademco that I installed.

See http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-1169-v20p-wls-honeywell-vista20p-security-kit.aspx for a pretty decent system. It's similar to what I got and then I added quite a bit to it.

I did a full hardwire system and let it run unmonitored for well over a year to be sure that I wouldn't have false alarms and have LE show up at my door. The thing has been flawless for over 2 years now. Not one single false alarm. Now that it's proven reliable, it's now monitored (at only $9/month). I figure that by paying the $9/mo compared to the "Free Install" compainies charging monitoring fees of ~$40/mo, the system has almost paid for itself and is a hell of a lot better than those that they install.

By the way, if possible, go full hardwired. I had an unfinished basement and it ended up not being too difficult to run the wiring. I ended up with 3 dual PIR motions, 3 glass breakage, 3 door contacts and 12 window contacts. All contacts are press fit into the frame and completely hidden.

Next step is to get all smoke and heat sensors wired up. Big bonus is that my insurance company will give me a 11% break on my insurance bill!

Thanks for the input everyone.

I'm just looking for something simple that will monitor a few doors and windows (mainly the basement since it's a walkout, and two floors away from where I sleep). Being that the basement is unfinished, wiring shouldn't be a problem.

Having a little early warning on a break-in while I, my wife, and my kids are all sleeping upstairs is all that I am looking for really. After posting my initial message last night, I was searching around and I did find a few different do-it-yourself systems with control panels that can dial out to a handful of phone numbers with a pre-recorded message....so, if we don't pay for professional monitoring, at least the system could call me, my wife, etc. if the alarm goes off when I'm not home.

A couple of tips:

1) Put a second master panel in your bedroom. You can then see the status and whatever other information can be displayed without having to go through the house (which would be REALLY bad if someone was waiting for you, say, in your living room). You also then have panic button capabilities right in your bedroom.

2) Consider fire sensors.

3) Some systems can even monitor your HVAC so if your furnace dies in the middle of winter when you might be on a warm vacation, you don't come home to burst pipes and a massive repair bill.

All depends how much you want to spend.

-Mark

I was thinking about this thread today and remembering the museum display I once saw that contained the master panel for the alarm system at a large bank in the early years of the 20th century. It was a real work of art, with a walnut cabinet, meters, bells, extra batteries, and bypass switches for individual loops. The whole thing was set up to use a closed loop, and if the current through the loop went either up or down, it would trip. The idea was that it was sensitive enough that if any portion of the loop were bypassed the resistance would change enough for it to trip. The main cabinet had a glass front and you could see all the wiring, switches, and relays. You don't see that kind of craftsmanship much in alarm systems now.

I had a friend once whose gun shop was burglarized. Classic ripoff where the perps broke in and tripped the alarm, waited for the response to come and go, and then stripped the place at their leisure. They had a police scanner as well so they knew when the cops were on their way. The perps eventually got busted on the sell side of things as is so often the case.

My experiences with alarm systems and alarm companies have been uniformly negative. I think it comes down to the fact that a well-installed, high-quality alarm system is prohibitively expensive, and so most companies sell crap systems without enough sensors, zones, or intelligence. For my own place, I've thought that driveway sensors and cameras would provide much more effective security. Early warning plus the footage you need to get a prosecution in the event of trouble. Sometimes something that just beeps when a motion sensor trips or the door opens is more effective than a fancy panel.

In reality, the risk you run of a home invasion burglary is low - unless you are in a high-risk profession like drug dealing. In that case, security cameras and outdoor motion sensors would be your best bet.

Most residential burglaries happen when you aren't home. If you're going to alarm the house, then you have to decide: more important to scare them away or to catch them. If you want to scare them away, get an alarm that has a VERY LOUD siren- one that the neighbors can hear.

If you want to catch them, then get the silent kind that alerts the police, so we can get them still inside. The homeowner in me just wants them the hell out of my house go steal from someone else! The cop in me says to the homeowner, "it would be nice if you would put your house at risk while we respond...."

However, there's a nasty catch to this. tman065 is of course correct, most burglaries DO occur when the house is unoccupied (i.e. during the day), contrary to popular belief.

The nasty catch is that when you do run across someone who would break into your home at night, when it is likely to be occupied, your risk of getting hurt skyrockets. Those burglars expect to run into people, and often come prepared.

Hence, I want all the warning I can get.

-Mark

Yep. There's that.

That's why I have an alarm system. If it can scare off burglars or help police catch them when I'm not around, that'd be cool. But my primary reason for having one is early warning in the, hopefully unlikely, event that someone is breaking in while I'm in a heavy sleep so I don't wake up to them in my bedroom.

I surmise this is what sheepdog is looking for since he says he's not interested in monitoring.

That cliche, "that's what a dog is for," is annoying to me. My alarm system requires much less constant care and feeding than a dog. And I've seen big, loud, obnoxious dogs run whimpering when the stakes are raised. Not that having a dog as another potential security onion layer is a bad thing. It's just not for everybody and is often unreliable too.

ETA - To help with the original question, I can't say I've been unhappy with the reliability of my Ademco hardware. Obviously try for wired everything. But if you have to there are some wireless enabled modules that work really well for getting sensors into odd places.

Glass break sensors are nice to have in addition to wired windows, but are always a trade off between sensitivity and false alarms. On the most sensitive level, I've had glass breaks trigger when my son has dropped non-glass things very loudly. My glass breaks do have dip switches in them that allow you to configure their sensitivity. So it's possible to experiment with them.

Depending on what you're looking for, consider security window films. They're not super cheap, but a there are good installers locally for both Armorcoat and 3M products. That can do an install where you don't even see that the film is present. The films can slow access through windows. Of course there is the catch that they can reduce the effectiveness of glass break sensors. Always a tradeoff.

+∞


Yes....precisely.

MostlyHarmless: I don't totally disagree with the comments you have made, but I've got to believe that having something in place will be better than what I have now....which is nothing at all, except for a puny little boston terrier. I imagine if someone REALLY wanted to get into my house, they could, alarm system or not.