I have worked in the Home Security industry for years and years. I have spoken to thousands of people looking to protect their homes, and though they are definitely correct to search for a burglar alarm to protect themselves, they generally have no idea on what it necessary to do that. Of course this is not their fault because they are not in the industry, so why would they know? Now I have my own company now, and will use this blog to advertise it, but the main focus of this blog is to just educate people looking to get an alarm of what they need and should be looking for. In the multiple companies that I have worked for, they all have their own packages and pitches for customers, but most of these companies are of course just looking to profit. Actually securing your home is not their primary concern, in most cases. So I will give you a quick look into what you should be purchasing to protect your home, but at the same time not waste your money.
First things first, cost is going to be a factor in how secure you are. Just about any company out there can turn your home into Fort Knox, but it will cost you. Not only will it cost you, but you will feel like a prisoner in your own home because before you can move or open ANYTHING, you have to basically disable your system from the keypad. Nobody wants to live like that, so you do want to take a somewhat conservative approach when choosing how much equipment to actually go with.
As far as stopping a burglary, the equipment needed is actually very simple. First you must secure your doors, the large majority of burglaries happen through doors, I guess because a burglar has to get your stuff out after he breaks in. To secure the doors, a security company will install contacts on them. Contacts are basically a two sided sensor that trigger the alarm if they separate. Now a lot of companies are going to try to use these same contacts to protect your windows as well. Now for the most part this is a waste of your money. Most contacts that are used today are going to be wireless. Now this means that in most cases they will be able to be seen from outside the window, since they are not embedded in the frame, like in an older wired system. Of course what that means is the burglar will see them prior to trying to open your window, and he will generally take a different approach to breaking in. Most likely what he will then do is break your window and crawl though. If you choose to go with window contacts as opposed to using motion sensors, then this is a very big risk to you staying secure. Conversely when it comes to doors, the contacts work great because no matter if someone kicks your door open, or picks the lock, the door will still open from the frame. That will of course trigger your alarm.
Motion detectors are in almost every case going to be your best line of security. With a correctly placed motion sensor, it doesn't matter if someone broke through a door, a window, or any other way in. Once they breach one of the infrared beams, they will trigger the alarm. Now the issue with motion sensors is the fact that they are generally the culprit behind false alarms. False alarms can get you costly fines from your local authorities, so you definitely want to limit them. So my recommendation is to not clutter your home with many motions. Remember that the intruder will not know where your motion sensor is, so as long as it is in a high traffic area, you can be quite sure that he will trip the alarm while walking throughout your home. The best placement for these motion sensors in my opinion, is either in a foyer or hallway that leads into multiple rooms. You will also want to tell your technician where you guys may need to walk to in the middle of the night, like a childs room or bath room, to make sure that you wont set off your alarm while going through that area. This is usually not a problem for the technician.
Many customers that have animals have been told to not use motion sensors for the fear of false alarms. In these cases you want to specifically make sure that a pet immune motion sensor is used. These motion sensors will in most cases have no problem with dogs under 100 lbs., even cats shouldn't be an issue. You have to be very careful that the company you choose is using the correct equipment though. I worked for one of the biggest home security companies in the country, I will leave them nameless, and they would take a normal cheap motion sensor and turn it upside down to keep the infrared beams away from ground level. They would claim that this would create a free zone for the animals to move around without triggering the alarm. This is not the correct way to secure the home, so make sure that the company you choose is using the correct motion sensor. Aside from the motion though, most equipment is quite similar in function and reliability, so if you don't have pets you should be pretty safe with any brand.
When it comes to securing your home from a burglary, The door contacts and Motion sensors are really all you need. As I stated earlier though a lot of that will depend on your budget. If you want to completely lock down your home, then feel free to contact every window, have motion sensors and glass break detectors in every room, and so on. This is a little overkill though and really is not necessary. A lot of companies these days even give the normal equipment to you for free. My company does a standard three door contacts and one motion sensor for free. Of course there are some bells and whistles added in, but that's really all you will need for a home up to about 2500 square feet. If your home has a very unique layout, then more or less could be necessary of course.
At the end of the day what your decision should be based on when choosing the right company should be cost and monitoring. You should really stick with top companies for monitoring purposes, because you getting a quick and efficient response is the most important thing. Most of the top 5 or so national brands have more than adequate monitoring, but the price difference can be pretty staggering. Monitoring should cost you roughly $25-$35 monthly, depending on what you need. Purchasing a warranty with the equipment is generally $5 extra per month, but of course can be well worth it. Usually not having a landline telephone will get you another $10 added on as well, so be prepared for that. Aside from the monthly cost, you can usually get out under $100 as far as upfront fees since almost all companies will have you sign a 3 year contract term.
I will be adding to this whenever i have time, but feel free to leave any questions or thoughts that you may have. Also if you live in the Carolinas check out my website www.carolinahomealarms.com or call me at 877-307-0006 for a free quote.
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