Wireless Vs Hard Wired Burglar Alarms

redders499

Hi,
Does anyone have any views or experience on whether wireless or hard wired burglar alarms are betters?

cheers

redders

missile

I had wireless alarm which I bought from B&Q. It was a waste of money, lots of false alarms and batteries needed changing frequently. I replaced it with a wired system.

I have a wireless system in spain and it is far better. No false alarms and batteries seem to last a year or more.

Thus, I would suggest it depends on the maker. Don't buy cheap!

jkgray

missile wrote: »

I had wireless alarm which I bought from B&Q. It was a waste of money, lots of false alarms and batteries needed changing frequently. I replaced it with a wired system.

I have a wireless system in spain and it is far better. No false alarms and batteries seem to last a year or more.

Thus, I would suggest it depends on the maker. Don't buy cheap!

I woudl agree with this. I bought a cheap wireless system but it has fallen into disuse due to teh batteries constantly running out. Also it woudl send a text message to your mobile when it went off - all the time which was pointless really as what are you goign to do - call teh police, not really.

morg_monster

Well an alternate POV, we installed a wireless Yale alarm a month ago after being burgled 1 month after moving into our new house (wah). RRP was about £200 I think but with the homebase discount we got from the police (!) it worked out more like £150 i think. It's been great so far. The house was already in good nick decor-wise and we just had new carpets put in, so we did not want to go drilling through walls and pulling up carpets etc to put in a wired one. It was easy to install, took us one afternoon; made much easier since we were able to borrow a ladder off our neighbour to put up the sirens (that is the most annoying bit!).

Personally I like the fact it calls me if the alarm is triggered; I agree that I wouldn't really know what to do if it did! But the fact is that when we're away on holiday for a couple of weeks, we know that it hasn't been triggered, which just gives a bit of peace of mind. Plus I'm paranoid about annoying the neighbours with false alarms, so again, the fact I know immediately if it has gone off is a bonus for me. Also its modular nature is good; we've already added a door/window alarm for over our flat roof and i think we'll probably buy another infrared detector at some point.

it suits us down to the ground but I think it really depends on circumstances; how much hassle you can be bothered with, etc. We actually live in a pretty low crime area - i think we were just unlucky to be burgled - so just wanted a bit of reassurance rather than Fort Knox style protection - perhaps if you live in somewhere with more crime a wired one might suit you better.

redders499

Thanks e'one so far!! Morg_Monster-I know what you mean. We live in a low crime area as well, we have some of the house done about to get more work done. I am worried about the mess, but there seems to be conflicting messages re; wireless systems. How have you found battery life in the units?

morg_monster

Well we have only had it a month really, so far so good! Seriously though; everything in the manual says they should last either 3 or 4 years (I can't remember which). I don't know how much they will cost to replace. I'm hoping that if they were to go much earlier than the manual said, I'd be able to argue with Yale to give me some money off new batteries - I have read fairly good things about their customer service but who knows. I am the type to obsessively research online before buying and while doing this I didn't see anyone particularly moaning about battery life in Yale units; maybe its the cheaper "own brand" ones?

If you did want to go wired, you could find a local company to come to your house for free and give a quote, they may be able to suggest ways to install a wired one with less disruption to the work you've recently had done.

redders499

Cheers Morg_Monster. I have had a Yale shed alarm and when it went wrong Yale were excellent I have to say, no worries about their CS. Really appreciate the advice!!

27col

I installed a wireless alarm from Wickes about 20years ago. Quite cheap and has never given any trouble. The batteries in the sensors last nearly a year and a little flashing red light tells you when they need renewing.

danielfulshaw

I have installed a Yale HSA home alarm system at my parents house. I had a locksmith/alarm person help install it as I had to get back to London. Pros? Much cheaper than a fully professional system (by two thirds at least) and don't forget no annual service charge (what a rip off those are). The guy said it is quite a professional piece of kit - much more sophisticated than other or older wireless systems and, you know, it works?!
Down side; badly written instructions. They used to have a good helpline open at the weekends. Last time I called it they had a recorded message saying 'if you'd like to send us a letter'. Hmm. Not sure how helpful that is if your alarm is going off a 3am. But that could have been because it was a weekend so check that out. As to batteries; yes, they do need replacing every 6-8 months but it's a 5 mim job to disarm the system and replace them. Hope that helps.

Minihauk

I have a wireless system. A local company installed it for me as I am no good at diy. The batteries last about a year and then it buzzes when they need changing. I've had it about four years and had maybe 2 false alarms, so I don't think that is bad going!

ic

I have a Yale alarm in my house and shed - works well. The batteries actually lasted three years. I have a pir and door sensor on the shed, key pads by the front and back doors, pirs in all the rooms, and two smoke alarms on the system. Managed to pick the lot up in a variety of sales at B&Q so didn't cost much. When it came to replacing the batteries I just bought in bulk from Costco.