House Alarm Systems

Hoof_Hearted

I have to say that in my experience the police are not interested in attending alarm alerts -- too many false ones.

What happens if you have a dog? Can you still have an alarm system without shutting him in a cupboard?

SailorSam

Hoof Hearted, ... I'm sure i've seen these alarms that bark like a dog if someone comes to the door. You know the way some turn the lights off and on.

I think what you have to do if you have pets is to try and adjust the PIR so that's it a couple of foot off the ground.

Biggles

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

I have to say that in my experience the police are not interested in attending alarm alerts -- too many false ones.

It might depend on where you live, but I think the general rule is that they allow you one or two false alarms in a year before they refuse to attend.

What happens if you have a dog? Can you still have an alarm system without shutting him in a cupboard?

There are other things besides PIRs. We had cats, so rather than covering places like the hall or landing with PIRs, we had door sensors. But these days I think you can even get 'smart' PIRs that will ignore pets. Not sure how well they work if you're burgled by a dwarf, though.

starlight_xx

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

I have to say that in my experience the police are not interested in attending alarm alerts -- too many false ones.

In our force If you have an alarm connected to an alarm monitoring company who pass the details to the police then the police HAVE to attend. It wont be in seconds, unless its your panic button thats been hit but they will attend.

If your alarm isnt monitored and a neighbour phones in to report your alarm is going off then they dont have to attend

starlight_xx

Biggles wrote: »

It might depend on where you live, but I think the general rule is that they allow you one or two false alarms in a year before they refuse to attend.

As a rule an alarm response wont be withdrawn unless there have been a LOT of false alarms, much more than one or 2

Biggles

starlight_xx wrote: »

As a rule an alarm response wont be withdrawn unless there have been a LOT of false alarms, much more than one or 2

True, current ACPO guidance is three, apparently.

starlight_xx

Biggles wrote: »

True, current ACPO guidance is three, apparently.

I know we allow a bit of flexibility on that depending on the circumstances and time between them

zizu73

Thanks for your replies. I think we are going to go with the ADT monitored security alarm. The one thing which worries me is that you sign up to a 36 months contact so i need to ask the company what happens if we move etc. Anybody who has experience with the ADT?

Biggles

Looks like they will give you a discount on installation at your next house - T&Cs on their website.

The thing that would put me off ADT is the fact that, though the cost of installation is subsidised, the ongoing monthly cost seems very high. It might be worth checking what a local firm would charge for installing a system, and how much monitoring would cost afterwards.

zizu73

Biggles wrote: »

Looks like they will give you a discount on installation at your next house - T&Cs on their website.

The thing that would put me off ADT is the fact that, though the cost of installation is subsidised, the ongoing monthly cost seems very high. It might be worth checking what a local firm would charge for installing a system, and how much monitoring would cost afterwards.

Yes I agree. A rep is coming on Monday so will see what he says. Thanks.