Burglar alarm advice

elsmandino

Hi there,

Following a recent burglary, I have decided (as is often the case, a little to late) to finally get round to purchasing a burglar alarm.

I have been looking on various websites - argos, wickes, screwfix etc. but there seems to be a intimidating variety of products and makes out there.

I have a three-bedroom bungalow and I also have a couple of cats (I did read that you can get alarms that take into account pets roaming the house).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks v much.

evoke

Get a professional, quality-rated company to do the survey and installation. Yes, you can save a few hundred quid doing it yourself but, unless you are an expert, you may not end up with a good system.

I would say around £1,000 for a 3-bed semi for a fairly decent system, so similar for a 3-bed bungalow.

I doubt very much you would get a system that copes with pets walking around from an off-the-shelf package from a High Street retailer.

The survey is actually worth quite a bit of money - you get the expertise of a professional so you know that the sensors will be in the right place and of the right type.

You'll also get an accredited installation for insurance purposes.

osdset

I would spend the cash beefing up security rather than on an alarm.
Alarms are only really effective if they are linked to the police via land line, dummy alarm boxes are almost as effective as a deterrent, the burglar won't know the difference.

warmhands.coldheart

osdset wrote: »

I would spend the cash beefing up security rather than on an alarm.
Alarms are only really effective if they are linked to the police via land line, dummy alarm boxes are almost as effective as a deterrent, the burglar won't know the difference.

The number of times an alarm would go off in the development I used to live in was unbelievable and there was never a sinner went to investigate. If they were being burgled, the thief would have had time to ransack the house and make himself a cup of coffee before leaving through the front door. People ignore burglar alarms..... I would agree with what you say. spend the money on better security like better or additional window locks, door locks, security lighting etc. rather than an alarm.

Myser

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

The number of times an alarm would go off in the development I used to live in was unbelievable and there was never a sinner went to investigate. If they were being burgled, the thief would have had time to ransack the house and make himself a cup of coffee before leaving through the front door. People ignore burglar alarms..... I would agree with what you say. spend the money on better security like better or additional window locks, door locks, security lighting etc. rather than an alarm.

Since most alarm sirens are usually ignored, it might be worth considering a system that is monitored or has an auto-dialer. In addition, as someone else pointed out on another thread, if there is a loud siren indoors, the sound of that may put the burglar off from hanging around.

paddyrg

Alarms can be counterproductive - there's a household opposite mine who have been known to set the alarm, go on holiday, and when the alarms went off all night for 3 nights all they did was make enemies of the street.

I know I for one was wishing someone would hurry up and burgle the place so I could get some sleep. I am uncharitable at 4am, it seems.

Myser

You can also have a silent alarm installed with a dummy box outside. I believe ADT do this. An internal siren sounds and the monitoring centre is notified.

paddyrg wrote: »

I know I for one was wishing someone would hurry up and burgle the place so I could get some sleep. I am uncharitable at 4am, it seems.

I'm sure you wouldn't want someone to wish that on you! Have you tried politely telling your neighbours that the alarm has been going off a number of times while they were away?

Stooby2

I have a Response wireless alarm that I fitted myself. They do a variety of kits and you can add extra sensors easily. It was simple to fit and has so far (5 years) been reliable. We have a dog - during the set up you assign different sensors to different alarm zones, i.e. all the infra-red sensors are on one zone, the door sensors on another.

If we go out, but leave the dog in, the system has a "part arm" button, that only arms the zones the door sensors are on. Otherwise it's a full arm for everything.

Ant555

During a break in a few years ago my alarm went off so I assume that was the reason the intruders only nicked my house phone(!?) and didn't proceed further into the house and steal more. I have a loud indoor siren!
Friends recently had the same experience - a window in a back room was forced open and a mobile phone was pocketed however when they went into the living room the alarm went off - man of house ran downstairs just as they were climbing back out the window. Assumption in this case too was that the alarm persuaded them to exit.
You can get sensors and systems that take cats into account so I would definitely speak to a local firm.
Also, ask around as I would be amazed if half the fitters at all the alarm firms in your area didn't do 'foreigners' on weekends as its good money. If you see someone working on a house alarm this weekend then stop and ask them.

Hope this helps.

warmhands.coldheart

Ant555 wrote: »

...... I would be amazed if half the fitters at all the alarm firms in your area didn't do 'foreigners' on weekends ........

What do their wives think of this. would be grounds for divorce I'd think :A

kizkiz

osdset wrote: »

dummy alarm boxes are almost as effective as a deterrent, the burglar won't know the difference.

As other comments on this thread show, dummy alarms are generally pointless
Thieves know full well that some are dummies, so they try their luck anyway. If it doesn't go off they burgle you...if it does go off, they leg it usually