Burglar alarm advice

advice_please_2

I'm looking to get one too after moving into new property

Quotes vary but many seem in favour for wireless which I had before and happy with

Brains unit and two sensors circa £500 then the add ons

I would go to a board like ssaib website and search a credited installer from there

Edwardia

We have CCTV and alarms but think both lead to complacency. We had an intruder and though he scarpered without anything, physically it was fairly easy for him to get in. So we've added more locks, chains, PrikkaStrip and alarms.

Mankysteve

WE've got motion dectors that are meant to not be set off by cats. They do get set off by cats. But you can get window smash sensors and door sensors instead of motion sensors, but as others have said alarms are not much of deterrent even with response alarms the buglers gone by the time anyone gets there, normal ones just get ignored. Better locks and cameras would be my way. Locks to deter and camera's so at least you've got a bit more chance of the police caching them.

rover123_2

Sorry, but £1000 for an alarm system is a ridiculous suggestion.

I bought a perfectly fine Yale system for less than £300. It's wireless, it has pet friendly sensors, it's easy to set up and best of all, if the alarm goes off you can set it to dial 3 phone numbers that you choose when installing.

Whilst I take on board what some users have said, I still believe if a burglar had a choice between a house with an alarm and a house without one, they would choose the house without.

Beef up the security in your house, fit an alarm aswell!! Peace of mind in the future. There used to be a tv programme called Beat the Burglar. Dominic Littlewood presented it, and they had an ex burglar assess how easy he thought it would be to break in.

They then made various additions to the security of the house. It was really interesting to hear the ex burglars point of view. The smallest details that you would not think about eg. closed front gates are a psychological deterrent, wheelie bins chained together to stop them being used as a step or a ladder.

Sorry for the long winded reply, but I do think it's essential to have a decent alarm system, especially after falling victim once before. Don't make it as easy for them IF there is a next time.

Biggles

kizkiz wrote: »

As other comments on this thread show, dummy alarms are generally pointless
Thieves know full well that some are dummies

And they know how to recognise dummies. You're probably worse off with a dummy than with no alarm, as it says, "Look, this is all we've got".

I would agree £1,000 is about what you'd have to pay these days, but get competitive quotes. It's worth that for the advice on the best way to alarm your house and the for the NACOSS approval, which some insurers will give you a discount for.

And, if you ever wanted to connect it to the police, it would need to be NACOSS-approved.

giraffe69

Had an alarm in my old property and wanted one when I moved. My DIY skills would not be up to fitting one. I went for wireless, door sensor and room sensors downstairs, no connection to outside.
Thus far no false alarms. Like one or two others I think casual burglars will be deterred if the house has an alarm and others nearby don't. It is also worth ensuring that other things like strong locks are fitted. you even get a modest discount on your house insurance if you have a NACOS approved alarm that is serviced.

Kernel_Sanders

Myser wrote: »

Have you tried politely telling your neighbours that the alarm has been going off a number of times while they were away?

Why should they be asked politely? They've obviously kept it off when at home so they don't get disturbed at night, then selfishly only switched it on when going away.

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

there was never a sinner went to investigate.

What is that supposed to mean?

Myser

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

Why should they be asked politely? They've obviously kept it off when at home so they don't get disturbed at night, then selfishly only switched it on when going away.

What is that supposed to mean?

Perhaps they don't have part-set configured or don't know how to enable it so they only set the alarm when they go out?

elsmandino

Hi there,

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I have spent some time (and of course money) upgrading the general security on my house and I think that I might now add an alarm to boot.

The detectives that are dealing with my burglary advised me that in their experience, a Burglar Alarm would be beneficial to us as we live down a fairly busy road and in their experience, although neighbours tend not rush round to see what the racket is, they are likely to have a look out the window and it is that fear of being seen that puts them off.

Assuming (at least for the time being) that I go with a DIY job rather than a security company, is there any real difference between Wireless and Wired security systems?

I would prefer a wired system as I have heard that there are a number of problems with wireless systems but they seem difficult to buy now - nearly everything I have found so far is wireless.

macman

Wireless means (to state the obvious) that you don't have to run cabling all over your house to each sensor. Wireless are (IMHO) perfectly reliable these days, you just have to change the batteries once in a while,