Burglar Alarms, the pros and cons, etc

[f1steveuk]

A friend of ours in France was recently robbed, and it's spurred me into thinking about an alarm system. I understand they tend really only to be a deterrent, if "chummy" really wants in, he gets in, but the old adage of the harder it is to get in, the less likely "chummy" can be bothered.

So, I'm interested in thoughts and comments!!

[YCCMB]

We're the only people in our road without one in the UK, and thus the only people who don't have to run about frantically in the wee small hours trying to get the *** thing to switch off. At least one of the neighbours' goes off at least once a month, and can sometimes be ringing out for several hours, whilst, it appears, the main reaction is irritation and embarrassment, rather than any sort of concern. By coincidence, although we're the only people without an alarm, we were also the last people to have our garden shed broken into, long after just about every other neighbour had suffered that fate. Giving us plenty of time to secure or move anything valuable.

Like car alarms, I think the majority of people are immune to them and few ever see a need to do anything if they hear one go off.

In France, our farming neighbours had one installed outside because someone stole several tonnes of their recently harvested spuds. For the next 2 years, it went off during the night at regular intervals, probably set off by some animal or another wandering around. This involved our neighbour getting out of bed, throwing on some clothes and running about 50 metres across the road to switch it off and re-arm it. They got fed up, we got fed up, and in the end I think they've stopped using it. When they went away for a couple of days, they left us the key to switch it off and re-arm it, and it went off about 3 times in 2 days.

[pipemajor]

I've had an alarm on my UK property for over 20 years and I can't remember it ever going off in error. I deliberately set it off a couple of times a year just to make sure it still works correctly.I've never had an attempted entry to either the house or garage yet (touch wood), but my immediate neighbour, who doesn't have an alarm, has been broken into twice.

Also quite a few houses have been broken into in my street, none of whom had alarms, yet I don't know of anyone near bye with an alarm who has been broken into. It could be that there is an alarm bell displayed prominently on the house, so a dummy bell may serve the same purpose.

With regard to the alarms frequently going off, I think the main problem is the motion sensors which also react to heat. I don't have any motion sensors on my system and have never had a problem.

[dave21478]

An alarm will only be as good as the installation - both quality of work and choice of suitable components.

For example, if motion sensors might be a problem, better to use sensors to detect opening of windows or doors, yet in other cases window sensors may not be suitable. No point in having sensors in a room that is only accessible via other rooms that are already covered...ie windows grills or good shutters on the upper stories would mean only the ground floor needs alarmed....many choices.

As for their effectiveness - that depends on many, things. If you live in an isolated location, if there is nobody nearby to hear it, its a pointless effort. If there are people nearby, would they be likely to investigate on your behalf if it triggers? is there a neighbour you would trust with the remote while you are away? Will it cover your garage or outbuildings if they have anything of value in them? garages etc bring up much more scope for false alarms due to rodents or bats though.

If you have the money, monitored alarms are available that are linked to a control centre. Upon activation, they will try to contact you and will inform the local police. If not, some of the more basic ones will send your phone a text message informing you which sensor are has been triggered. Some can be monitored remotely via webcam or other cctv type cameras..... you will need to do a lot of research before splashing the cash to avoid wasting money.

[Théière]

Alarms sound when someone gets in and trips the system.  Better not to allow them to get in first.  Spending money on the important security should be the first thing before considering an alarm.

Dummy bell boxes, burglars often test the system before breaking in, once ascertained it's a dummy, it's game over for the owner, like dummy CCTV cameras, real ones don't have flashing LED's.

My van uses a silent alarm which sounds remotely in the house.  I have far better security on the van these days follow the rude awakening at 3am but robbers don't expect to get chased down the road by a person shouting at them at 3am.

There are alarm apps which will page/txt you and you can shout via loudspeakers at the intruders and tell them they are being recorded etc.

Loads of options

[Frederick]

Is there not some privacy thing the French have  a hissy fit over when it comes to people installing  cameras ?

[Lehaut]

We have had the same debate in our house. Its in a village with a small drive in and courtyard. Having just replaced all the older double glazing with more modern effective stuff, we found that we could neither hear if anyone drove into the courtyard during the day or if, we were working in the rear of the property, hear if anyone walked in. So we have replaced the old wooden gates with fancy PVC ones which we either fully lock or half lock. This stops people driving in unannounced (we get the swarthy roof cleaners doing that). I have also installed a motion alarm in the barn (10 euros from Lidls) and another one in the garage that overlooks the courtyard.(29 euros from Amazon). This has a remote control so I can set it from the upper floor we live in, day or night. When it goes of during the night when the cats appear I either turn it on/off or turn on the remote control flood light and shoot the cat!

What I really want in an instant on MP3 player I can connect to a motion sensor that will play a very loud recording of a dog barking. I know you can get pathetic little boxes that do it all in one unit, but that won't cut it. If any one know of a unit that will start playing the second power is put onto it, I would be grateful for a link.

[f1steveuk]

So far, much of what has been written, is what has been discussed with my other half and myself. So to set some criteria;

1] We at the very end of a lane, no passing traffic.

2] There are a few other houses off this lane, so "chummy" would have to go past other houses to get to ours.

3] Our's is a "modern" house (15 to 20 years old), double glazed throughout with shutters (solid and recessed into the window/door apertures) on all but six, small windows (mainly there to give light to the downstairs garage/cellar area).

4] I also had problems with people turning up, and not knowing they were there, and fitted a drive alert, so half way down our drive is a PIR which flashes a red LED when activated (and rings a door chime indoors)

5] We're outside a fairly small town, and unless you have visited, it's not likely you'd know our house is there.

6] We are sometimes away from home for up to three months

I have one wireless and one wired alarm system. What I am considering is installing the bell boxes, both of which have a strobing warning light when the system is armed. I was then going to attach the door/window sensors to the inside of the window/door shutters, garage door, and too some of the six small windows only. Any PIRs would be indoors to monitor inside the garage (contained within the house, no  wildlife!!!) and behind the remaining un-shuttered small windows, meaning they would only activate the alarm once the window had been forced or if there was movement very close to the outside of the glass. As I say, I understand it's really only a deterrent, nothing is 100%

Finally, I have located some flashing LED kits, that when connected to a battery flash once a second for three months, and thought about fixing these in the corners of the six small windows as well?

My thinking is, I have the alarm kits, might as well use them!!

Your further thoughts??!!

[Frederick]

This is all very interesting  and I would like to install camera / light  motion detect equipment  at my place . My insurer insists if the house is to be shut down over 30 days then power and water have to be turned off ... Kind of makes things difficult  with a holiday home does it not !

I have caught  a swarthy looking type inside my gates who  produced scruffy photos of roofs before and after cleaning ...I have been lucky so far but people round me all have dogs  which helps .

[Théière]

There are indoor PIR's which don't sense small animals like cats and dogs but a human will be picked up and set off whatever.

There are security lights with tracking (panning cameras) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nightwatcher-NW700-Robotic-Security-Camera/dp/B006DZSDQ4       I don't agree with Amazon not paying tax but it was easier to post the idea, units are available from other retailers who do pay tax!

Then there are mobile phone based devices which sit dormant until a sensor, could be a PIR etc wakes them up and they send a TXT message etc, these can also be used to remotely switch on other devices like lights, sirens, cameras etc. No mains power required, the phone battery lasts for months as it's in an off setting until disturbed and with a basic french sim card that doesn't expire after 30 days it will only cost a regular txt message to monitor the phone and house unless you choose to connect the call for camera monitoring.

 

[f1steveuk]

The reviews of that camera don't bode too well do they!!??

[Théière]

4 reviews on Amazon and only 1 bad one I could see and how do you know the addition of silicon didn't trap the moisture inside and breaking it? sometimes its better to let water out and air in to keep things dry.  It was just by way of example though

 

[f1steveuk]

True, but 25% poor reviews is enough to make me think!!

Good idea though!!