I watched a TV ad for a Home Security System and wondered why I want a phone call from someone asking if I am OK while this maddened crazed criminal is wandering around my house. Don't I want my phone free to call 911?

I like having one. It gives me peace of mind when I am home alone with the kids. If someone comes in the door, I will know immediately. No one will be sneaking up on me. Ours is not setup to call anyone, but the neighbors can hear it and I feel sure that someone will call for help if the alarm continues to blare for more than a few seconds.

posted by laurabethmsw Sat, Aug 14, 10 at 18:29

I like having one. It gives me peace of mind ...

I feel this is one of the biggest flaws in home security systems. They give some a false sense of security. a "peace of mind" that makes one vulnerable. The bloody things should come with a warning.

Suppose for your old grandpa or granny is at home and has fallen down of his bed and needs immediate help . Really a very crunch situation for an elderly man , this can be solved if an alert alarm system is being implanted. that can really help a lot in the cause.

We have one and we like it. Ours is set up to automatically call for police and fire. It will send us a text message if our sump pump fails or if our power goes out and out backup generator is running. False alarms aren't really an issue now that we have upgraded our motion detectors to "dual mode" (microwave/IR) models and we make sure the doors are all locked before we leave. I recommend going DIY or with a local provider and not using one of the "national" brands.

Here is a link that might be useful: Is your home security provider robbing you blind?

Home security systems, particularly cameras, are not just present to protect your home in the event of a break-in or attempted burglary. They also act as a powerful protection tool.

A police officer told us the best security you can have is motion lights. We had 2 attempts and the motion lights stopped them. Burglars do not like lights.

Yes, and yes.

If you live in a HOA type neighborhood, you might have a private security contractor who, if your alarm goes off you can call their dispatch for a house check. Generally, with their guys being in the neighborhood, you get faster response than police who put low priority on un-attended intrusion alarms. With cell phones now in everyone's hands, I see limited reason for using a monitoring service. If the alarm sounds when you are or aren't home, it's VERY unlikely a burglar is going to continue his mischief. If your system detects a fire, you can send the FD just as fast as a monitoring company....maybe faster since if your cell phone displays your house number, you are going to pick up right away. A busy monitoring company might be slower.

I had a monitored home security system in my last house, but eventually cancelled the monitoring and just used it locally. Alarms were a common installation item in the area and you had to get a city permit if it was monitored. As part of the permit you agreed that if you had too many false alarms where the alarm company called the police, you paid a fine.

During the day the police took forever to respond to an alarm because they knew it was usually going to be just maids and maintenance workers who had punched in the wrong code. At night I think it was a good deterrent, but having it go off by mistake scared me as much as it would have any burglar. Having a guest open a window for a little ventilation during a late night bathroom trip, or open a door to go out for a smoke woke up the whole house.

I've purchase a Honeywell Lynx 5100 wireless alarm system for my current house, but only have a few sensors installed so far. Its a two story house with a lot of 1st floor windows and i want to have something to tell me in the 2nd floor bedroom that there is a break-in on the 1st floor. I probably won't have it monitored, but I'm still considering options.

Bruce

Noise and light are a major deterrent to illegal entry, whatever the motive is. My back up is a loaded 357 magnum, just in case I need help before I can get police to respond.

I have motion sensors on three sides of my house and the front has landscape lighting bright enough to make any uninvited person(s) uncomfortable prowling around on that side.

I believe anyone who is prowling when I am home and doesn't make a run out of the area when lights come on is very dangerous and that's why I have a couple of guns handy. I think the lights, which include automatic on/off lights inside which are used when we are home and when we are away, make it difficult for anyone to determine if we are home or not. I always leave my pickup truck with the NRA logo on the back and my lighted American Flag flying to act as further deterrents.

With cell phones we are also safe from someone cutting the phone lines, it must be very difficult to be a burglar these days, even if they get in to an empty home they have no way of being sure they are not being recorded on video which will be used against them in a court-of-law.

All these things help me sleep at night, and if our lovely West Highlands White Terrier wasn't deaf we'd also have an bark alarm, dogs are also a great deterrent to break-in, and a small Terrier can be better than a big dog that is waiting to attack, noise and light are the best and will not need a visit by the police in the vast majority of the cases I believe..

According to my personal experience, I feel it's good for me regarding my home security. Actually, After installation the system I didn't have a good opinion on that after a few days, I changed my opinion because its good working condition. In these days, Everyone needs the security system either their business or home property. For considering those reasons, Home security systems are really occupied the best place. Nowadays, It has become easier and affordable to set up and maintain wireless cameras around our home. There are many different cameras that business owners and property managers have a huge selection of choice.

I don't think so that the security alarm will not make the false alarm because i have installed a alarm in my house and it will never make any false alarm as ever and it is very effective and help full as ever. In my opinion you can go with a branded company alarm, but if you go with the any local company it might be possible that it will irritate you can offensively automatically beeps. So its better go with a branded security alarm systems.

We had two break ins in our development in broad daylight. Both homes had recessed entry ways, deep hall like entrance and across the street you saw the side of that home and no windows there. The burglars were very smart, no one could see them in side that entry way.

I have an added deterrant. I bought an expensive set of binoculars and got a $100 worth of store coupons. There was nothing in the store I wanted and didn't want to waste the coupons. I spied 3 ft long wind chimes and hung them from the covers in my window wells. That and the lights being on all night will stop most burglars . I bought cfl flood lights for the deck and cfl timers and bulbs for the driveway lights in front.

FWIW my experience with Simplisafe over the last 3 months has been quite good. No contract, monitoring $15/month, you buy and install the sensors you need.

Any other recommendations on DIY security systems other than Simplisafe? I'm going back and forth on whether or not I need one.

TIA