We will be beginning our build toward the end of the summer in the country, 1/4 mile driveway to the home site. Recent posts about theft during the building process have me concerned since we are so far back off the road with woods on 2 sides, offering plenty of concealment for thieves. I heard an ad for Simplisafe.com alarm system that seems great but wondering if anyone has used it. It seems like it would be ideal for when we have the shell of the house up and continuing after we move in. It's wireless, less expensive than ADT, and no contract required. We've never had an alarm system so don't have any experience with the pros or cons of either type. This seems simple and not a huge investment. Any recommendations or experience with Simplisafe?

More on my insurance situation to which I referred above. My landlord requires that I have tenant's insurance on the house contents, and, as I mentioned, the company carrying my auto insurance back in '06 did not offer coverage for under $25,000., and my contents were less than $10,000. ... plus, when we investigated the situation, they didn't like some of the plumbing and wiring system, according to the independent agency that represented them ... so I told them that I would not be renewing my auto insurance with the former company, either. Later I got a request for payment from the earlier company and tried unsuccessfully to contact them to say that I'd cancelled. Later I got a registered letter telling me that they were no longer covering my auto insurance ... and that I owed them $137.00 for the coverage which I'd had prior to their cancellation. I told them that I'd told the agent that I would not be renewing, and they said that that notification had to be in writing .. and I said that their agent had not informed me that such a cancellation was required. I told them that, as I'd had a situation where my vehicle had been hit by another in the meantime, that I'd be making a claim. They said that, since I was covered by another company, that they would not recognize such a claim. So I told them that they wanted my money for coverage that I'd said that I no longer needed ... but were refusing to make a payout relative to such coverage. Since then, I have received a number of calls from a collection agency, then there's a quiet period, then there's another group trying to collect. Recently when I answer the phone, there's a short pause, then a canned voice says, "Please hold while I transfer you", then there's a pause, and a machine instructs me that if I know my account number, to please give it, and asks for my phone number. I say that they didn't identify their company, that I'm not aware of any account with them and they must have a bad memory, for they knew my phone number when they called me a couple of minutes ago ... and that I have a hard time remembering it, as I never call home, insofar as the only residents here when I'm gone is the occasional mouse. The other day when I answered, I got to speak to a warm body, and when I told her my story, she said that I needed to pay, and could I pay if they reduced the fee by 20% (which they seldom do for accounts under $200.), and I told her that I don't give credit card numbers over the phone, so she offered to have me transfer via a certain bank, but I wasn't enthusiastic about that propoal. When I said that I might die in the meantime ... she said that she guessed that I'd just have to put up with the ongoing calls. I didn't ask her whether they had an idea of where they'd phone after I'd died ... I guess that can wait for the next time that I get to speak to a warm body. However ... they usually call in the mid-morning, and a couple of days ago when the phone rang about that time, I almost didn't nswer ... and it was my daughter calling from AZ ... and it was about 6:40 a.m. her time ... so we had a nice visit ... and I decided that I'll be answering the phone in future. I've heard that ancient people get rather stubborn ... do you think that there might be any truth to that rumour ... ... or could it be just another of those urban (well, in this case, "rural") legends? I hope that you all have a really great post-holiday weekend. For retired folks ... every day's weekend. I you don't have a retirement plan in place, maybe it's time to get moving on one ... the longer you leave it, the steeper the hill that your invested dollars must climb. ole joyful

Shayle 40 glass break sensors? Wow - that is a lot. Are they planning to mount the senors directly to the glass - or are they using a ceiling/wall mount sensor that can cover several windows in one area? I have about 12 glass break sensors in my home - and it's a good size house (5000+ sq ft). For example - one glass break sensor in the dining room ceiling covers 3 large windows. If you use the Honeywell 1625 Glass break sensor - which comes in several different styles - you can reduce the number of glass break sensors. The 1625 has a range of 25 feet. You might check out this site: http://www.aesecurity.com which is where I purchased all of my alarm parts. The site is useful since they provide data sheets on all of the sensors and you can read about their capabilities (and see what they cost). Be very very careful when dealing with alarm companies - they make their money by charging you per sensor or per zone - so the more sensors or zones they can cram in - the more they make. As far as zones - you can have multiple sensors tied to a single zone. For example - I have 3 doors on the front of the house where one can enter - the front door, the door through the garage, and then a side patio door. All 3 of these doors have a magnetic sensor - but they are tied to 1 zone. This is commonly called "sensors in series" or "in-series" connections. Obviously- the more sensors you can group in series, the fewer zones you need on the controller and that can allow a smaller alarm panel or fewer zone expander modules. Another thing to watch out for is the fire monitoring. In my first house, the alarm company refused to tie the alarm system into the house smoke detectors. Instead, they charged me a few hundred dollars for an additional smoke detector that was only tied into the alarm system - and not connected to the house smoke detectors. It was a bunch of bull. A good alarm company can make a tiny little device that allows the 9 volt traveler wire in your house smoke detectors to be monitored (it's the red or yellow wire on the smoke detector). This little traveler wire is what is used to set off all house smoke detectors when only one detects smoke. The alarm company can monitor this signal. If they tell you they can't do it due to code - have them install it after the final inspection. It is a lot cleaner to use your existing home smoke detectors then to have 2 sets of detectors. The Vista 20P panel might be too small for your system if each of the sensors has a dedicated zone. However, if some of these sensors are grouped in series, then it might be fine. In my house, I have 12 glass break sensors (each one on a seperate zone), 10 magnetic sensors on doors (3 zones), 3 CO sensor each on a seperate zone, 7 motion sensors each on a seperate zone, and 1 fire zone. A grand total of 25 zones and 32 sensors. I also have 3 keypads. I used the Vista 20P and 3 zone expander modules. In the future I paln to add a few more glass break sensors in the basement as well as some exterior IR sensors.

I do have central heat but there are no registers near where the motion sensor alarm is, nor are there any towels etc. It is located in my family room and there is just a couch and a couple of chairs there. It seems rather random. It happened once, and then happened a few nights in a row a few weeks later. Very puzzling and rather terrifying to hear that alarm going off in the middle of the night!