Home security systems?

[Toba]

It's not as though we have priceless family jewels or anything (well, our son IS priceless), but I haven't been sleeping well lately. I'm constantly hearing things and sleep with a flashlight next to my hand. I really think if I had that piece of mind from a security system, I'd sleep much better. So ....

I've never had a house with a security system before, so I have no idea what to look for. We live in a two story home, with an attached garage (that has an entrance into the house) and French doors that lead out into the backyard.

Can you give me an idea about what I should be looking for, what company is better and maybe a ballpark about what I should expect to pay for the install and the monthly fee?? I don't think I need any kind of glass breakage sensors.


~Kimberly Anne~
Noah Nevan, March 12, 2004
*the light of my life*

[katerinasmom]

I live in Queens New York and I pay $35/month to ADT for monthly monitoring service on our alarm system. This is for basic security monitoring - no fire monitoring. I don't remember exactly how much it cost to install but I think it was around $500 because we got a wireless system so they would not have to put a lot of holes in our plaster walls. (I think we could have gotten a basic wired system for something like $99 if we wanted to. A lot of the companies offer $99 systems but I think that these offers are all for the basic wired system and I'm sure that when you're done upgrading things and adding things on it's no longer $99.) We had someone from ADT come in, look around the house and advise on what we needed - ie. glass breakage, motion sensors, etc. I think that he was pretty fair and didn't try to oversell us. (I think they make their money on monthly monitoring fees which are the same regardless of how many door/window sensors you have or motion detectors, etc.)
Hope this helps.
-Jasmine
P.S. Our local police precinct has a program where an officer will come in to your home, look around and let you know where you are vulnerable and how to address the problem. It's a free service and private. You might check to see if your local police department offers a similar service so that you can meet with the alarm salesman armed with some information so that you don't get oversold.

[hobey]

We have ADT as well w/ the same setup as Jasmine--costs are similar and I'm in Portland, OR. We finally bit the bullet after our house (when we were still in AZ) was burglarized a month before DS was born. It's also worth calling the local police since some municipalities charge an annual fee for an alarm permit (I think ours is $40).

Raquel
Nathan's Mom 12/19/03

[Ari]

I think ADT is good.

[daisymommy]

Another vote for ADT. We paid $300 for the install and $35 a month. We also got a free smoke and carbon monoxide detector, sos if there is ever a fire or gas leak, the fire station will be notified.

I have heard people say that the police never come when the alarm goes off because there are too many false alarms now days. But that's not true around here! We have a remote for the system with a panic button it, and Joshua has gotten ahold of it 3 times! ARGH! And all 3 times the police were here in minutes, looking in the house, making sure everything was okay, and that I wasn't actually being taken hostage or something (when I told them it was a false alarm).

As a very paranoid person, I feel so much safer with this alarm system. Even if it isn't fool proof, and nothing is, the small price I pay every month is well worth my sanity.

[mamamayi]

My DH is a police officer, so he knew which company responded the fastest and we ended up going with a local company. You might want to call the local police station and just ask if they will tell you which alarm company responds the quickest. The company we went with is a little cheaper than ADT. It is $25 a month, and includes fire monitoring. We didn't have to pay anything for the install, but we did have to sign a two-year agreement for monitoring at $25 a month. It has been well worth it. I can set it up for when I am home or for when we are away from home. "In home" turns off the motion detector so we can walk around the house.

The only time the alarm has gone off was when we were gone, a bug crawled across the laser "eye" of the motion detector and set it off. They called two people on my emergency list (that I gave them names & numbers for), and they also left us a message on our answering machine. When we got home, we called them. We only figured out it was a bug because there was obviously no intrusion, and the number on the alarm showed that the motion detector had been set off. When I looked at the motion detector, I saw a big bug on it. Go figure! Our alarm is set up so that our cat won't cause the motion detector to go off, but I guess a big bug that close is a little bit different.

I hope this helps.

May

[murpheyblue]

Our came with a Brinks system installed. I didn't pay for the install so I don't know the cost. We have our doors alarmed as well as motion dectors. It costs $27.99 a month for monitoring.