Hi. The other night, someone threw a rock through our front bedroom window. No one was hurt, thank God, but my baby was asleep in their with his father, so very close. The police suspect rowdy teenagers and since our house is on the corner of a commercial road and a shopping center behind it, it is an easier target. It made us think about our home security.
My husband is putting up a split rail fence ( I wanted a more private type of fence, but my husband did not like the look of that) on the side parallel to the commercial road in the front yard. And I've told him not to forget to shut the garage door and to no longer take the kids out in the front. This is our first house of only a few months. We lived in apartments for years and thought a house would offer more security, but doesn't feel like it.
Any suggestions on how to protect our home not only in this situation but in general?
I want a home security alarm system but my husband thinks it's not worth the price. Which alarm systems do you use and how are they?
Thanks in advance.
Hi, we have a monitored security system through Smith Thompson Security. It is a wireless system so you don't need a home telephone. We pay $16.95 a month.
We had a monitored home security system in our home in a nice neighborhood in North Arlington. One night two men broke in through our garage and entered through one of the doors in the garage that led to the house. It woke everyone up and alerted us that there was an intruder in our house. Our children were small and sleeping on the couch in the den and that is the room they entered.(scary) The alarm going off scared them away, so we were very grateful. Moments later the alarm company called us and then summoned police who got there very quickly.
The key was that we had the interior doors wired (doors from garage to house) . The police told us that a lot of people just have their front and back doors wired, but don't have the door from the garage wired (since they are not exterior doors).
Also, something to think about--they broke into our car that was in the driveway, stole the remote and raised the door about 3 feet and crawled under the door.
we moved about a year later and the first thing we did was get an upgraded alarm system for our new home. Peace of mind has an important value to us.
Get motion detector lights for the front of your house...one near the front door and one near the garage...if your house is set up this way. And turn them on at night! If someone comes close, the lights will activate and that should scare them. We always put "Beware of Dog" signs on our fence, usually two signs. Sometimes we did not have a dog! As for the alarm....we were burglarized a few years back...the alarm never went off because they punched the doorframe out and laid the frame and door down without opening the door which would have activated the alarm. They were going to get in no matter what! I felt like someone was always watching our house after that....we ended up moving! We currently have false alarms if we set our alarms due to faulty wiring! But, someone is always home at our house and we have 3 barking dogs that do not let one thing pass! You could buy the alarm stickers and place them on your windows/storm door in front and back of your house, or get a metal alarm sign. The police told us to do this after we were robbed. I guess we feel secure now! My dogs are the best deterent though! Good luck!
Our house is fully wired and operable with a security system. However, there are so many false alarms, etc....they go unnoticed when it happens (which is rarely in my neighborhood). I see police out here occasionally checking on a house where something just set the alarm off. I'd much rather that policeman/woman not be sent out on a error trip to check out an alarm when there might be a real danger somewhere.
Bottom line, I have a sense of security because I can arm my system and I have the chimes on all windows/doors which alerts me to an open window or door.
We are not monitored by choice. If you do choose monitoring, you do get a discount on your insurance BUT, you apply for the alarm permit and then pay about $30 or so a month for the company to service your alarm. This is just not worth it to us....there is no real savings...for us.
I do arm the system if I am home alone with daughter and that is about the only time we arm it. Honestly, if it were to go off, my hubby would have no clue as to how to turn it off :) LOL
We feel secure in our area and the way I have mine set up is perfectly good for me. My neighbors know if they hear my alarm to call 911 because I am not monitored. Yes, I have the panic buttons as well.
Good luck on your decision. I know it is hard to make decisions like these. It all depends on where you live and how safe you feel with or without the system.
Best wishes.
I get a sense of security from our system--Brinks (just changed names to something else, I forget what). BUT it's considerably extra cost to have sensors installed to the windows. You can get a system installed for a reasonable cost, but it will probably only included sensors on 2 or 3 doors.
We have ASG security. It has a remote control that you can set and unset the alarm with garage opener and a panic button. There is a way you can set it with the motion detector while you are away and one that you can set while you are in the house. The alarms are only on the doors not the windows. There is also a panic code so if you are be held by someone you can puish that code and it will silently activate the police.
i don't know about security systems, but yes play in the front yard with adult supervision. definitely lock all windows and doors!
