Browse Forums Safer Living 1 Jun 14, 2009 10:17 pm Hi All, just after some advice on alarm systems. In the past week we have had 2 breakins close by (one next door and one 3 doors down), also new house built next to our block was vandalised last night. With the breakins, both sets of neighbours were home at the time! I'm suddenly feeling very security conscious. I'm looking for advice on the type of alarm system I should be looking at, more importantly for whilst we are at home. We have children so those inside sensors wouldn't work would they? What kind of cost (hundreds or thousands?) to protect a single storey 4 bdrm home? I've been googling, but am still confused with the many diff companies and systems. Would like some more info before I start ringing for quotes. Any advice appreciated. Until then I'll be sleeping with one eye open! buzz Re: Home Security system advice please 2Jun 16, 2009 12:46 am Hi buzz! I'm new to all this too, but it would seem you are after something similar to me. I too would like to arm the house while I am at home. I'll write my thoughts here but pls note I am a newbie too! I think there are two ways to go about this with a home security alarm system: 1) You have the usual multiple motion sensors in various spots in the house - this makes it a little bit harder because if you want to arm while you are in the house, you will have to program the system to ignore the sensors which cover the areas you want to move around in. eg you could arm the front half of the house and set ignore on the back half so you can move around in the back half. Of course if an intruder came in from the back, then your security system wouldn't detect that. 2) Install a full perimeter system. This means all possible entry points into your home will need to be monitored by a sensor of some sort. Sliding windwows and doors will all have reed sensors, non-sliding windows or those that don't open covered by a glass-break sensor. You can have reed sensors on your garage door also. This type of setup makes it much easier to arm while at home as you can just arm all the perimeter sensors and everyone is free to move about inside (of course you now can't open any windows if you want the breeze to come in). In terms of cost I believe option 2 is significantly more expensive. In my other post in this forum I'm trying to gauge how much a perimeter system should cost me, but no luck in responses yet. Think I'll need to specify how many of what sensor I require. Anyway, popular products I have heard about include Hills, Bosch, Ness, Crow......can't think of any others, but I don't know which is considered the best. Hope this helps. Re: Home Security system advice please 3Jun 17, 2009 1:36 pm Hi RedIsotope, Thanks for that info!!! Definitely gives me more of an idea of what to look for. So,now I'm interested in a perimeter system too. I read your other posts (sorry didn't see them before) Lots of googling to do, hopefully it won't cost as much as $5-6K. My other option is shutters, but they cost even more I've heard and I would prefer the look of shutterless windows. I'll keep checking back at your thread to see if you get any more info on this. Thanks again, buzz Re: Home Security system advice please 4Jun 17, 2009 3:48 pm Hi buzz, Don't know if this will help you or not because I'm in Perth, WA...but I've sent off some requests for general pricing by email and it looks like the ball park figure for a perimeter setup (for my house) using a Hills product is around $3.5k. I'm still waiting for the security company (the one my builder has a relationship with as a 'basic package' was included in my build), to send me their quote...but its not looking good because the consultant was telling us we'd be looking at around $5k. If that is true then I'd be inclined to think that I am being taken for a ride! Will keep everyone up to date either in this thread or my one. But yah, shop around. Unfortunately for me I'm a bit stuck...but lesson learnt...do your own stuff after handover if you can! Re: Home Security system advice please 5Jun 17, 2009 4:05 pm Hello! We sent our plans to different Alarm people, and they suggested a system for us and quoted within a couple of days! Don't you just love the internet. Oh. . . and for a simple system for a 400 sqm 4 bedroom house, we were looking at about $2K. Re: Home Security system advice please 6Jun 17, 2009 5:14 pm The majority of security systems all do partial arm, which is where you can arm certain areas of your house, and keep certain areas unarmed. Depending on the amount of sensors you need you cant go wrong with a DAS NX-8 made by hills. I'm not really 100% sure about prices in NSW or Perth, but in Vic we have a basic package which is 2 Detectors, Internal Siren, External Siren, Backup Battery, Panel, LED Keypad, Power Supply, fully installed and programmed for $900.00Inc GST. The majority of alarm companies have the same sort of starting price, but obviously it depends on the equipment that they use. With exterior sensors, they do exist but it seems no one has brought out one that doesn't false alarm, you can use Beams, which can range from $200-$1000. Hope it has helped Re: Home Security system advice please 7Jun 18, 2009 2:18 pm Thanks guys for the replies! Still researching what's available, but I 've learnt more in the last couple of days. Definitely after a perimeter system that has sensors on the windows and doors. The sensors for inside wouldn't be good for us, as we'll be using all of the house most of the time. Thanks again buzz It's all about wireless, self install now. The cost/benefit of wired setups for the house are no longer what they used to be. Lots of wireless options. Eufy, Arlo and… 2 9767 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16082 It seems very clear to me that your contract states that a security account does NOT need to be established so the answer to the builder is NO. If in doubt find a contract… 1 8473 |