Security Products:
HOME BURGLAR ALARMS
Home Defense

NO security products are guaranteed to halt any crime - but home burglar alarms will likely function well if combined with the safety tips in Home Security - Overview.

MONITORED Home Burglar Alarms

The area's 18 previous home invasions convinced Homer Garza Sr. to install a security system on Monday. Early Wednesday morning, its siren rousted him out of bed. It's a bone-chilling sound. ... Thinking the alarm was a mistake, he bolted from his bed. He quickly found himself blinded by the beam of a flashlight, and felt the barrel of a shotgun against his head. The intruders who had kicked open his door ordered him to enter his security code and turn off the alarm. ... The siren stopped. By then, the monitoring agents had tried to call the home. Garza didn't answer. The intruders had bound his hands, and also those of his son. When a homeowner doesn't respond, the company summons law enforcement officers to that address. ... Even if the goons had forced one of the Garzas to answer the call, the cops still would have been summoned. All the homeowner has to do is give a false code word and the company calls authorities. ... Garza’s son kept telling the intruders that sheriff's deputies would arrive soon. "That's why they got out of here when they did," Homer Sr. said. "You could see they were starting to get a little scared.” ... “I recommend it," Garza said. "After death, money isn't going to help you. If you can pay for cable, you can pay for security products."
Excepted from The Modesto Bee (CA) – 11 September 2003

Always keep your alarm system activated - especially when you're at home. Though it's sometimes inconvenient, it'll soon become an unconscious habit - like always wearing a seatbelt when driving.

Basics of Home Burglar Alarms

• Contact Sensors for exterior doors and ground-floor windows,
• Outdoor Motion Sensor,
• Indoor Sounder (alarm), and
• Master Control Unit - connecting all the above together as an integrated house alarm system.

I highly recommend additional options:

• Monitored Smoke Detectors give an early warning of fire – even when you're not at home.
• Outdoor Sounder (alarm) alerts your neighbors to help you.
• Surveillance Cameras with TV Monitor (and motion-activated recorder) let you see without being seen (and record activity when you're not at home).
• Panic Buttons are excellent for any emergency – crime, fire, or medical. A pocket remote-control unit while you’re anywhere in or around your home can summon emergency help and/or help scare off a criminal.
• Yard Signs and Window Signs to deter burglars. 76 percent of burglars, even though they know many security products signs are phony, will move on to an easier target just in case.

Seclusion greatly benefits a burglar. Secluded homes should use the best home security systems as well as all the security products listed in the menu below.

Burglar Alarm Equipment: SENSORS

• Magnetic Contacts, the most common components of alarm systems, are located where doors, windows, and drawers meet their frames. Opening the door breaks the contact and activates an alarm.
• Plunger Contacts, like magnetic contacts, are located where doors, windows and drawers meet their frames. Opening the door breaks the contact and activates an alarm. (Plunger contacts, for example, are used on car and refrigerator doors to control the interior light.)
• Foiling, the metallic ribbon you’ve often seen snaking around the edges of a store’s window glass, activates an alarm if the glass and foiling are broken. Its easy visibility might deter burglars.
• Photoelectric or Infrared Beams detect anyone entering a given space and activate an alarm. However, pets, mice, dust, or wind-blown leaves may cause false alarms. (These beams, for example, are used to control elevator doors closing safely.)
• Motion Detectors use ultrasonic waves to detect anyone entering a given space and activate an alarm. However, pets, mice, or wind-blown leaves may cause false alarms.
• Vibration Detectors on doors, walls, and windows activate an alarm when disturbed. However, heavy footsteps, thunder, and loud cars passing by may cause false alarms.
• Passive InfraRed (or PIR) Detectors sense infrared heat (body heat) within an indoor area and activate an alarm. However, pets and mice may cause false alarms.

A wide variety of additional devices can be added to the basics above to cover all aspects of your security. See Simple Home Electronics to fit your unique needs.

UNMONITORED Home Burglar Alarms

Installing a wireless home alarm is easy. A system includes motion detection, glass breakage, perimeter door contacts to alert you if a door is opened. It could also include heat and smoke detectors.

Unmonitored house alarm systems sound an alarm to alert you when detecting intruders (an additional outdoor sounder also alerts your neighbors). The down-side is that someone has to be in the vicinity to hear it.

However, some unmonitored house alarm systems also have an auto-dialer to call the police or fire department. See different versions at www.smarthome.com and www.smarthome.com.

While a monitored house alarm system is more effective, it means a low monthly fee for the monitoring. However, you can save on your homeowner’s insurance with a monitored system:

MONITORED Home Burglar Alarms

Since overlapping layers of protection provide superior burglary prevention, you can supplement your monitored ADT house alarm with Simple Home Electronics and home security hardware:

Home Security Hardware and
Personal Safety Devices

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