Debating home security system

[mla973]

Do any of you have one? We are debating getting one. Since they have begun to expand our plat, I can hear more highway noise, and I'm having trouble sleeping b/c I think someone is in the house. There have been a few break-ins nearby, and I think I might bite the bullet and just do this.

We are also thinking about putting our house up for sale in May, and I'm paranoid about having photos of the house and layout online. I think this would ease my fears. (And make me feel more comfortable about a fire happening since we have our precious pup at home during the day.

Just wondering, for those who have them, any tips for me? i.e. what to ask the company? what to put in? I just don't want to be sold on things I don't need.

Also, if you have one, does it cut down your home-owners insurance costs? My insurance copmany quoted me a 10% annual savings. Is that pretty standard?

TIA!

 

[DrCavin]

We have one, never use it. Would not waste my money installing one in a house your selling. I think we do get 10% off the insurance.

 

[chris1gill]

In our previous two homes we had extensive alarm systems put in. We were closer to the city, closer to the crime, wouldn't have gone without one....

We've moved into a new house which has no alarm and it's not unheard of for us to not lock the doors during the day... from one extreme to the other! We don't need an alarm system here....

 

[luvmy2sams]

We had a security system installed when we bought our home. We went with a local company, but they were bought out by ADT several years ago. All our windows and exterior doors are wired, and we have a motion detector in the living room. When we had it installed, DH was traveling a lot, and DD was tiny. I felt much better being able to turn system on in the evening & know that the noises I were hearing were probably just in my head.

Contrast that with my parents' home...they only have exterior doors wired, and that works for them. Based on things that happened growing up, I wouldn't be comfortable without the windows being wired into my system.

We get 10% off homeowners insurance. Sounds like that's pretty standard.

 

[ndelaware]

This is the second house we have had a security system installed in. Both were new construction so having the doors and windows wired was not a hassle. We have all of our doors and all windows on the 1st floor and in the basement wired. We have "glass break" sensors installed and a fire alarm that is tied into the system. Another feature we have is a medical emergency button on the keypads. If you press one of these the alarm company will call the ambulance first before they call the house.

The nice thing about having the house hard wired is you can turn on the alarm any time of the day or night and not be restricted by the motion detectors. Of course this costs alot more money and is much harder to do on an existing home.

 

[chris1gill]

This is the second house we have had a security system installed in. Both were new construction so having the doors and windows wired was not a hassle. We have all of our doors and all windows on the 1st floor and in the basement wired. We have "glass break" sensors installed and a fire alarm that is tied into the system. Another feature we have is a medical emergency button on the keypads. If you press one of these the alarm company will call the ambulance first before they call the house.

The nice thing about having the house hard wired is you can turn on the alarm any time of the day or night and not be restricted by the motion detectors. Of course this costs alot more money and is much harder to do on an existing home.

This is exactly what we have on our second house... but we also have panic alarms in each of the children's closets (all rooms are on the first floor, play room is on the second floor) & we have a temp alarm should the heat go too low. It's proved invaluable since we've moved & the house is sitting on it's own at the moment. I can rest assure it's not freezing and the pipes aren't bursting!

 

[ndelaware]

This is exactly what we have on our second house... but we also have panic alarms in each of the children's closets (all rooms are on the first floor, play room is on the second floor) & we have a temp alarm should the heat go too low. It's proved invaluable since we've moved & the house is sitting on it's own at the moment. I can rest assure it's not freezing and the pipes aren't bursting!

We actually have panic buttons on a chain you can wear around your neck. They are also waterproof so they can be taken into the bathroom or even into the shower. We got these so when my mother (87 yo) stays here we don't have to worry about leaving her alone.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

We don't have an alarm but I think that if an alarm will give you piece of mind and you can spare the expense, then go for it.

 

[barkley]

we had one and saved on our insurance plus if a break in occured and the system failed to activate or they (the company) failed to notify local police the company would pay for our deducatable on our insurance (and since we opted for a $1000 deductable it was a significant chunk of change).

i will confess though when we moved i took some of the extra window security company stickers and one of the signs that go in the front yard because i've read that just the appearance of having an alarm system in your home is supposedly a deterant to most theives (and i don't have to pay a monthly fee to have the sign and the stickers up ).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you can afford it and it will give you peace of mind go for it!

My dogs are my "alarms". I know I sleep soundly because of that.

 

[NikiM20]

This is my alarm. He works great!!

 

[bigolive9]

I will never be without a security system again. We live in a pretty nice area, but we are at the end of a court. Our house was broken into December 28, 2007. Fortunately, I was not home with the baby. They took all of our electronics- 2 laptops, the Wii, the PS2, 1 iPod, an iHome, 2 jewelry boxes, a nintendo DS, and a bunch more stuff. Needless to say, I was pretty shaken up for a while. The following monday, we installed a Brinks system. I still get nervous, but I have so much more piece of mind. It takes a lot of time to deal with the insurance and replacing things. We got window break detectors and all of our doors. We have a cat, so it didn't make sense for us to get the motion detector.
Brinks told us that if we sell the house before our contract is up, we can get the same setup in the new house for no more installation fee. Also, whoever would purchase the house would have the option to set up the monitoring with them.
We also have 2 dogs, unfortunately they are in their crates all day, so they weren't much of a deterrent.

 

[daisyduck123]

DH & I have had Brinks since 1992.

I would never be without one.
Back in 1976..when I was about 10yo...I woke up in the middle of the night to find a guy standing in my bedroom I never want my kids to have to go thru something like that.

 

[ChrizJen]

We just had Brinks installed at our house this weekend. I can't really give you a report on how we like it, but I'm sure we're going to be happy with it. I do know that we got a discount on our homeowner's, and I think it was the 10% that others have said. We have the whole first floor and basement wired. We also have heat and fire monitoring.

I will say that during the installation, I guess the guy went too far with his drill or something, and the next thing we knew, plaster on the other side of the wall from where he was drilling was all busted out! At first he said that they could spackle it and that would fix it, but we knew that it would require new plaster for that wall. There's a whole section of wall where the plaster is just broken away from the lathe!!! But they're going to fix it, so everything's fine.

We like the Brinks system so far, and I can say that it's given me a little extra peace of mind having it. We just moved in this weekend, and sleeping in a new (to us) house in a new neighborhood with new noises is a little bit scary! But it's nice to know that no one will be getting in!!

To those of you who have had experiences with home break-ins,
I cannot imagine the violated feeling that would leave you with! I've had my car broken into, and that was scary enough!!
OP, I would say that if there have been break-ins nearby, it would probably make you feel better to have it. I say that it's worth the extra expense just to have that peace of mind.