House alarms

Doodee

I am a complete noob when it comes to this sort of thing.

Basically I am looking to purchase a house alarm, a number of friends have all suggested getting one since I live on the ground floor of an apartment complex.

I have never had to buy one before and am wondering about my options on it.

Basically I am looking for something that will act as both a deterant and a security system.

I know you can get ones that use phones lines and contact someone in the event of the alarm being triggered but do they actually perform well?

Would i be better getting something like the Telular SX5e? which contacts myself, but not gardi etc?

All suggestions are appreciated.

Cutie18Ireland

we have one that phones us if it goes off.. first of all it rings the house and u need to say the password or then they contact the guards but if no-one answers which is what usually happens because the alarm is soooloud they ring the first contact number which is my neighbours, then they ring the next number they have, there's 3 numbers u can assign, mobiles as well

Doodee

does that really leave enough time for ya to do something about it?

Stoner

Doodee,

the answer is usually no there is not really enough time. The object of it is to inform you to go and check the place out and deal with the situation as quickly as possible. The ones that text you are the same as it all depends on where you are when you get the text. New regs now have changed how and when the cops come out to a house, as in a single cause (like a snowball on a window) is not enough to call the police, they will come out when there are two activations, as in a window alarm and an internal PIR.

I dont know how much of a deterant an alarm is above having a better looking one then your neighbour, obviously the robbers can check how quickly someone comes to the house by setting the alarm off and waiting to see, but like i said the police are not calling out for single alarms on new systems now.
So regardless of the notification method, it's all about how near to the place you are when you get the notification.

Dublinstiofán

In my opinion systems like these give nothing but trouble. Wireless systems are even worse.

A good old fashioned fully wired alarm is the best way to go. To do an apartment it won't cost you an arm and a leg. And for extra peace of mind you can get it connected to a monitoring station (I find Top Security very good) for around €100 - €150 a year and if the alarm goes off they will do all the work for you. The will call both of your key holders and then send somebody out from top security to check if they can’t get an answer from them. And as a last resort the Gards. And if you press the panic button you get an automatic response from the gards. It took them 3 minutes to get to our house on one very ugly occasion.

And please don't install it yourself. The amount of houses I have visited with cowboy installed systems is ridiculous. And trust me it will cost you as much over all to have people coming out fixing it as it would have to get s professional to install it for you in the first place.

Hope this helps

GreeBo

Dublinstiof&#225 wrote: »

The amount of houses I have visited with cowboy installed systems is ridiculous. And trust me it will cost you as much over all to have people coming out fixing it as it would have to get s professional to install it for you in the first place.

Should someone be disclosing something...

dubred

I would implore you to get a monitored alarm for the following reason, I was off work for 2 weeks recently and spent most of it at home, a number of alarms started going off early in the morning and continued throughout the day, this was extremely annoying. I even rang the gardai to inform them of a possible crime in progress (seemed like the neighbourly thing to do!!). I didn't see any garda car arrive to check it out and the alarm continued for the rest of the day and the following one. The Greens have the right idea on this one with their new noise proposals.

There is no advantage to be gained from having an alarm ringing for more than 10-15 minutes, in general, neighbours will ignore it and potential burglars will be informed that nobody is home. At least with the alarm we have, it rings internally for 15 minutes and contacts us or the gardai if we don't reply. Result - no unhappy neighbours, peace of mind.

I am sure there are downsides to a monitored system but none significant enough to change my mind.

Dublinstiofán

GreeBo wrote:

Should someone be disclosing something...

I worked for an alarms company and am not a criminal if thats what you are insinuating.

GreeBo

Dublinstiof&#225 wrote: »

I worked for an alarms company and am not a criminal if thats what you are insinuating.

not at all, just that if you are advising someone to not go the DIY route, rather that they should pay someone to do it, it might be more "honest" to point out that you are somewhat biased, being on the receiving end of the cash...

chuckles30

I'll be looking to get an alarm in the next couple of months in the limerick/clare area and just wondering if anyone has any recommendations or people to avoid either? My problem is that I am away most weekends (60 miles away) as I visit my mother. I've spoken to the next-door neighbours a couple of times, but don't really know them well enough yet to give them a key....maybe in time. It's a new development so the buiders are still around during the day at the moment, but that's not going to last and anyone casing the place could easily figure out my pattern of being there/not there.

muletide

I would definitely go for a monitored alarm. We have had phonewatch for about two years now and it suits our needs perfectly. It has gone off three times,
First time my dog jumped against the window so I drove out home - work five minutes away and checked it out.
Second Time a neighbour(keyholder) was called as my phone was off and he called in and checked the place out.
Third time Phonewatch could contact no-one so I arrived home to find two plain clothes Guards in my backgarden checking out my house for me. Thats reassuring.

Just think how annoyed with yourself you would be if you saved on a few euro and didnt get a monitored alarm and your house was robbed. Go for it, the peace of mind is worth every penny. People ignore alarms

Although you do need good neighbours/friends and also a good local Garda station both of which I am extremely fortunate to have

PauloMN

muletide wrote:

I would definitely go for a monitored alarm. We have had phonewatch for about two years now and it suits our needs perfectly. It has gone off three times,
First time my dog jumped against the window so I drove out home - work five minutes away and checked it out.
Second Time a neighbour(keyholder) was called as my phone was off and he called in and checked the place out.
Third time Phonewatch could contact no-one so I arrived home to find two plain clothes Guards in my backgarden checking out my house for me. Thats reassuring.

Just think how annoyed with yourself you would be if you saved on a few euro and didnt get a monitored alarm and your house was robbed. Go for it, the peace of mind is worth every penny. People ignore alarms

Although you do need good neighbours/friends and also a good local Garda station both of which I am extremely fortunate to have

Hmmm, you might have used up your "credits" there if the Gardaí have already been out to the house.

I've heard that Phonewatch is the bane of the Gardaí's life, and that if there's more than a couple of false alarms from one address, they are less and less inclined to respond to a callout.

Could be bollocks, but worth mentioning.

Dublinstiofán

GreeBo wrote:

not at all, just that if you are advising someone to not go the DIY route, rather that they should pay someone to do it, it might be more "honest" to point out that you are somewhat biased, being on the receiving end of the cash...

Oh ye:rolleyes: ,sorry. Wasnt fishing for work. Don't do that anymore. Just was giving advice from experience. Nothing but trouble with wireless systems.

Stoner

I have put alarms in houses before andreceived money for same.
that was along time ago, I dont want any money or jobs from boards.ie

My advice is similar to others here, dont put in any type of alarm yourself unless you've done one before, you'll drive everyone mad and you'll have so many initial false alarms that your system will have no standing etc .
Get a decent company (i can recommend via PM many as i price work for a living) to put it in and get it monitored.

IMHO

Work overtime at your job and earn the money doing what you do best to pay someone who will do waht they do best.