Neighbour's House Alarm Going Off Since 11 o clock last night

elmyra · 23-06-2007 09:03PM #1

Hey all,

Our neighbour's house alarm has been going off since 11 last night. My housemates have been suffering through it since then and I have since I got home at 5 am. None of us have got any sleep and we've called the local gardai three times but they insist they can do nothing. They say nobody else has complained but we're probably hearing it far worse than everyone else because we are semi detatched from them. One of my housemates climbed the wall to see the name on the alarm system which is DH Alarms but we couldn't find this through the phone book, 11850 or the internet. We're actually going mental and can't take another night of this. Any ideas?

mikemac · 23-06-2007 09:07PM

Any bad smells possibly indicating dead bodies

Seriously, there's an easy solution.
Climb over the wall again at look for an outside ESB meter on the wall.
Open it(there's some generic tool) and trip the power.

Alternativly, just rob the place. Sure the guards aren't going to come as you said in your post

Boston · 23-06-2007 09:11PM

micmclo wrote:

Climb over the wall again at look for an outside ESB meter on the wall.
Open it(there's some generic tool) and trip the power.

Then the alarm will continue to go off, and you will be unable to stop it. They have a back up power supply for that reason. Also since when are esb meters outside, and since when can you turn the power off from one. You really are just posting ****e.

mikemac · 23-06-2007 09:15PM

Boston wrote:

Then the alarm will continue to go off, and you will be unable to stop it. They have a back up power supply for that reason. Also since when are esb meters outside, and since when can you turn the power off from one. You really are just posting ****e.

You may well be correct about the backup power but this sort of thread comes up in Accomadation forum every month or so and I've seen this suggestion every time.

As for posting ****e.
So you've never seen a ESB meter on on outside wall???
Have you been living in an apartment/flat or terraced house all your life??

Any semi detached house I've ever lived in has had the ESB meter on the wall at the side of the house. There is a tool you can get to open it and then trip the power.

edit: spelling

sheepshagger · 23-06-2007 09:16PM

I feel your pain mate - its happened to me. . .theres not much you can do until the people get back. . . is it worth asking any of your neigbours if anyone has a mobile number for the owners?

Boston · 23-06-2007 09:22PM

micmclo wrote:

You may well be correct about the backup power but this sort of thread comes up in Accomadation forum every month or so and I've seen this suggestion every time.

As for posting ****e.
So you've never seen a ESB meter on on outside wall???
Have you been living in an apartment/flat or terraced house all your life??

Any semi detached house I've ever lived has had the ESB meter on the wall at the side of the house. There is a tool you can get to open it and then trip the power.

Post pics of meter and trip switch. I've worked in alot of houses and I've never seen that. I've seen the gas box being placed outside however, and you can open that box with a tool to turn the gas off. This is a safty feature. Does your home actually have the esb meter outside, or are you persuming the gas box contained an esb meter? The "I've seen it suggested before" is not an indication that it's correct. I'm sure there will be en electrician along soon enough to give a definitive answer.

elmyra · 23-06-2007 09:22PM

There's no outside power box.

We did try the other neighbours for contact details but the couple only moved in a few months back and nobody really knows them yet. This could last til Monday evening, they go away, presumably home, every weekend and often presumably come back to work on a Monday morning but dont come to the house until the evening. I will have to be committed by then if this noise doesn't end!

copacetic · 23-06-2007 09:24PM

micmclo wrote:

You may well be correct about the backup power but this sort of thread comes up in Accomadation forum every month or so and I've seen this suggestion every time.

As for posting ****e.
So you've never seen a ESB meter on on outside wall???
Have you been living in an apartment/flat or terraced house all your life??

Any semi detached house I've ever lived in has had the ESB meter on the wall at the side of the house. There is a tool you can get to open it and then trip the power.

edit: spelling

in fairness you do seem to be posting rubbish, any proper alarm install has backup power so 'tripping' the power won't work. You also can't 'trip' the power from an ESB meter.

Nehpets · 23-06-2007 09:32PM

The attitude problems displayed in this thread are unreal. And there has only been about 5 posts!

About the alarm.. buy earplugs?

Little-Devil · 23-06-2007 09:35PM

elmyra wrote:

Hey all,

Our neighbour's house alarm has been going off since 11 last night. My housemates have been suffering through it since then and I have since I got home at 5 am. None of us have got any sleep and we've called the local gardai three times but they insist they can do nothing. They say nobody else has complained but we're probably hearing it far worse than everyone else because we are semi detatched from them. One of my housemates climbed the wall to see the name on the alarm system which is DH Alarms but we couldn't find this through the phone book, 11850 or the internet. We're actually going mental and can't take another night of this. Any ideas?

Its easy, if you know the neighbours well and are friendly throw a brick threw the window and ring the guards and report you saw someone trying to break in and now the alarm is going off.

We had the same problem a few weeks back, i had a few words and hopefully it doesnt happen again.

Dudess · 23-06-2007 09:43PM

Maybe do a google of some big alarm companies - like Dyno Alarm (think that's what it's called) and they might be able to throw some light on who the company is. It might even be part of them.

elmyra · 23-06-2007 09:44PM

we really dont want to go that far or damage their house, we dont know them that well at all...

1 of our number has been dispatched to tesco in search of earplugs though, thank you, good call!

philstar · 23-06-2007 09:44PM

i can sympathise it happened to me when i was renting in dublin years ago:(

just out of interest how long do those house alarms go on for...until the owners switch them off??

Dudess · 23-06-2007 10:18PM

Been there too - trés annoying.

Why does this, along with really painful toothaches (usually abscesses), always happen at weekends?!

Although the above are actually more likely to happen on bank holiday weekends or even longer holidays, so OP, count yourself lucky!

The time it happened to us, we phoned the call-out number. The guy was in the pub and refused to come out to us. And he kindly let us know that there is a code but he's not entitled to give it to us.

Definitely do a google to track down 24-hour support numbers.

Do you know anyone/anyone who knows anyone who works in security/alarm installation?

claire-g · 23-06-2007 10:23PM

on the earplug thing, Quies wax earplugs are the best, you probably wont get them in tescos, try a late night pharmacy. You get them in a box so only need to buy one box for about 5 people cause theres loads in them.

DonJose · 23-06-2007 10:26PM

elmyra wrote:

the couple only moved in a few months back and nobody really knows them yet.

Can you remember the estate agents who sold the house, if so give them a shout, they should have contact details of the owner.

jhegarty · 23-06-2007 10:29PM

CRO shows there is no DH Alarms registered....

ixoy · 23-06-2007 10:44PM

Boston wrote:

Post pics of meter and trip switch. I've worked in alot of houses and I've never seen that.

You're wrong on this one Boston. When I lived in Portmarnock originally, the ESB meter was on the outside of the houses. It most certainly wasn't the gas as we didn't have gas. The meters are still on the outside of most of the houses out here if you're that curious.

elmyra · 23-06-2007 10:51PM

DonJose wrote:

Can you remember the estate agents who sold the house, if so give them a shout, they should have contact details of the owner.

Yep it was Sherry Fitz but they are uncontactable at this hour!

We have got ourselves some earplugs so not too bad now! We will be able to sleep at least!

Revelation Joe · 23-06-2007 10:52PM

Hmmm...most modern alarms switch off the bell after twenty minutes and then just leave a strobe flashing. There's obviously no monitoring on it, otherwise someone would have responded by now.
Cutting off the power will not help, as that would set the alarm off anyway. They have a back-up battery for that reason.
The callout guy won't give you the code for security reasons, obviously you could be any Tom, Dick or Harry! Nor will he come out unless the Gardai or the homeowner asks him.
I've never heard of DH Alarms but then, I'm way out in the sticks!

Can't think of anything to suggest I'm afraid...

mathew · 23-06-2007 11:29PM

Meters on most modern houses are outside, theyre behind the white door thingy on the side of the house. If they were inside, the ESB guy would be ringing your doorbell every 2months to go in and read your meter, running the risk that you may not be in.

The outside things looks something like this
(the white yoke on the wall)

The fuses or circut breakers on the other hand are inside. They look something like this

Brian Capture · 23-06-2007 11:49PM

Revelation Joe wrote:

The callout guy won't give you the code for security reasons, obviously you could be any Tom, Dick or Harry! Nor will he come out unless the Gardai or the homeowner asks him.
...

But the poster is not 'any Tom, Dick or Harry'.

He is their immediate neighbour and presumably he can prove this.
Therefore the code should be given to him.

Karoma · 23-06-2007 11:53PM

Hmmm.

elmyra: unless you have a key to your neighbour's house, or can gain access via the attic or a ladder. There's not much you can do. Stop rining the Gardai - at most, they'll call out and inspect the premises for any signs of attempted entry, roll their eyes and wander off.

But the poster is not 'any Tom, Dick or Harry'.

He is their immediate neighbour and presumably he can prove this.
Therefore the code should be given to him.

It seems to be a 'she'. Secondly, although it can be a nuisance to the neighbour, not all neighbours can be trusted and given the code. And what good is the code unless she can gain access to the control panel anyway?

As for switching off the electricity: as pointed out, this is a daft idea. It'll just keep going until the battery dies.

OP: just suck it up, and have words with the neighbour when they return / drop a letter in.

nobodythere · 23-06-2007 11:55PM

Get a ladder, go up to the alarm box and just batter the **** out of it till it stops.

If possible.

Karoma · 23-06-2007 11:59PM

grasshopa wrote:

Get a ladder, go up to the alarm box and just batter the **** out of it till it stops.

If possible.

It's awkward as hell and deafening. Chances are you'll break before the alarm.
And unscrewing the box and snipping wires isn't going to be easy if it's a half-decent alarm.

Saruman · 24-06-2007 12:07AM

Just goes to show how effective alarms are.. chances are they went away and turned on their alarm. In fact thats the wrong thing to do as no one pays attention to alarms other than wish they would turn off.
They are only effective internally in the house if you are in there and as such they should be internal alarms so neighbours cant hear it.
Boston is wrong about ESB meters being outside, they are on any house i have ever seen. However that was not his real point, he was saying you cant "trip" the esb with the meter box and even if you could take it apart and trip it, there is always the backup.. although there is only so much battery life

There is no solution other without trying to damage their alarm box. Otherwise just wait for them to come back.

445279.ie · 24-06-2007 12:19AM

I feel sorry for you having to listen to the alarm noise, but isn't is a sad reflection of modern society that we don't know out neighbours.

Lucky enough to having gotten to know the neighbours and they have a key to my house and the alarm number.

Mr.Nice Guy · 24-06-2007 12:27AM

The gardai can't do much. Your best bet might be to contact your local authority. There's an article on the matter here.

The law in Ireland governing this area is Section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Environmental Protection Agency Act (Noise) Regulations 1994.

While the law does not specifically mention an exact level or standard of noise that is illegal, it is clear that if neighbourhood noise is affecting the quality of life of a citizen, you have a right to complain. Your local authority has the power to investigate complaints about neighbourhood noise and also has specialist equipment that measures levels of sound.

Karoma · 24-06-2007 12:30AM

If it's a repat issue, then you go to the council... not now. Not if it's once-off and not if it's the weekend.

Saruman · 24-06-2007 12:38AM

Would the council not require the Gardai to make a physical intervention anyway? and since they cant do anything.....

If you do not want to Damage the property, then you could try stuff a load of towels around the alarm to drown out the noise and then sleep with some white noise to drown out the rest.. like a fan or something.

Boston · 24-06-2007 07:43AM

ixoy wrote:

You're wrong on this one Boston. When I lived in Portmarnock originally, the ESB meter was on the outside of the houses. It most certainly wasn't the gas as we didn't have gas. The meters are still on the outside of most of the houses out here if you're that curious.

Fair enough; and can you turn the power off from it? mathew: I've never seen anything bar the gas in those white boxes.

Neighbour's House Alarm Going Off Since 11 o clock last night

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