The majority of burglaries fail when a home is fitted with an alarm. Intruder or burglars are unlikely to want to remain in a property with an alarm going off. Alarms have a dual benefit for home security
- Visual deterrent – the external bell box is a great deterrent to a thief as they are more likely to bypass your home
- Reducing the time a thief will want to spend in your home
If you have a professionally fitted and maintained alarm you may quality for a discount for your home insurance. If you plan to fit your own there are a number of options from buying the parts, buying a wired alarm kit or buying a wireless alarm.
A wired alarm is likely to be cheaper in the long run but a wireless intruder alarm will have less impact on your home decoration. They are also generally quicker and easier to fit than their wired alternative
If you are planning to build your own alarm you will need:
- Alarm wire – generally available in 4, 6 & 8 core. It can be worth running 8 core wire as its then possible to run up to 3 zones from one cable. Wired contacts usually need to wires for the zone activation and a further two for the tamper circuit. Also PIR sensors will need more wires.
- Control panels – you need to think about how many zones you need. The more zones you have the more flexible your alarm is. As an example you may want, front door, other external doors, downstairs windows, garage, downstairs internal doors, upstairs windows, upstairs internal doors and panic buttons. Depending on how complex you want your alarm you may install a pressure pads, ceiling sensors etc. Some alarm panels also include a fire zone where you can install smoke detectors.
- Bell box and circuit – its worth getting one that includes a high visibility strobe light that flashes if the alarm is activated. Depending on your type and size of property you may wish to fit further alarm bell boxes or dummy bell boxes.
- Rechargeable battery – most control panels require a rechargeable battery to ensure that your alarm continues to operate if the power is cut. This is an essential as if there is no power between the control panel and bell box(es) the backup battery in the bell box will sound the alarm as it will treat it as someone tampering with it.
- Contacts & Sensors – you will need sensors to trigger the alarm. There are different types to consider:
- Magnetic Sensors – these are fitted to doors and windows that are designed to set off the alarm if the door or window is opened. These are available as flush mounted (hidden in the door / window and frame) or surface mounted
- PIR or movement sensors – these sensors will trigger if they sense movement in the room. They are quick to set up but can be a little unreliable if you have pets or a spider crawls across the front of the sensor.
- Pressure mats – installed under the carpet will trip the alarm if someone stands on the mat.
- Vibration sensors – designed to attach to a window or ceiling to detect if someone breaks a window or cuts through a roof e.g. a flat roof.
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