Take a simple risk assessment to decide which burglar alarm system you need. Do you need to protect your shed / garage / garden trim or just one room in your house, or do you need to protect your entire house and garden?
Protection of gardens / sheds / garages
If you want to protect your garden trim and outdoor areas you will probably need an all weather PIR (Passive Infrared) motion detector that will activate a doorbell in the house when someone enters the area to be protected, this should be the type that is not . generally activated by pets or small animals. Alternatively, shed / garage alarms can be set to activate a 130 decibel siren when activated, which is generally enough to scare off the opportunistic thief immediately, as well as alert you or your neighbor.
Protecting the whole house
Generally, home alarms in homes will be of the ‘Autodial’ type of system that, when triggered by an intruder, will call your landline or mobile phone numbers to inform you. You can buy a simple but powerful alarm that will protect just one room or a system that protects the entire property. If you decide to protect your entire home, walk around the exterior of your property looking for easy access points, flat roofs, weak doors / windows, etc. These will be the areas that a typical burglar will look for and therefore will require specific protection such as PIR motion sensors or magnetic door / window contacts. Consider how you could get inside yourself, this will highlight potential entry points for intruders.
Generally, a “whole house” burglar alarm system will consist of magnetic door contacts on the front and rear doors, and possibly an interior hall door. Additional protection is provided by adding PIR motion detectors in the hallway / landing, living room, and kitchen. Corridor / landing protection is very important because any intruder will normally have to cross this area when moving between rooms. If you are installing a ‘whole house’ burglar alarm, it is generally best to place the entry control keypad in a convenient position in the hallway to allow easy access by entering the security code to arm / disarm the system. You may want your system to include an internal entry / exit tone so that you can hear and confirm that you have armed / disarmed the system. If you decide to install an external siren, you should install it as high as possible, and wireless systems are best so that the wires are not visible. Wireless systems are also quick and easy to install yourself and are available at very low cost.
Boat and vacation home protection without a phone line
Boat and vacation home burglar alarms work in the same way as “whole house” systems, but without the specific need for a phone line and can be powered by 12-volt batteries or mains. Typically these alarms will be a system that, when triggered by an intruder, will automatically dial your landline or mobile numbers via a GSM mobile SIM card (no need for an additional mobile phone, SIM technology is built into the system). These boat and vacation home burglar alarm systems can automatically dial you from anywhere in the world, via the mobile network, no matter where your boat or property is located.
