Burglar Alarms

Are Burglar alarms a sound investment or a waste of money?

All too often, there are myths and opinions regarding burglar alarms that are negative in nature. Many individuals have felt that installing these alarms has given them more peace of mind than what they had before they were installed. While others feel that they are a waste of money – until they are victimized by a burglar and suffer great loss, even a loved one being harmed by the intruder. So are burglar alarms a sound investment or are they a waste of money.

Common sense would tell you that they are not only a sound investment but a necessary one considering how unstable the US economy has become as well as the fact that crime statistics are always on the rise. Before you condemn installing burglar alarms in your home and calling them a waste of money, here are some statistics that you might want to consider:

Residential burglaries occur nearly 64% of the time during daylight hours, more specifically, working hours. Conversely, non-residential burglaries occur about 56.5% of the time once it is dark. In a high percentage of cases, victims had not installed burglar alarms to protect their family and home. Read the rest of this entry »

Securing your vacation home by installing burglar alarms

Some individuals today are fortunate enough to have second homes that they use as vacation homes or as vacation rentals.  Unfortunately, many of these have not realized that having burglar alarms installed in these is no less important than protecting your main place of residence from a burglar by having alarms installed there.  If anything, it is equally as important to have burglar alarms installed in vacation homes since they are only used for brief periods intermittently throughout the year.

The security of vacation homes and rentals is now more important than ever before given the current economic situation in the US and rising unemployment rates.  Another factor is how many vacant properties are being vandalized for scrap metals such as aluminum, copper, and other metals.  Recycling centers are paying big bucks these days for recyclable metals and today’s burglar knows this, hence the further importance of having alarms installed to protect the home while it is vacant. Read the rest of this entry »

Facts regarding burglar alarms that are on the market today

Installing burglar alarms proves that you value the safety of your family and home as well as providing one of the best security measures you can take in order to keep any burglar from victimizing you.  Many alarms on the market today are very sophisticated compared to what they were even 10 years ago.  The following is a list of facts regarding burglar alarms and the benefits of having them installed in your home.

Nothing is 100% guaranteed – even though there is less likelihood of being victimized when you have burglar alarms installed, there is still no guarantee that the intruder will still not try to break into your home.  Most burglars today can steal a lot of valuables in only a few minutes so having a system installed does not guarantee that you will never be victimized.  However, the likelihood of it happening is greatly decreased if you have a system installed. Read the rest of this entry »

Burglar proofing to consider in conjunction with your alarms

Granted, the act of installing burglar alarms is the best step you can take to ensure the safety and security of your family and home.  However, there are some additional burglar-proofing steps that you can take to supplement the effectiveness of your alarms.

The following is a list of 3 home security measures that will enhance the effectiveness of your existing burglar alarms.

Inventory the level of security with your home’s exterior – most individuals feel that just having burglar alarms installed is enough, but oftentimes securing the exterior is just as critical as securing the interior.  For instance, look for weaknesses that would invite an intruder to consider burglarizing your home.  Is there sufficient lighting around the perimeter of the house? Is there overgrown shrubbery that makes for an excellent hiding place for a burglar? Remember that darkness is an intruder’s friend whereas light is their enemy.

Figure out ways to slow a burglar down – the simplest of home security devices can slow an intruder down enough to discourage them from trying to proceed any farther.  Read the rest of this entry »

Why does home security involve more than burglar alarms?

For many homeowners, their concept of the best home security goes no further than the installation of burglar alarms to protect their family and their possessions.  But will a burglar always be deterred when these alarms are in place? The answer is yes and no depending.  The less experienced intruder will most likely pass up your house if they have a remote hint that it could be protected by burglar alarms.  On the other hand, the skilled burglar may just laugh at what you have installed.

The reason for the latter is based on the fact that today’s intruders are not only more intelligent compared to those in the past, they are desperate because of economic times and can be pretty bold in their attempts to succeed.  Recent statistics revealed that the best burglar only needs about 60 seconds to break into a home and can easily steal thousands of dollars worth of property within 8 to 12 minutes.  It doesn’t matter whether there are burglar alarms installed or not where this individual is concerned. Read the rest of this entry »

The primary advantages of wireless burglar alarms

There are two basic types of burglar alarms available on the market today – hard-wired and wireless.  The most significant difference is that the former has to be wired directly into the home’s electrical source whereas the latter alarms do not.  However, both are effective deterrents and help to prevent being victimized by a burglar.  Originally, all burglar alarms were the hard-wired type.  However, with advancements in technology and numerous innovations, the wireless systems have moved to the forefront.

There are several key advantages that wireless burglar alarms have over the hard-wired types and the following should be considered whenever you are planning on purchasing and installing one of these systems:

Cost – budget is always the primary consideration here and despite the fact that wireless burglar alarms may cost less initially, once you add the charge for installation into the equation, the overall cost is significantly less expensive.

Convenience – wireless systems are very convenient and easy to install.  There’s no drilling through walls, no moving of furniture, and patchwork to be done.  Additionally, if you are a savvy DIY’er, installing a wireless system is much simpler. Read the rest of this entry »

Burglar alarms and burglary statistics

When you combine the current state of the economy with rising crime statistics, it shouldn’t be surprising that more and more burglar alarms are being purchased and installed every day.  Today’s burglar is considerably more brazen and intelligent from those of the past and without any alarms protecting your family and your home, it’s only a matter of time before you become a statistic.  Where burglar alarms are concerned, the following statistics should convince you of their importance in society today.

As of 2009, burglaries accounted for nearly 24% of all the property crimes that were committed in the US

Of all these burglaries that occurred, the following statistics were evidenced:

• forcible entry was used over 60% of the time
• nearly 33% of these entries were unlawful and did not involve any force
• only 7% were forcible attempts that failed

The resulting costs of burglaries in 2009 amounted to nearly $4.5 billion where lost property was concerned with the average loss per incident amount to nearly $2,000 Read the rest of this entry »

Watch out for scams involving burglar alarms

We are all well aware of the fact that consumers are not immune to scams and fraudulent activity.  It follows then that scams and other fraudulent activities involving burglar alarms are no exception to the rule.  All homeowners have concerns regarding protecting their families and homes from being victimized by a burglar, so they look to installing these alarms to ensure the safety and security of both.  The following are some tips to consider in order to protect yourself from being victimized by any burglar alarms scams that are out there.

One of the first indicators of a possible burglar alarms scam is either the door-to-door salesperson or the telemarketer.  Typically, these run rampant during the summer months when the weather is more cooperative.  There are also a number of things that you want to be aware of according to what consumer-protection and law enforcement officials say.  Be wary of any salesperson or telemarketer who: Read the rest of this entry »

Choosing your burglar alarms

With the current economic situation in the US and the fact that older neighborhoods are slowly deteriorating, burglar alarms have become a necessary part of society.  Current statistics show that a burglar victimizes a residence or place of business over 2 million times annually.  Of these 2 million plus crimes, more than 65% of them occur in residential neighborhoods.  This is due to the fact that many homeowners have still not realized the value of these alarms and how they can protect them and their homes.  Therefore, it makes sense that burglar alarms have grown in importance and popularity.

It’s safe to say that nothing offers the peace of mind that the safety and security of burglar alarms provides a person with.  There are a number of ways that you can determine your home security needs and one of the first steps you should take is to consult with a professional inspector.  Today, there are many companies who offer home security inspections for a slight fee while others include it as part of a home security package which includes the price of the system and the installation. Read the rest of this entry »

Burglar alarms and evaluating your home security needs

Whether you have installed burglar alarms in the past or have finally decided to do so, you always need to stay on top of your home security needs.  The common burglar today is fairly smart when it comes to circumventing certain alarms and entering your home.  So you can never be too sure that your home security needs are covered if you don’t evaluate these needs on a regular basis in order to ensure that your burglar alarms will effectively protect your family and property.

The importance of home security inspections

Most companies who sell and install burglar alarms always advise that the system is tested and maintained on a regular basis.  However, the better companies will also recommend that you have annual home security inspections as well.  Some may even include these in their contracts.  In any event, you cannot assign a value to the benefits of having these inspections performed.  You have to ask yourself “is my family, home, and valuables as safe as they could be?” Read the rest of this entry »