The latest statistics show that over 2 million American homes get broken into by a burglar every year. Most of them have not had any alarms installed. If you don’t want to be a part of that statistical group, your best bet is to install a burglar alarms to protect your family and home. Here are the primary things to consider before purchasing them:
Survey your home and property – one of the questions you need to answer is how many doors and windows do you want to integrate into the system protect with alarms? When you consider that 2/3 of all break-ins and burglaries result from the burglar coming through the front door or first floor windows, you would be wise to consider every door on the ground floor of the home as well as any basement windows.
Make a list of several burglar alarms companies in your local area – always keep the money in the local economy when you can. You can check with a number of agencies or your family members and neighbors regarding their recommendations. It’s a great way to find out who you don’t want to do business with as well.
Consider adding a 24-hour monitoring service to your system – granted, burglar alarms are a great first step to take in order to protect your family, home, and personal property, but if you don’t have a service that monitors your burglar alarms, no emergency response is going to happen unless you have a good neighbor witness the break-in and burglary.
Look at every home occupant’s lifestyle – not everyone lives an 8:00 to 5:00 lifestyle and a smart burglar knows this. If there are children in the home who are going to school, there will be different re-entry times compared to the working parents. Additionally, work shifts come in three sizes – daytime, swing shift, and graveyard, so there will be different entry and exit times for these individuals where your alarms are concerned.
The control panel is the key component – always make sure that you purchase burglar alarms with a control panel and/or keypad control. Remember that this component of the system monitors every one of your home’s “zones” which typically include doors and windows. The basic burglar alarms will monitor 6 to 8 zones in your area of home security. However, you can upgrade most of the basic alarms to monitor up to 32 zones if need be in order to protect your home and property from any burglar.
Do your homework before making your decision – always compare 4 to 6 house traps and burglar alarms system companies as thoroughly as possible. Don’t be afraid to ask for any credentials or see if the BBB (Better Business Bureau) has any registered complaints about these companies.
Photo via O B McClintock burglar vault alarm
