Alarms, Home Security System, Where to start

The extensive range of equipment available can prove very confusing. Your main aim is to find a system which is easy to understand, uses proven technology and can be extended, if necessary, at a later date.

Personal recommendation is probably the best way to choose a company to install your alarm system.

Then, if the installation or system should prove unsatisfactory, you do at least have an official organisation to approach to take up your complaint and investigate the situation.

You should obtain at least three quotes from reputable installers and remember — the cheapest may not necessarily be the best value.

Wired or radio system?

The system offered to you should include a control panel, possibly a remote keypad, detectors (which may include passive infra-red units, magnetic contacts, vibration sensors, ultrasonic sensors or glass-break detectors), a sounder and bell box with a strobe light attached, and personal attack button.

Communication between the main panel, detectors and alarm bell box of traditional alarm systems is normally via special security cabling and powered by the mains electrical supply. Radio, however, means you can install an alarm faster and more easily and you can take it with you if you move.

You can now obtain virtually any form of detector with a radio alarm, and kits tend to contain a selection with additional units available for you to buy separately as and when you wish to expand the system.

In fact, a good radio alarm manufacturer should be able to supply you with a transmitter capable of adapting any detector for use with a wire-free system. These include magnetic contacts, passive infra-red detectors, glass-break detectors, personal attack buttons and smoke alarms.

You will also have a remote hand-held unit (like those used to operate car alarms) which is used to activate and turn off the alarm.

Terms and conditions

Before you part with your cash or sign a contract, make sure you know whether you are leasing or buying the system outright, whether a maintenance agreement is included in the price and ensure that a 12 month guarantee is offered on parts and labour.

Make sure there are no hidden costs, such as call-out charges or a monitoring service you didn’t know about, and find out exactly who is doing the work — whether the company sub-contracts and whether staff are vetted.

Above all, make sure you understand exactly how the system works once it is installed.

The installer should talk you through all the elements of the system and its operation and make sure you can operate it correctly before he leaves. He should also leave you a card or a manual describing the user facilities and the action you need to take.

If you or a member of your family are in any doubt whatsoever make him show you again or explain it more clearly. A very large proportion of false alarms occur simply because the owner doesn’t know how the alarm system works.

Doing it yourself

If you do not have to consider insurance company requirements and simply want the peace of mind an efficient alarm system can bring, you may consider installing the alarm system yourself.

There are two ways of approaching this: buy a kit or choose the components yourself. If you buy an alarm in a box from a security centre or one of the major DIY superstores, it should comply with BS6707. Check that it contains both sufficient cable and detectors which will suit your home and protect areas in the right way; also that the overall quality of the components is good.

It is also reassuring to know that the manufacturer provides a ‘Help hotline’ in case you get into difficulties. Read the instructions very carefully, particularly those relating to wiring, and check that all the listed components are actually there before you begin.

Another way of choosing an alarm system is to visit your local security centre and ask them to make up an alarm kit for you. Not all security centres offer this service but you may be find one that will either issue you with a set of instructions for fitting or be prepared to answer any queries over the telephone.

Unfortunately, neither the police nor an alarm monitoring station will accept emergency calls directly from a DIY alarm system. Nevertheless, you will still have to notify the police that the system has been installed and give them the names and addresses of two keyholders.

Some DIY systems come equipped with an automatic dialling device which, if the alarm is triggered, repeatedly telephones a series of numbers you have chosen until it receives a reply and is able to send a recorded alarm message. Well worth considering if you have elderly or disabled relatives living in the house.

Alarms have improved considerably in recent years and, if used and installed correctly, should give trouble-free and false alarm-free operation.

False alarms have been, and continue to be, a problem and may sometimes be the reason for home-owners preferring not to install a system or even taking one out if it proves unreliable. It can also attract unwelcome attention from irritated neighbours and disgruntled police.

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