Author Topic: Burglar alarms  (Read 860 times)

klondike

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Burglar alarms
« on: Sep 14, 2021, 03:25:16 PM »
Dunno what reminded me of this but thought I'd ask.

When we were having the house rewired the electrician asked if we wanted a burrglar alarm wired in. He offered a reasonably cheap option based on several IR detectors and just one open door detector. The control panel just gets turned on and off by waving a fob of which we got several. There is a joyous little tune to acknowldege a wave. One wave arms the lot the next turns off upstairs and a third turns it all off.

After several heart stoppers where it got left armed it wasn't set each night. We decided that the neighbours may just not appreciate a mains driven alarm going off for weeks at a time so it wasn't set when we went out either. Some while back and the battery in it died. This was annoying if that mains circuit got turned off as when it got turned on again it triggered the alarm. I eventually replaced the battery and resolved to at least turn it on again overnight.

The other night as near as dammit 4:00am the damned thing started hooting. I jumped out of bed in my skiddies and tore down the stairs to turn the thing off. No pause to grab any handy sword, gun , taser or baseball bat. No thought that could be a raid by TV licence inspectors. Just an urgent desire to stop the racket.

So in the cold light of day it doesn't go on for long periods away, it doesn't go on for short trips away and after that false alarm it won't be going on overnight. It will just sit unloved on the wall. At some point the battery will expire and maybe I'll replace it if I haven't expired sooner.

So do you have a burglar alarm?
Do you use it?
If it goes off in the middle of the night what would you do? Have you actually planned for that?
So long and thanks for all the fish

Alex22

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #1 on: Sep 14, 2021, 03:29:50 PM »
No, but I'd like one.  Our street has new residents and they are scary looking  ;D ;D ;D
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Michael Rolls

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #2 on: Sep 14, 2021, 05:04:29 PM »
Get a Doberman
Mike
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Alex22

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #3 on: Sep 14, 2021, 07:18:33 PM »
And go out at night to walk it ?  I don't think so.
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Michael Rolls

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #4 on: Sep 14, 2021, 07:32:43 PM »
Walk it in the day, run of the ground floor at night
Mike
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Wandering Walter

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #5 on: Sep 15, 2021, 02:58:56 PM »
I put a Burglar Alarm on out house about 4 years ago a simple  Yale battery operated,  4 D batteries last for about two years , 3 PIR sensors for the front toom to cover the door from the hall and front windows and the French door leading to the Patio.


One contact breaker on the front door one on the back door, close kitchen door and front room door when we go to bed arm the system downstairs never had a problem with it going off for no good reason when either in or out away on holiday etc.


Also fitted a Ring Camera Door Bell with speakers to front door, Ring Camera plus spot light speaker and siren to the back of a house , so I can tell anyone in my garden that should not be there to bugger off.


The above can be monitored on our mobiles never had a problem always on when out , if in the back garden Mobile will tell me when someone is approaching the front door and when they have rung the bell.


Both garden sheds have stand alone battery PIR alarms


Never have had a problem so far , whole lot less than £500




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klondike

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #6 on: Sep 15, 2021, 03:08:04 PM »
Apart from when the batteery went flat mine has only given one false alarm but I know others do. The one on the library across the way often did. As it hasn't for quite a while now. I suspect that they don't set it any more.

With a mains powered alarm rather than some dry cells when it goes off you know it has gone off. I didn't want to risk that when I was away a month at a time so that is why I didn't set it then.

It wasn't the false alarm that decided me to just not bother with it. It was the question of what I would do if it did go off. Would that be better that just not knowing?
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Wandering Walter

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #7 on: Sep 15, 2021, 03:14:31 PM »
My neighbour keeps and eye on our house even if just away for one night or the weekend or longer he has a set of keys he will go in if the alarm goes off, we do the same for him , he like me and most of our neighbours have Ring Camera Doorbells as well it makes one feel much safer.


A couple of times over the last coupe of years if anything does happen in our street the local Police ask if our doorbell cameras have picked anything up, which we then send to them
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Tyr

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #8 on: Sep 15, 2021, 05:38:53 PM »
We've just got our cat. More than enough. And our dog.  She's actually neither use or ornament - well not bad to look at - but would give a nasty lick!  At home we've got nothing of any significant value other than furniture which is hardly portable. Things of real value are kept by our bank.

Jacqueline

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #9 on: Sep 15, 2021, 06:16:48 PM »
When we lived in town, the Chemist shop alarm would go off regularly, car alarms would go off.  The noise would drive you mad, phone the police and it would take hours  for someone to come and turn it off.  One night my friend was working in a Garage shop, a young druggie came in and tried to rob her, she set off the alarms, nobody came.

In my opinion alarms are a waste of time, most people think when they go off they are malfunctioning which most of the time they are.  It may be different if you have one that is linked to a monitoring station.

klondike

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #10 on: Sep 15, 2021, 07:12:12 PM »
In truth I'm lucky to an extent as I live only a couple of doors from a vet. Lots of drugs on the premises. It used to be targetted regularly until they actually left it with the door in half and the bottom half virtually gone. The vet must have replaced it with a better one as that was several years ago.


I do have a video doorbell and perfectly visible CCTV cameras which I hope would make them choose somewhere else but of course they could (mistakenly) think those signalled rich pickings.
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Wandering Walter

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #11 on: Sep 15, 2021, 07:15:47 PM »
When we lived in town, the Chemist shop alarm would go off regularly, car alarms would go off.  The noise would drive you mad, phone the police and it would take hours  for someone to come and turn it off.  One night my friend was working in a Garage shop, a young druggie came in and tried to rob her, she set off the alarms, nobody came.

In my opinion alarms are a waste of time, most people think when they go off they are malfunctioning which most of the time they are.  It may be different if you have one that is linked to a monitoring station.


The idea is to deter burglars as it is very visual, most household burglaries are opportunists they look for an easy target, poor locks or single lock on a front door, can they get round the back of the house and out of sight easily, break a window in and out in next to no time.

 
I lock up and put the alarm on even if just going to the corner shop for a p9nt of milk 600 yards away   
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Michael Rolls

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #12 on: Sep 15, 2021, 08:29:40 PM »
the alarm on our Citroen XM suddenly started going off, usually at night, and for no reason, so I disabled it
Mike
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klondike

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #13 on: Sep 15, 2021, 10:14:49 PM »
Old car alarms used to be of the trembler type and wind could set them off. I can't figure out why an indoor PIR might go off assuming the house isn't home to rodents but you only need an outside floodlight to see how often they can trigger for no obvious reason.

I have a PIR porch light and I think I know what triggers that. My CCTV cameras have LEDs and if it rains I think they can get reflected back into the PIR sometimes. Certainly the porch light rarely triggers unless it is raining with the only other cause being visitors or the neighbours cat.
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Diasi

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Re: Burglar alarms
« Reply #14 on: Sep 15, 2021, 11:24:12 PM »
When we lived in town, the Chemist shop alarm would go off regularly, car alarms would go off.  The noise would drive you mad, phone the police and it would take hours  for someone to come and turn it off.  One night my friend was working in a Garage shop, a young druggie came in and tried to rob her, she set off the alarms, nobody came.

In my opinion alarms are a waste of time, most people think when they go off they are malfunctioning which most of the time they are.  It may be different if you have one that is linked to a monitoring station.

We have dual independent alarms so the chances of both malfunctioning at the same time are extremely minimal, plus we have 9 CCTV cameras so we'd know whether an intruder had set off the alarms.

If you can tell the police there's an intruder on the premises you get a fast reponse, very fast if you tell the police that the intruder is sat waiting for them while they're looking at your loaded shotgun or pistol crossbow.
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