Home alarms?

[slivers86]

Anyone out here know much in this area? I'm getting a 7 piece install done, but need to pick a company to monitor. I'm building new, so it'll all be wired in well. Any ideas?

Please, share experiences

[huntinstuff]

Tell me about the seven piece install..... and who is doing it

[slivers86]

The tech company contracted by my home builder. I think its 2 panels, and 3 glass break, 2 door. I think the company is PHI systems that is putting the product in.

The install company does all the low voltage electric in the house, like my surround, and things like that!

[hunted]

Make sure to add a water sensor and low temp sensor.

[Redfrog]

I would just get two Jack Russel Terriers. Save on the alarm system and you won't have to buy a barrel of monkeys for entertainment.

[Nait Hadya]

ya,i've found that the nose and ears of a hound far exceed the abilities of any security system,even when in sleep mode...haha

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by hunted

Make sure to add a water sensor and low temp sensor.

For sure
Make sure those guys do a proper install. If something is wired poorly or the coonections arent right, your alarm is less than useless. Some of these install guys are less than what is required to do a proper install. Be on them

Personally i would go with a local alarm/speaker and not bother with monitoring. I find monitoring companies sometimes are less than reliable

Thats where the install is critical. False alarms with a speaker on the house is a sure way to make friends.......
Car alarms are common. No one looks. But a loud house alarm gets attention

My alarm system triggers and i am notified in my vehicle and on my iphone. My cameras run 24/7 and i receive direct feed to my laptop and iphone

I have a hidden wireless 300db speaker on each side of the house. My small windows are shatterproof. All bedroom windows also have breakaway bars.

--------------_

Each kid has a loaded 12 g beside their bed. The walls are lined with kevlar so any gunfire will be contained to the bedroom. The hallway is called the " shooting gallery".

Our two German Sheps and the Rottie sleep on each floor. Their collars hold
4oz of C4 and, should the intruder get past them, they are trained to get close to the intruder and detonate the C4, thus giving their life for our safety, and taking out the intruder.

The moat that surrounds the house is usually on fire, supplied with natural gas. Propane back up system is in the underground shed

We always bake a cake, lovingly laced with warfarin, and leave it on the table, along with some cold " special" beer in the fridge in case the intruder gets hungry or thirsty.

Other than that, we are pretty much like any other family.......

[Justanotherbuck2]

A loud alarm gets the attention of the crooks and annoys the neighbors, both result in the same the crook runs a lot faster with your TV under his arm! Lock it up and carry good insurance. I agree with the Dog solution! I'm not sure but I think Calgary is now charging homeowners for the cost of false alarms , so you should check how your alarm company handles this when it happens.

[slivers86]

bump

getting close to move in date, just wondering if anyone has any recent experiences for my last minute decisions? Any companies to stay away from? We actually have both doors wired, 3 glass breaks, smoke/fire/C02 wired in and some kind of tamper switch for the communication lines into the house seems a little overkill to me, but what price can I pay to keep my lady feeling safe at home right? Wired and ready, but need a company.. Thoughts, ideas, recommendations?

huntin, I think 20 years ago, your kevlar walled house would be great... in texas.... love the shooting range though

[JB_AOL]

I'm not sure but I think Calgary is now charging homeowners for the cost of false alarms

Only if the police come out. Remember that with an alarm, 1st call goes to the monitoring company, then the house, then they start down the list (which you provide), and if no one can come out, then they send their security guy then if he sees problems he calls the cops.
So there's tons of failsafes against getting charged.

getting close to move in date, just wondering if anyone has any recent experiences for my last minute decisions? Any companies to stay away from? We actually have both doors wired, 3 glass breaks, smoke/fire/C02 wired in and some kind of tamper switch for the communication lines into the house seems a little overkill to me, but what price can I pay to keep my lady feeling safe at home right? Wired and ready, but need a company.. Thoughts, ideas, recommendations?

Does the installer have a recommendation? When we build our house, they provided us with a monitoring company, who we are still with today.

I highly recommend getting the low temp & water sensor. Just think of the damage a broken relief valve on a water heater could cause (in case you didn't know, the water will run constantly until YOU shut it off), flooded basements are not good. Also the low temp sensor would let you know when your furnace quit working, very important in the winter, and your out of town for the week.

[Reeves1]

huntin, I think 20 years ago, your kevlar walled house would be great

Actually....I was watching on TV a product testing done on outside cladding. (right word ?)
Rather than OSB it was same size but fiberglass with other stuff in it. I do not remember price, but thought it not too bad when watching. Stuff was supposed to stop 300 WM no problems.

Advance Security

Monitoring $135/year and you save on your house insurance.
Had them for the last 6 years. They also do service work etc.

[thefloormat]

I'm curious what the insurance savings are, if its a good chunk of what the security system costs, I would get one in just because it would basically be free, and a deterrent.

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by thefloormat

I'm curious what the insurance savings are, if its a good chunk of what the security system costs, I would get one in just because it would basically be free, and a deterrent.

Not sure about residential, but being rural, the monitoring cost of approx. $ 300.00 a year is returned as a discount on our insurance policy..

[gilbertslake]

Originally Posted by slivers86

Anyone out here know much in this area? I'm getting a 7 piece install done, but need to pick a company to monitor. I'm building new, so it'll all be wired in well. Any ideas?

Please, share experiences

All I can say is don't use Pinnacle, we were suckered into signing up for a 3 year contract after free installation.
They told us they had a local repair guy on 24 hour call-out. So 6 months later, we had a problem. I had to call them 4 times before we got a response then they told us it would be 2 weeks before we would get someone to fix the problem as they had to come from Edmonton and I had to bay $200 towards travel. I asked what happened to the local service we were promised. They said they company had changed hands and no longer maintained someone locally for service calls. Two quick fist blows to the panel fixed the problem and the damned thing has been working fine since.
They are based in Utah, enough said. I will be sure to buy local after my contract ends in July.

[slivers86]

thanks for the comments. One plus, is that we have the system already in the house, just need a monitoring company now. 1 week away from posession, might end up waiting a few weeks to decide. Unsure as of yet, the neighbors are always home with 5 young kids, so perhaps that might be enough security if the 4 houses on our 'block' get together and watch out for eachother

[hunterswife*]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

For sure
Make sure those guys do a proper install. If something is wired poorly or the coonections arent right, your alarm is less than useless. Some of these install guys are less than what is required to do a proper install. Be on them

Personally i would go with a local alarm/speaker and not bother with monitoring. I find monitoring companies sometimes are less than reliable

Thats where the install is critical. False alarms with a speaker on the house is a sure way to make friends.......
Car alarms are common. No one looks. But a loud house alarm gets attention

My alarm system triggers and i am notified in my vehicle and on my iphone. My cameras run 24/7 and i receive direct feed to my laptop and iphone

I have a hidden wireless 300db speaker on each side of the house. My small windows are shatterproof. All bedroom windows also have breakaway bars.

--------------_

Each kid has a loaded 12 g beside their bed. The walls are lined with kevlar so any gunfire will be contained to the bedroom. The hallway is called the " shooting gallery".

Our two German Sheps and the Rottie sleep on each floor. Their collars hold
4oz of C4 and, should the intruder get past them, they are trained to get close to the intruder and detonate the C4, thus giving their life for our safety, and taking out the intruder.

The moat that surrounds the house is usually on fire, supplied with natural gas. Propane back up system is in the underground shed

We always bake a cake, lovingly laced with warfarin, and leave it on the table, along with some cold " special" beer in the fridge in case the intruder gets hungry or thirsty.

Other than that, we are pretty much like any other family.......

I thought you were kidding until I saw you live in Edmonton!

[SonnyJ]

ADT......meh....gives the old lady some piece of mind when I gone..

...that and the 12 guage she knows how to use..

[leeaspell]

I have the mossberg security system. If this system goes off the cops ate bound to arrive instantly. I hear the winchester and remington systems also have a very short police arrival time. Way faster than any other system. Loud as heck too LOL

[slivers86]

Well.... I tried to go with ADT, however, even though my neighbour is registered and active with them, my street and postal code don't exist in their system... I have lost faith in this company now and have no confidence they could ever respond to an alarm on my street, let alone call CPS instead of rcmp or another department! lol...

Still open to suggestions!

[hunterswife*]

Make sure you ask about keeping the system after you pay for monitoring.

I did a bunch of research on this when we purchased our home (the notes are a home and I'm away for a couple weeks, sorry!) and found some companies actually take the system back!! That to me is ridiculous.

I know ADT is one that lets you keep the system after.

[NoKlu]

There is a big difference in response times if you tell them you just shot an intruder. You'd probably hear the sirens before you hang up.

[Zip]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

For sure
Make sure those guys do a proper install. If something is wired poorly or the coonections arent right, your alarm is less than useless. Some of these install guys are less than what is required to do a proper install. Be on them

Personally i would go with a local alarm/speaker and not bother with monitoring. I find monitoring companies sometimes are less than reliable

Thats where the install is critical. False alarms with a speaker on the house is a sure way to make friends.......
Car alarms are common. No one looks. But a loud house alarm gets attention

My alarm system triggers and i am notified in my vehicle and on my iphone. My cameras run 24/7 and i receive direct feed to my laptop and iphone

I have a hidden wireless 300db speaker on each side of the house. My small windows are shatterproof. All bedroom windows also have breakaway bars.

--------------_

Each kid has a loaded 12 g beside their bed. The walls are lined with kevlar so any gunfire will be contained to the bedroom. The hallway is called the " shooting gallery".

Our two German Sheps and the Rottie sleep on each floor. Their collars hold
4oz of C4 and, should the intruder get past them, they are trained to get close to the intruder and detonate the C4, thus giving their life for our safety, and taking out the intruder.

The moat that surrounds the house is usually on fire, supplied with natural gas. Propane back up system is in the underground shed

We always bake a cake, lovingly laced with warfarin, and leave it on the table, along with some cold " special" beer in the fridge in case the intruder gets hungry or thirsty.

Other than that, we are pretty much like any other family.......

That's Funny...if you dont't think so your in the wrong room...well done!

[kronk]

I'll tell you one thing, know your code, and make sure anyone staying in your house knows the code... These things are a huge pain for the FD, when we respond to a monitored alarm 1-10 times a week.

[Lonnie]

Originally Posted by NoKlu

There is a big difference in response times if you tell them you just shot an intruder. You'd probably hear the sirens before you hang up.

you bet by then all the shooting is over with and they get to arrest who ever is left standing.no cop is ever in a hurry to face an armed intruder aways better to wait and make sure that the bullets are finished flying around then show up to sort it out and see how many arrests you can make.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by Nait Hadya

ya,i've found that the nose and ears of a hound far exceed the abilities of any security system,even when in sleep mode...haha

ditto

now you just need a German Shepherd and your protective services will be complete

[RockyRidge]

Me and my dad own a security company called Action Security Services, you can check out our website at www.securitysystemscalgary.ca the monthly monitoring fee is $30/month, billed annually, we do not sign contracts we are a service company you dont like us your not stuck with us, you can contact us at 403-279-3986 and just say you talked to cody

I've used Protelec for about 15 years with no issues. Insurance saving basically pay for the monitoring and it gives us some preace of mind when were aren't home. Never turn the thing on when we are home. While some might feel safe with Winchester security, when you aren't home, it doesn't offer much except something else for a burglar to steal.

[topgun2269]

call 1-800-267-2001 alarm force!!!!! sing it!!!!!