Home Security News

Best Books for Home Security

If you're new to home security or you've just moved into a new apartment, condo, or house, and you're not quite sure where to start, the best thing you can do is buy (or check out from the library) a couple of books on the subject.  I've perused several books in order to find ideas on home safety and security issues to blog about, and here's a look at the best ones out there:

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Home Security -- This one doesn't have the best reviews or ratings over at Amazon, and it's a few years old, but it's not a bad place to start. I'd recommend checking this one out from the library over buying it.
• Home Security: Your Guide to Protecting Your Family -- This one is from the Better Homes & Garden people, and it's got a lot of nice full-color pictures (something the Idiots' book lacks). It's pretty thorough, but it's also not the most recent publication.
• Affordable Security: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Protecting Your Home, Business, and Automobile -- This is one of the most recently published and provides good overall information.
• Think Safe: Practical Measures to Increase Security at Home, at Work, and Throughout Life -- This one falls more into the realm of personal security than just home security, but it's definitely worth reading and thinking about.

Different Types of Burglars to Watch out for

The Crime Doctor site has a lot of great information on home security.  In particular, they've got an article called "Home Invasion" that has a section called the Criminal Profile.  It gives a bit of insight into what thieves are looking for when they target a home, and details that there are two different kinds of burglars: "residential burglars" and "home invasion robbers." 

The residential burglars "work mostly during the day and when a residence is more likely to be unoccupied. Most burglars work alone and tend to probe a neighborhood looking for the right residence and the right opportunity. Alarm signs and decals, bars on windows, strong locks and doors, big dogs, and alert neighbors can sometimes deter burglars. Also, burglars will avoid a confrontation and will usually flee when approached."

On the other hand, the home invasion robbers "Home invasion robbers, in contrast, work more often at nights and on weekends when residences are more likely to be occupied. The home invaders will sometimes target the resident as well as the residence... Many home robbers have been in your home before as a delivery person, installer or repair vendor.  Home robbers rarely work alone and rely on an overwhelming physical confrontation to gain control and instill fear in their victims. The greatest violence usually occurs during the initial confrontation and home invaders often come prepared with handcuffs, rope, duct tape, and firearms."

The article goes on to detail how these people get in and, more importantly, what you can do to prevent both types of criminals from targeting your home.  It's definitely worth a read.

http://www.crimedoctor.com/

Home Security Monitoring--How Much Does It Cost?

Monitored home security systems are popular since an alarm alone might not be enough to scare away a burglar in time.  With monitored systems, when the alarm goes off, it will alert your security company and they'll (depending on what you sign up for) send a car or alert the police.  According to Beefing up Your Home's Security, an article up at Bankrate.com, the monthly cost for the services of a security monitoring company run $20-$30/mo.  You have to consider the cost of the installation as well, but many companies offer low cost installation as long as you agree to term of X years or months with them.  Bankrate also has an article on Home Security System Basics.

Houseboat Security

If you're lucky enough to own a houseboat, you need to think about home security just as us landlubbers do. Fortunately, the basics are the same. An article in Houseboat Magazine called appropriately, Stop that Burglar! suggests you start with these security checkpoints:

If you can get into your houseboat without a key, so can a burglar. Lock all windows and doors. Use timers on lights and the radio to create the illusion that you’re on board. Get involved with others at your marina to form a neighborhood watch group.

The article goes into more depth, so I suggest giving it a read.

Residential Fingerprint Door Locks

Still opening your front door with keys? There are lots of manufacturers putting out fingerprint activated locks for residential doors now. From a home security standpoint, a keyless lock makes sense. No need to worry about unsavory types getting a hold of your keys and, likewise, no need to worry about losing them yourself. Fingerprint locks are usually batter-powered and family simple to install. They start at about $300 for systems that hold 30-50 fingerprint profiles.

More at Fingerprint Door Lock Information

Home Security Basics

What are the basics to smart home security? Advances in home technology mean there are a lot of bells and whistles available, but there are some basics that you want to make sure you pay attention to.  Some of them (like trimming trees and bushes around windows to eliminate hiding spots) don't cost much, while others (like a full home automation system and a monitored wireless alarm system) can get pricey.  Here is a look at the simple stuff:

Home Security Basics

• Key Control (Don't give out keys to people who don't live at your home; don't hide keys outside the house; have locks rekeyed if a key is lost)
• Exterior Lighting (doorways and paths should be well lit at night so burglars don't have a place to hide)
• Sensors (as part of your home security system, arm doors and windows with sensors to alert you to unauthorized entries)
• Landscaping (when planting, keep doors and windows free of trees and bushes; privacy is great, but it also gives burglars a place to hide)
• Fences & Gates (they are a deterrent, plus they make the removal of large items difficult)
• Deadbolt Locks (a solid door with a deadbolt lock is one of the best deterrents)
• Secure Glass & Garage Doors (glass doors should have window guards, security screening, or burglar-rated glazing--dowels alone won't keep a thief from removing a sliding glass door)
• Alarm System (an alarm system is a good purchase and may even help lower homeowners' insurance, but keep in mind all of the above as well)

Source: The basics of home security

Alarm Companies

Looking for the lowdown on home security alarm companies? An article called, appropriately, Alarm Companies offers a bit of history and information on some of the industry slang. It also gives some advice for choosing an alarm company and some of the problems people have encountered and how to look out for them when you're shopping around.

Panic Rooms

A good home security system and security plan should keep you and your family safe, but some homeowners decide to add panic rooms, or safe rooms, to their homes, especially if they are having a house built from scratch. This can offer an added sense of security. Panic rooms are almost like a safe for a person where you can hide if a burglar enters your house. You can call 911 from inside its secure bounds. Here is a short article with some basic information on panic rooms/safe rooms or if you're ready to have one installed, check out this information on design and construction.

Basic Components of a Security System

Shopping for a home security system? Before you talk to a salesman or alarm company, you should know the basic components and be familiar with the available options you can add on. Here are the basics:

• A control panel (hooked up to the telephone line if the system is to be monitored by a security company).
• A basic keypad for controlling the system, usually has one-touch fire/police/emergency services programmed in.
• Door & window sensors
• Decals for the windows and signs for the yard

Here are some of the other options available:

• Passive, infrared, photoelectric, or microwave motion detectors
• Panic buttons
• Glass-break detectors
• An external siren
• Smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors
• Closed Circuit Television or PC-based video surveillance

Source: November/December 2004 issue of Smart HomeOwner (a more complete list of options is listed there)

Garages and Garage Doors

When you're setting up a home security system for your house, don't forget about making sure your garage is secure. The garage often provides an easy entry point into the house for would-be thieves. Garage door security is important (change the code on your garage door opener if you haven't since you purchased the system), but don't over look things like back doors and windows.

When you're away, even if you've just gone into the house for a bit, don't leave your garage door opening. It affords passersby the opportunity to check out your security or even make off with bikes, tools, or other valuable but unsecured items.

For more information check out Home Security: Garages--Is Your Garage Secure?

Alarm Systems: The Basics

Home security encompasses so many things that it's hard to know where to start when setting up a home security system. The spectrum ranges from simple door and window alarms (that go off when someone attempts to open them from the outside) to whole house and yard video surveillance systems that are tied into a central computer that is connected to the Internet and can be accessed and controlled via the Web or even a cell phone.

Whew, who knows where to start?

An article in the Columbian, entitled appropriately "Home Security" suggests a basic system might consist of "perimeter contacts at each of a home's exterior doors" and "a motion detector or two somewhere on the premises or in the house." The security system should have a keypad, or control panel--preferrably two--in the house in order to easily keep tabs on everything. The article recommends one control panel next to the most frequently used entrance and another in the master bedroom. As far as what's on this control panel, the article advises "a better-than-entry-level model with an LCD readout."

Total cost? About $1,200. The price goes up if you want to add cameras.

Many homeowners get fooled by security companies who offer to install a complete home security system for a very low price. Then they realize they've committed themselves to excessive monthly charges AKA "monitoring fees". Take that into consideration when you're hunting for a home security system and deciding whether you want to do it yourself or have a security company handle the installation.

If you don't have $1-2k to put down on a home security system right now, you could grab a starter kit from X10. I think of these guys as kind of security light. Their systems don't seem to be as long-lasting or sophisticated as more professional (read more expensive) systems, but if you're just looking for something that does work and gives your family a little piece of mind, you could try their Monitor Plus Security System, a basic wireless system for under $200.

In the end, no matter how attractive all the bells and whistles, make sure to get something simple enough that everyone in the family can work it. If Dad can't figure out how to program the VCR, chances are he's going to be lost when sirens and blinking lights start flashing at him on an evening when he's home alone.

Home Security Article

Swimming Pool Alarm Systems

Swimming pool alarms can help keep your children safe around the backyard pool. Not all alarm systems are created equal, however. You need to be careful because not all pool alarms out on the market are adequate to protect your children. Check out Testing Swimming Pool Alarm Safety to learn about the results of a test by Good Housekeeping, identifying which pool alarms rate best and which are not adequate.

Other Swimming Pool Information Resources:

How Safe Is Your Swimming Pool?
Hot Tubs & Swimming Pools Information

So You Want to Buy a Safe

Buying a safe for your home or office is a good choice, especially if you have small valuables (too large for a safe deposit box) or important documents that need to survive a fire. Not all safes are created equally though. Make sure the safe you're considering has a seal describing its Underwriters Laboratory rating. No rating? No good.

For safes, the Underwriters Laboratory is kind of an inspection and classification system that rates safes according to how fire resistant they are. A "Class A" safe is the absolute best you can buy, guaranteed to protect paper documents in temperatures of 2000°F for up to 4 hours. All safes with UL ratings should be able to resist damage from dropping from a collapsing building.

One other key thing to remember when buying a safe is that it shouldn't be light enough that a thief could just waltz out with it slung over his shoulder. Shell out the extra bucks for something sturdy and heavy. Even better, have a floor or walll safe built into your house as it's being built or remodeled.

More resources for safes:
Information on Buying a Safe
Browse Safes at Amazon

Do-It-Yourself Home Security Information

This month's PC Magazine looked at a number of home security options that revolve around home computers and webcams. D-Link SECURICAM Wireless Internet Security Camera was the winner of the Editor's Choice Award: D-Link 802.11g Wireless Internet Camera Wins PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award

Other Do-It-Yourself Home Security links:

Installing a Home Alarm System
Do It Yourself: Locks & Home Security Systems
Install a high end video surveillance camera

Combining Home Security with Medical Alert for Seniors

In California, Watchdog Security Services combines a home security system with a medical alert system to provide full security coverage for seniors who live alone and like their independence. Watchdog Security Services uses two-way voice technologies that allow the user to get in touch with someone simply by pressing a button on a neck pendant or wrist band in case of an emergency. There is also a sensor system to monitor home security alarms.

For more information check:

Press Release: Riverside Home Security and Medical Alert Systems: Advancements for Seniors and Shut-Ins
Watchdog Security Services

Risk Assessment

Doing a risk assessment is one of the first steps to creating a home security plan and purchasing a home security system. Previously, I've mentioned how it may be possible to get a reduction of your home insurance rates by installing a home security system. However, your insurer may want to see not only that you have an alarm system and some reinforced locks, but a home security plan of some sort. After all, an alarm is no good if you don't remember to turn it on. Doing a plan, including a risk assessment of your home and neighborhood, shows you're responsible and serious about protecting your home and family.

Here are a few resources I found that explain what a home security risk assessment is and how to do one:

Home Security: Creating a Risk Assessment for Your Home
Home security starts with risk assessment

Setting Up a Wireless Home Security System

Cripes, there're a lot of sites out there selling wireless home security systems, but does anyone actually want to tell you how installation works? Noooo. Ok, actually I found a couple... As it is my self-appointed job to keep you informed on such matters, I'm listing them below. The sites I found don't go too in depth though, so you may eventually want to grab a copy of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Home Security or some other home security/home automation book.

Anyway, wireless home security installation sites:

How to Install a Wireless Home Security System
Installing a Wireless Security System
Browse Wireless Security Products

Portable Alarms

Portable burglar alarm systems are home security options for people who live in apartments and may not have the leeway to start drilling holes into the walls and installing banks of security cameras and such. Portable alarms are also handy for people who are traveling, especially if you are traveling alone, because they are fairly easy to set up in a hotel room. Even house owners may consider a portable alarm system if you don't want to install a more comprehensive system or you don't have a good place to mount a motion-detector.

About Portable Alarms:

According to Home Security Your Guide to Protecting Your Family, portable burglar alarms are relatively small, battery-powered, and completely self-contained. They include both alarm and motion sensor. You can get styes that sit on flat areas like desks or shelves; you can also buy alarms that hang on the doorknob.

Apartments and Condominiums

Home security is for apartment and condo dwellers, too. There are a number of things you can do to make your apartment more secure without drilling holes in the wall that the landlord might not approve of. A few examples are: simple things like locking your doors and windows, even when you're home; buying a wireless home security systems (these can easily be packed up and taken with you when you move); and double-securing a sliding glass door with a lock and bar.

For more apartment and condo security tips check out the following articles:

Home Security for Apartments & Condos
Apartment Home Security Technology Promotes Safety
Apartment Security Tips For Families

Or browse Wireless Home Security X10 Wireless Accessories a shop that sells gear like this "high end video surveillance camera with ultimate zoom " or this cheaper "Tiny Wireless Camera, See & Record Everything".

Safes

Safes can be a great way to protect your small valuables like jewelry and coin collections, things that thieves often target (because things like that are easy to carry away and easy to fence). Since safes are usually fire-retardant, they can be good for protecting one of a kind documents like birth certificates. A new article at homesecurityinformation.com, Buying a Safe, details the different categories of safes and discusses money chests (sometimes called wall safes), another smaller alternative.

Burglar Alarms, an Introduction

Before buying a home security system, you should understand what's out there in the way of alarms and how they work. This will help ensure you get what you need and don't get sucked into buying a whole bunch of fancy doo-dads that you'll never even bother activating.

According to The Idiot's Guide to Home Security, there are 4 basic levels of burglar alarms: simple premise alarms, local alarm systems, telephone dialar systems, and continually monitored security systems.

A simple premises alarm is something like a smoke detector or a battery-operated door wedge alarm, an alarm with a single function. These are usually fairly cheap.

With local alarm systems, a siren sounds inside and outside the house when the alarm is tripped. Though these may scare away burglars, they don't notify the police, so if nobody is around to hear them, the burglar might just wait until it goes off and try again.

Telephone dialer systems are programmed to call up to four numbers with a preprogrammed help message when the alarm is tripped. Panic buttons fall under this category of alarms.

The most effective and most expensive types of burglar alarms are continually monitored security systems. With these alarms, when the trigger is tripped, your security monitoring company is alerted. They will in turn call the police or fire department; some even send a security officer to your house.

For more information you may want to visit the following sites:

Burglar Alarm Basics
BBC: Burglar Alarms
How Burglar Alarms Work

And browse home security equipment: X10 Wireless Accessories a shop that sells gear like this "high end video surveillance camera with ultimate zoom " or this cheaper "Tiny Wireless Camera, See & Record Everything".

Home Security You Can Afford

Want to keep your home safe but have a limited budget? A wilmington news report explores home security systems you can buy and install that won't put you into more debt than a pack of burglars could.

Home security on a budget

Spy-Cye Home-Surveillance Robot

Through a wireless digital camera, Spy-Cye, a roving home surveillance robot, allows you to remotely monitor your home via a PC left connected to the Web. The robot allows you to both see and hear what's going on in your house when you're gone.

At this point, Spy-Cye is more of a toy than a legitimate security system, but these home surveillance robots hint of the future where home security may be more efficient, or at least more automated, allowing us more options in more ways to thwart would-be burglars.

Spy-Cye Homepage
Spy-Cye Home Surveillance Robot Review

Buying a Home Security System? Here Are A Few Tips

The National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association has posted a list of 10 tips you should consider when hiring a burglar alarm/fire alarm installation company. The NBFAA site is an excellent resource to peruse before beginning any sort of home security plan.