Safety is important, so it’s only natural to want to secure your house and protect yourself from crime.
Cape Town is a beautiful city, but unfortunately, it also has high crime rates. The Urban Safety Reference Group and the South Africa Cities Network recently found that Cape Town has higher rates of property-related crimes than anywhere else in the country.
Vince Schwarz, from Cape Town Security Gates, says many homeowners are concerned about the safety of their property.
It used to be that the only way to get a reliable home security system was to rely on professional installation. These days, however, there are many reliable and easy to install home security systems on the market, so the budding DIY enthusiast can easily fit one in a weekend.
Here are some hints and tips for anyone looking to install their own security alarm system.
Plan your system
It’s a good idea to start by planning your system. Every home is different, which means every house needs a different pattern of sensors. Count how many doors and windows you have that can be accessed without using a ladder.
Burglars rarely use ladders, so you don’t need to protect windows that can’t be reached without one. However, they might climb trees or nearby structures, or use low roofs such as porch roofs to gain access to upstairs windows. If an upstairs window can be reached easily by climbing, include it in your plan.
Don’t forget garage doors, back doors, porch, patio or conservatory doors.
Choose your monitoring service
Some alarm systems simply set off a siren when a window or door is breached. This might not be as much of a deterrent as you think.
A siren can’t stop a burglar, and savvy thieves know that it takes neighbours or homeowners a few minutes to call the police.
Choose a system that calls the police immediately. You’ll save valuable time in the event of a break in, and having a system with police monitoring can even bring down your home insurance costs.
Choose your sensor types
It’s important to choose sensors that send a signal to the monitoring sensor as soon as the door or window is opened. Motion-only sensors are not a safe option, as they detect a problem only when they pick up movement. That means that a burglar could gain full entry into your home before the sensor goes off.
You might also look for a system that has glass sensors. These transmit a signal if a window or door is smashed, rather than opened.
Some home security systems also offer ‘crash and smash’ protection. Crash and smash is a burglary technique where the thief busts through your front door and quickly smashes the security system control panel.
Crash and smash takes advantage of the built-in delay to allow the homeowner to switch off the system. The system sends an alarm signal if the unit is not disabled in the normal way, so even if the robber succeeds in breaking it, the signal is still sent.
Choose your control panel carefully
Some systems have a separate keypad and control panel, while others offer an integrated unit. The separate option is much safer for your home. That way, even if a burglar enters and damages the keyboard, they haven’t damaged the control panel, which is the central part of the system.
Steer clear of units that are disabled by the click of a key fob. They might seem more convenient, but this means that a thief who finds the key fob can disable your unit in a second.
Match the magnet to the window
There are different types of magnets and contacts, and some are better suited for your home than others, depending on your window type.
For double hung windows, it’s a good idea to attach one magnet a few inches above the window sill, and a second magnet at the bottom of the sash window. If you set it up this way, you can leave the window open, and the alarm will go off if someone tries to force it open any further.
For casement windows, you might try drilling a hole for the magnet to go in. The reason for doing this is that plunger-style contacts can make it hard to open casement style windows. Recessed magnets are a better choice.
You can also create a recess on door frames for plunger-style contacts, for a smoother and neater look. If you’re not confident you’ll get the finish you want, call in a handyman.
If you have several windows in a row, you can add a magnet to each one and then wire each magnet up to the same transmitter. This looks neater and saves you money too.
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