Cheap house alarm systems come at a cost.
There's no way around it, there's a compromise somewhere. Cheap, compromised security does not fully protect your family or home!
Like most things in life, the cheap option is often the substandard one - an organic lamb chop from a specialist butcher tends to make a nicer meal than cheap supermarket burgers.
This blog post explains how choosing your home alarm installer on cost alone can result in substandard home security systems. Read on so you know how to ensure your home is properly protected.
In a quest to bring in work, many smaller, unregulated security companies will tempt buyers with special offers.
Caveat Emptor - buyer beware! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Cheap always comes at a cost. The very cheapest systems tend to be installed by one man operators, electricians or locksmiths - who are often unqualified to do this job. Remember, expertise carries a price tag!
Put simply, while an electrician can wire up a home alarm system, he will not have the skills to fit it correctly.
Often, to cut costs, the cheap home security installers cut corners too, by fitting fewer sensors than are required. If we're kind, we could suggest that an inexperienced or unqualified installer just made a mistake. Whatever, the outcome is compromised home security.
This is an example of how this inexperience or unprofessionalism happens.
The diagram below illustrates the layout of a fairly typical house - front room, back room, washroom under the stairs and hall leading to the kitchen at the back.
Let me explain why...
To reduce the number of false alarms, intruder alarm systems require two activations before the alarm is triggered. The design from your cheap security installer will protect you if the bad guy gets in through the front door. In that case, both the door and the hall sensors will be triggered. Great!
However, if the bad guy enters through any of the windows - front room, back room or washroom - it will not trigger a sensor because there isn't one! Then, when he runs through the hall and up the stairs in search of jewellery or your children's Playstation, only the hall sensor will have been activated, so the alarm will not sound.
A schoolboy error that leaves your home vulnerable. And we haven't even considered a break-in via the kitchen at the back - not shown in the diagram.
To ensure you don't fall victim to similar schoolboy errors, you need to employ a professional security company to design and install your home security system. Blake Fire & Security Systems are an excellent choice. We're always accredited to provide the services we offer - if not, we don't offer it!
For home intruder alarms it's NSI Gold or SSAIB, both are recommended by the Police. For our clients that means we only design and install security systems to the highest industry standards.
Your home will be fully protected and your peace of mind can stay intact.
To ensure the lower level of your home is properly protected you need sufficient sensors. It's obvious really, skimping on sensors to get the lowest price means skimping on your home's security! The second diagram illustrates a well protected property.
Of course, as mentioned, there's the kitchen to think about and upstairs too. Someone could use a ladder to get in through a window... A professional will design a security system that covers these eventualities.
The take home message, cheap house alarm systems come at a price to your peace of mind through:
To fully protect your family and possessions you need to use a professional company - Blake Fire & Security are an excellent choice;