The New DIY Home Security Installations get Smart, but Friendly
To even enthusiastic DIY-happy types, the idea of undertaking to install one of those new top-of-the-line home security systems has to bring on a little bit of fear and self-doubt. It's been this way forever - you needed to install something this high tech, you'd call in the authorized geek squad - trained no-nonsense types who'd arrived in their uniforms, and proceeded to secure your home and turn it into some kind of high-tech military camp. Well, that's what it looks like in the movies when someone orders a clampdown on their home.
Perhaps the movies aren't catching up with the latest in home security installations though. With the kind of models that you see coming out today, home security should soon re-emerge as a DIY-ready project that could make the most clumsy among us step forth with confidence. The way the manufacturers achieve this now at affordable prices is,through the use of the latest in inexpensive wireless connectivity, and easily available sensors. High-tech has come so far down to earth now, you could easily install yourself a system that offered Internet control. Ten years ago, this kind of thing would have sounded like something out of a James Bond.
There are many home security companies that offer a subscription-based service; the upfront costs are reasonable, and you will need to pay them a monthly subscription to keep an eye over the information coming in from the system. If the price of entry seems a little on the high side let's get to the real DIY systems that require no further expense once you've come home with your set of packages.
The simple entry-level systems by companies like General Electric, are pretty powerful themselves. GE's $15 door ubit has a motion sensor aimed at any door you want; the moment it opens, the sensor sounds an alarm. If you have any back doors that no one uses, or a window that you feel could be a security threat, this kind of sensor would be a good idea. GE also has a doorstop can help you sleep safely at a strange hotel in a new town. You just place it on the floor next to the door; any time the door opens and the sensor moves, it alerts you.
But home security installations do not have to be that simplistic just because it is DIY. There are plenty of high-tech security systems that don't need you to pay a subscription fee for and will still clamp down on your home like some high-security fortress. These systems are all about sensors and wireless connections, and there is usually no wiring or even screwing involved.
Consider Laser Shield, a $500 system that includes several window and door sensors and a motion detector among other things. It will alert the company through a cell phone connection, and you'll need to pay a $20 fee each month. The same goes for other companies like LifeShield too. If you don't want to pay a subscription, you can set your home security system to alert you by text message. There are models that go even farther; Simply Safe comes with all kinds of sensors, and also a panic button. It has a built-in cell phone so that it can alert the company when there is a break-in.
And you feel that you need some extra security for your front door, Black and Decker's Kwikset will. for $350 work somewhat like a car remote locker for your home. But in addition to that, it allows you to connect to it from anywhere through the Internet; if a member of your family forgot to take their key when they left for work, they can just call you, and you could open the door for them through the Internet. And what is more, the lock includes a little camera that lets you see who you are unlocking your door for.