Yale premium alarm or wired profesional alarm?

[CARLOSBLANCO]

Hi,

I am looking to buy an alarm for my 2 bedroom flat after a recent burglary being on the ground floor I guess i am easy pickings,

Anyway i had a quote for a wired alarm ( my flat already has the wires for an alarm installed this was done when the property was built ) for £400 this was for a bells only alarm,

After looking round the internet for a while I am leaning towards the Yale premium alarm from IronmongeryDirect.com for £134.99 just because its cheap and I guess does the same job and after reading some reviews it gets mostly positive reviews.

I am just after some advice if I am making the right decision or would I later regret not getting a professional wired system?

Any help or advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Carlos

 

[sparkymarka]

hardwired any day. get some more quotes. did they know it was pre- wired ?

 

[CARLOSBLANCO]

Hi
Yeah he saw that the wires were already installed and that was his best price which seems alot for a small apartment which is why I was looking at the Yale instead plus I like the fact it will ring your mobile if triggered but I realise a wired installation would probably be more reliable but price is a big factor for me.

 

[sparkymarka]

what did he quote on ? how many detectors ?

 

[CARLOSBLANCO]

If I remember rightly it was for a control panel, external siren, 2 movement detectors, 1 door sensor and 2 window detectors.
Does that sound like a reasonable price?

 

[sparkymarka]

get some more quotes ask friends an family for recommendations

 

[EightyTwo]

I'm biassed but I'd suggest that you seriously consider the professional installation.

If the tea leaves return, I reckon that they'll be more worried by a signwritten bellbox than something you can buy off the web for a hundred quid. They should infer that it's a pukka alarm, installed (and maintained?) by a professional firm and may be communicated (to the central station/police). None of this can be implied by a box with "Yale" or "Tate" written on it.

Alarms are about crime relocation, not crime prevention. See what your neighbours have got and go one better. If none of them have any kind of alarm then a DIY job should be fine! Billy Burglar will go next door next time.

I'm not knocking the DIY approach, I'm just being biassed!!

 

[JohnD]

The advantage of the Yale alarm is that it is cheap, and can fairly easily be installed by a DIYer in a couple of hours. The premium version will also phone out on several numbers to alert you in the event of an alarm. It can protect outbuildings and garages and can audibly chime when selected doors or windows are opened..

If you can afford it, there are bettter alarms available; but many people can't, and a low-priced DIY model will often suit their needs, and will be vastly better than nothing.

IMO it is a useful trick to spray the siren box cover with paint before fitting to confuse potential criminals. You can sometimes buy bellbox name stickers to disguise a DIY alarm.

 

[Europlex]

IMO it is a useful trick to spray the siren box cover with paint before fitting to confuse potential criminals.

....... AND it'll make it look like an even worse DiY job.

 

[bernardgreen]

If the cabling is already in place then why even think about wireless. The only advantage of wireless is that cabling does not have to be installed.

You could DIY install a wired system, the components ( sensors, panel bell box etc ) for wired systems are generally cheaper than wireless one as they do not have wireless modules and battery holders built into the components.

Most one way wireless systems are easy to defeat, devices intended to jam alarms can be bought from the internet. Jamming is a growing problem and at least one manufacturer recommends turning off jamming detection if it produces too many false alarms. The out come is the system can then be jammed and rendered useless by a criminal intruder.

It is unlikely that a compnay selling alarms will publish negative comments about the products it is selling.

 

[JohnD]

Jamming is a growing problem

Is there some evidence to say how many ordinary domestic homes, burgled by a typical opportunist or crack-head, are subject to jamming, per year in the UK? How much have you seen it grow by?

 

[bernardgreen]

burgled by a typical opportunist or crack-head

Not all domestic burglaries are committed by opportunists or crack-heads. Sales of the jamming devices are illegal but are still happening. Why is that ?

If jamming wasn't a problem then Yale would not fit jamming detection and then recommend dis-abling it if it gave rise to too many false alarms.

 

[JohnD]

Jamming is a growing problem

Is there some evidence to say how many ordinary domestic homes, burgled by a typical opportunist or crack-head, are subject to jamming, per year in the UK? How much have you seen it grow by?

That's a "no" then.

Do you know the difference between "typical" and "all?"

 

[bernardgreen]

It is a No to you as I will not put commercially sensitive information into the public domain.

 

[JohnD]

Jamming is a growing problem

Is there some evidence..?

Nope.

Another sweeping statement unsupported by facts.

It is very much to be expected that a typical domestic house, lacking large amounts of valuables, is not going to be targetted by a professional who has laid in a stock of equipment and learned how to use it.

If a typical crack-head or teenage burglar laid his hands on a jamming device he would be off to the canal bridge to sell it.