Contents

Home Security

Volume II

Owen Jones

Table of Contents

A General Guide to Home Security

Home Security Systems - Do I Need One?

Should You Rely On a Dog for Home Security?

Wireless Security Cameras

How To Make An Apartment Safer

Keeping Your Home Safe During A Holiday

Using Lighting to Secure Your Property

Five Home Security Tips

How Safe Is Your Stuff?

Panic Rooms as Part of Home Security

How Does A Fire Alarm System Work?

Fire Safety With A Home Fire Safety Code

Gun Security at Home

Buying A Car Alarm

Home Security and Your Insurance Premium

Contact Details

Home Security

Volume II

by

Owen Jones

Published by

Megan Publishing Services

https://meganthemisconception.com

Copyright Owen Jones May 2022 ©

Hello and thank you for buying this ebook called ‘Home Security: Volume II’.

I hope that you will find the information helpful, useful and profitable.

The issues in this ebook concern various aspects of protecting your family and home and related ideas is organised into 15 chapters of about 500-600 words each.

I hope that it will interest those who are concerned about their safety.

There has always been an unacceptable amount of burglary. It is such a harrowing experience to be burgled. People are forced to accept that they are not safe even in their own homes.

In the days of larger families, it was not easy for the burglar. There was always someone at home, and usually several people. Burglars would be detected and easily overpowered. Nowadays, on the other hand, many people live alone, and many of those are elderly baby-boomers.

It can induce a permanent state of worry and anxiety.

One way around this, is to implement a home security system. They are actually quiet affordable now too. A decent home security system, coupled with friendly neighbours, is an affordable solution.

As an added bonus, I am granting you permission to use the content on your own website or in your own blogs and newsletter, although it is better if you rewrite them in your own words first.

If you have any feedback, please leave it with the company you bought this book from.

Thanks again for purchasing this ebook,

Regards,

Owen Jones

Table of Contents

A General Guide to Home Security

Home Security Systems - Do I Need One?

Should You Rely On a Dog for Home Security?

Wireless Security Cameras

How To Make An Apartment Safer

Keeping Your Home Safe During A Holiday

Using Lighting to Secure Your Property

Five Home Security Tips

How Safe Is Your Stuff?

Panic Rooms as Part of Home Security

How Does A Fire Alarm System Work?

Fire Safety With A Home Fire Safety Code

Gun Security at Home

Buying A Car Alarm

Home Security and Your Insurance Premium

Contact Details

A General Guide to Home Security

This article is for those who think that is about time that they took an interest in the security of their home and safety of their family. Perhaps you have just bought your first home or you think that the neighbourhood is getting too scary. Whatever the reason for your desire to protect your home, this article will give you a sound basic knowledge of home security systems.

First off, don’t just rely on your poor old dog, because no serious burglar is going to worry about him. An iron bar, a tranquilliser dart or just a lump of poisoned meat will eliminate your dog pretty quickly. I was broken into once by people who had spent weeks befriending my dog while I was at work, but at least they didn’t kill her!

So, this means that you have to be looking at an electronic surveillance system. There are quite a few options, which all depend on how much money you want to spend, but then I imagine you had guessed that already. Anyway, an obvious point, but it is cheaper to install your burglar alarm yourself than to have it done.

However, if you want a discount on your home insurance, you will probably have to have an security alarm system installed in and around your house and garage by a recommended installer.

This option is worth investigating first. Call your home insurance company and ask what sort of a discount you will get off your premium, if you have a home alarm system and whether it will have to be installed professionally. It will probably have to be tested once a year on a service contract by them too in order to maintain the discount. You can work out from these figures if it is worth it.

Whether you fit it yourself or have it fitted is irrelevant to the rest of this article.

The top of the range in home safety burglar alarms are monitored and wireless, so no wires can be cut, and your home is monitored by a company off site. This means that you do not have to rely on your neighbours calling the police is the alarm is triggered. Unfortunately, there are so many faulty systems going off all the time that neighbours hardly even hear them any more, much less respond to them.

Next in line are the wireless home security systems that are unmonitored, in which case you will have to come to an agreement with at least two neighbours that they will call the police if ever they hear your alarm siren. If you have installed the system yourself and it keeps making false alarms, the police may prosecute you for disturbing the peace or wasting police time.

Last, but still a very good deterrent, if fitted properly, is the standard wired, burglar alarm. You may be able to hide the wiring without redecorating, but it is best to fit a system like this while you are redecorating or putting up coving, so that the unsightly wires are hidden from view. Your burglar alarm will come with full installation instructions and recommendations on where to fit the sensors to prevent most burglaries.

When choosing a kit, you should look out for sensors that are fitted inside the house and those that are fitted outside the house, all of which will be controlled from a console, which is in turn connected to a siren. It can be a lot more complicated than this too. For example, the siren could be in the roof space, but a dummy box with a flashing light should be fitted in full view to deter thieves and warn neighbours of intrusion.

The inside sensors will protect all possible points of entry by either motion, body heat or vibration. Vibration sensors and contact sensors should be fitted to all entry points and windows and motion or heat sensors to various passage ways and the roof space - removing tiles is a neat way into a property.

Outside sensors should include heat or motion sensors attached to floodlights, so that any intruder detected is caught in a bright light. It is the best deterrent of all at night. The front, back and sides of the house should be protected. You should also add CCTV cameras to overlook all exterior doors if you can afford them.

Last, but not to be overlooked is the panic alarm button for your personal protection. There should be one on the control panel and you may want one in the kitchen, the bedroom and the living room or you may want to wear one. If you are surprised or frightened (or if you have a stroke or heart attack) you can activate the system to call for help.

Home Security Systems - Do I Need One?

Every adult is concerned about security and safety. We don’t want our family hurt, we don’t want our home broken into and we don’t want to get mugged. All of these eventualities are more likely in times of economic recession and boy are we going through a bad one now and it might not finish for a long time yet.

So, what can you do about it? There are several approaches you can take and the more options you take up the better your chances of avoiding misery will be. The three most common methods of protecting one’s family and property, some of which may be used to reduce your insurance premium, are:

1] dogs and other pets

2] home security systems, such as a burglar alarm

3] neighbourhood watch

Dogs, ducks, geese and other animals are great to have around, but they can only do so much to protect you. No serious thief is going to worry about your pets, because a handful of poisoned meat or millet will sort them out in no time. In fact, in a way, you need to include your pets in your protection programme not count them as part of it.

Home security systems come in various price ranges with various bells and whistles for the money. The basic burglar alarm system used to be a fairly expensive affair that had you traipsing wires from the control box all around the house to the sensors. Nowadays, a wireless home security system is cheaper than an old wired one was.

However, the top of the range has always been to have security surveillance cameras in the system. They used to be only for the rich, but these days, you can get a self-install CCTV system with several cameras and a control unit for less than $200. They are not difficult to install, but you have to follow the instructions to the letter or you may end up with no or poor-quality pictures.

The absolute top of the range home security system is now an alarm monitoring system, which means that a security company watches the images relayed from your cameras and alerts the police for you if there is anything suspicious going on, which could include system failure. This service is also becoming more and more affordable with increased centres creating competition.

Most home CCTV systems will now relay the output of an activated camera to any device in the world that is connected to the Internet, which is great if you are away or on holiday.

Neighbourhood watch has to start at home. You have to train your family to be on the look out for suspicious behaviour and get into the habit of reporting it to you. ‘Suspicious behaviour’ can include whatever you like, but must include strangers hanging around trying to befriend your kids or pets; people taking photos of your property; people coming to your door for no good reason, etc..

If you want to join a neighbourhood watch scheme, you may already be aware of one in your area, but if not or you want a more formal introduction, ask at your nearest police station, because they will have an officer, the neighbourhood watch liaison officer, who communicates with the neighbourhood watch in your area.

Usually, volunteers are discouraged from reporting directly to the police. They prefer that reports come from an experienced neighbourhood watch controller - a normal, civilian resident, who has some experience of how to make notes and make official reports, for which he or she has usually received police training.

This combination of methods of home security is just about the best deterrence that you can reasonably be expected to perform. A dog makes a great pet, home security systems are not expensive any more and you might enjoy spending a few hours a week helping prevent local burglaries and talking to your neighbours, while you take the dog for a walk..

Should You Rely On a Dog for Home Security?

Dogs are great for looking after the garden, aren’t they? We have all heard stories of postmen getting bitten and dogs protecting their human family. There is no doubt that a dog can be a useful asset for protecting your family and property. Contrary to misconception a guard dog does not have to be big and frightening, it just has to be noisy.

However, dogs can only do so much. You should not rely only on a dog to protect your home. The best way to make a guard dog an even more effective deterrent is to warn your neighbours that they should call the police if they here your dog making a great deal of noise. Your neighbours will have to be aware of the amount of barking your dog normally does.

Some people prefer dogs, others ducks and yet others swear by geese. Geese are quite formidable animals and large enough to be scary when you get up close to an angry one. I for one would not want to argue with a goose. A gaggle of geese is enough to see anyone off.

However, what you have to remember, if you want to use animals for the protection of your home, is that animals can be befriended and / or poisoned. This is why animals should only be used as back up and some effort should be made to protect them from poisoning.

However, in conjunction with a home security monitoring system, dogs and other animals are useful for protecting our home. The primary system should be the best that you can afford. The best home alarm systems are wireless home security systems with CCTV cameras that are monitored off site..

They will usually have remote controlled cameras on in- and outdoors, which can be either just watched or actively controlled by a professional home security company.

If you are using cameras, then you should use at least two. This is because cameras can be put out of action