Home alarm systems

[jrsharp21]

Anyone have any recommendations on home alarm system providers? We currently have ADT. A few weeks ago we had lightning hit a tree next to our house causing a power surge through the house and our alarm system got zapped. I had to pay $65 for ADT to come out to tell me my system didn't work and we need new equipment. Of course the person who was at the house couldn't help in figuring out the new equipment. He told us to go online and order what we wanted. I ended up talking to an ADT rep on the phone and he told me it was going to be about $1,200 to $2,000 to replace our equipment, and then the cost to install it. With the upgraded equipment, our monthly monitoring would probably go up also.

Does anyone have any suggestions on home alarm companies that they have used and been happy with? Hoping to find a package where the installation is free with the new equipment purchase.

 

[tvguy]

Well, I have never paid for equipment or installation of an alarm system. That is always free as long as you sign a 3 year monitoring contract. That contract usually costs about $35 a month.
So I would say, shop around. I use Alert 360 currently, no idea if they are in your part of the U.S.

 

[_19disnA]

Had ADT system at a prior home and now also have ADT at our new home since they installed the new system for no cost since we were current customers. That doesn't help you but whatever system you choose, I would look for one that is hard wired vs. those which are wireless. Our older home had the wired type and never had any trouble. The problem I am finding with the wireless sensors is they all use a battery that eventually has to be replaced. It is annoying to have them start chiming at 2am when they sense the battery is running low. ADT was NO help since I wanted to replace the battery on EVERY sensor since I assume they will all start to fail. ADT did not recommend that which makes NO sense to me and said you should only replace the batteries that have gone bad but couldn't really explain why that would be the case. The next battery that fails, I am going to change batteries on every other sensor, regardless of what ADT recommends.

I guess wireless is fine if you move every 5 years before the batteries need replacing. If any company offered wired sensors, that is certainly what I would recommend.

 

[BrianL]

I have ADT. I had an older system (land line) and I wanted to get rid of that, so I called and they did not make me pay for any updated equipment at all. If you threaten to cancel tehy may give you a batter deal. That said, I am thinking about just getting some Google Nest cams etc. and going with that. It would tell me if anything was up.

 

[barkley]

i always heard that the greatest deterant value of these systems was the visable notifications of the presence of an alarm system (signage, stickers the companies put on the windows...) so when we moved and ended our contract we kept the metal signs which we put up at our current home absent the system/monthly payments.

 

[tvguy]

Had ADT system at a prior home and now also have ADT at our new home since they installed the new system for no cost since we were current customers. That doesn't help you but whatever system you choose, I would look for one that is hard wired vs. those which are wireless. Our older home had the wired type and never had any trouble. The problem I am finding with the wireless sensors is they all use a battery that eventually has to be replaced. It is annoying to have them start chiming at 2am when they sense the battery is running low. ADT was NO help since I wanted to replace the battery on EVERY sensor since I assume they will all start to fail. ADT did not recommend that which makes NO sense to me and said you should only replace the batteries that have gone bad but couldn't really explain why that would be the case. The next battery that fails, I am going to change batteries on every other sensor, regardless of what ADT recommends.

I guess wireless is fine if you move every 5 years before the batteries need replacing. If any company offered wired sensors, that is certainly what I would recommend.

I've had three systems in 40 years on the same house, all wireless. Never had a system that chimed when a battery was low. The first system I just changed the 9 volt batteries once a year since it had no way to tell you a battery was low. Current systems tell you which sensor is low when you arm the alarm. You just push a button to acknowledge that message and the system arms as normal. Then you can replace the battery at your leisure. The batteries are supposed to be good for 5 years. Easy to replace the batteries.

 

[LYSE]

Call these guys: https://www.alarmgrid.com/?utm_sour...48NdihF7ydBEkXxsifjV8WzL6b68q-JRoCnMAQAvD_BwE

they can sell what you need only ..likely not a whole new system probably just your main panel. They can walk you or someone else through an installation if needed.

then if you are out of contract with adt you can do monitoring through them as well for probably less money

 

[slo]

We use PerMar, but they are only in the Midwest.
So if you live in the Midwest USA give them a call - we’re very happy with them.

 

[DVC-Don]

I have Simplisafe now and have never had a sensor start "chiming" due to a low battery. When I arm and a battery is low I get a "Low Battery" message, I then log on and it tells me which battery. So far I've had Simplisafe for 4 years and only one sensor battery has had to be replaced (15 sensors and 3 cameras) I had ADT for years but had issues with not notifying of a door opening, they just sent me a letter that the door opened with date and time. Really? Sent me a letter?! When I called ADT could not find my account and had to get a supervisor involved. When the supervisor found my account 30 min later I told her to just deactivate the account. They offered a discount to stay and to send someone to check the system, but I would have to pay the then service call of $69 to diagnose the problem. No thank you.

 

[GreatLakes]

We have Simplisafe and it is very easy to install and use. Everything other than the base station is battery and wireless so you don't have to install anything beyond sticking the sensors to the walls, doors, and windows. They communicate via WiFi and cellular so you are protected even if your WiFi drops. If you have it plugged into a UPS with enough battery you are even still monitored while your power is out assuming you can still reach a cell tower.

 

[rajak73]

Have a Simpisafe, easy to use, my base station has a battery backup, have door sensors and a couple motion sensors, along with a water alarm. Only time my motion sensor went off was our floor vacuum started automatically and set the motion sensor off. Lesson learned. Replaced maybe 3 batteries in 5+ years.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We use a local co called keyth security who had provided monitoring, systems and annual check ups for years. We have a large old historic house. Our smoke alarms send a signal directly to the fire station, which for us is just around the corner. We probably have over 15 smoke alarms, from basement to third floor in We have motion detectors which we rarely use because we have Animals and any little thing, even a fly can set them off. We also have alarms on the windows downstairs and breakage alarms in the downstairs rooms. And our alarm can be partitioned so that the basement can be its own system separate from the rest of the house, for when someone lives down there. And I can monitor the system remotely from my phone to turn on and off. All of this is expensive but we have curtailed a couple burglaries over the years .

 

[jrsharp21]

Thanks for the suggestions. Simplisafe seems to be a popular choice. I went in and priced out a package, and I do like the pricing for all the components.

We do have some issues with our wifi dropping here and there. It's not too often, but it does happen. Would I have issues with Simplisafe with the sporadic wifi issue?

Also, how difficult is the self set up? I was looking at 2 key pads, 4 doors, possibly 8 windows, one glass shatter monitor, and two smoke/CO2 alarms.