Home security - with strobes + smoke - recommendations?

[Voguely]

Hi all,

I'm perhaps being slightly paranoid, but would prefer to give myself some peace of mind of greater home security, after having three separate incidents in the last couple of months of someone parking opposite our house and taking pictures/videos of it (different people and cars each time).

I've got CCTV connected to an app (Eufy security) which alerts me of people and vehicles in/around the house. So feel reasonably well covered on that side.

Now thinking more about alarms and in-house deterrence. Currently don't have any sort of alarm.

Given that burglars will likely just ignore alarms, I'm looking for something a bit more substantial including some combo of very loud sirens internally, smoke machines and/or strobes to make it as unpleasant as possible for someone to be inside the house. Looking at the usual UK security companies like Yale, ADT, AJAX etc I can't see any of them offering such things, seems to just be sensors, cameras and alarms.

Anyone got any recommendations for these type of systems? Would be great to hear about fully installed costs too as this info doesn't seem readily available online.

Thanks!

[shtu]

Slightly off-topic, but I suppose the thing to ask is - "What makes my house stand out enough for people to do that?"

Unusual\expensive cars? (any 5-door\estate Audi RS or similar? Land\Range Rover?)
Boat\Jetski\Quadbike?
Large Caravan?

Might be worth having the crime prevention lot pay a visit, see if they can shed any light on why the place is attracting attention. If it's something external, it's then thinking about what they would do to get it, and make that difficult.

For the kind of internal unpleasantness you ask about, there's stuff used in more commercial settings, eg,

https://www.smokecloak.co.uk/videos/
https://www.kinetic-group.co.uk/kinetic_security/p...
or if you prefer permanent hearing damage
https://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/catalog/intrud...

Sound bombs are cheap and simple to add - I put one inside my garage, as the external sounder won't be heard by many people.

Edit - going from no alarm at all to even a standard PIRs and Bellbox setup would be a big step up. Don't get too paranoid - a place that looks like a fortress will also attract attention.

Edited by shtu on Thursday 17th October 15:07

[sam.rog]

I have a verisure monitored system.
24hr monitoring, guard response and a few other bits. Not going to put what on a forum.
You can set up zones. When the missus works from home or with my son when I’m working away she can set up zones that will trigger a response.

Falsely triggered once when the dishwasher door opened. Got a phone call and all sorted quickly.
Proved it does work.

I pay around £45 a month for it but it’s a small price for piece of mind when I’m not around.

[Voguely]

sam.rog said:

I have a verisure monitored system.
24hr monitoring, guard response and a few other bits. Not going to put what on a forum.
You can set up zones. When the missus works from home or with my son when I’m working away she can set up zones that will trigger a response.

Falsely triggered once when the dishwasher door opened. Got a phone call and all sorted quickly.
Proved it does work.

I pay around £45 a month for it but it’s a small price for piece of mind when I’m not around.

Thanks Sam. Won't pry into your exact spec, but do you mind giving a ballpark cost for the kit and installation of what you've got?

[LimaDelta]

I would move somewhere nicer tbh.

[Voguely]

shtu said:

Slightly off-topic, but I suppose the thing to ask is - "What makes my house stand out enough for people to do that?"

Unusual\expensive cars? (any 5-door\estate Audi RS or similar? Land\Range Rover?)
Boat\Jetski\Quadbike?
Large Caravan?

Edited by shtu on Thursday 17th October 15:07

None of the above, so nothing to hide away on that front. We do have one of the larger houses in the village and so stands out a little bit, but nothing to suggest flashly levels of wealth on the outside (or inside for that matter!)

[dci]

Smoke bombs, sound bombs and strobes are a brilliant idea until that one time that you or someone else inadvertently sets the alarm off and the house gets filled with smoke and everyone inside suffers irreversible hearing damage.

As a poster above said. Take a look at your home from the outside and ask yourself what would be so inviting to the property if you were a potential burglar looking for an easy job.

Do you have adequate external lighting?

Visible deterrents such as an intruder alarm with a bell box which is both modern and embellished with a company name which indicates that the property may have a monitored system?

CCTV cameras covering the external approaches to the property?

High fencing or hedging which may make an alternate escape route difficult?

Most importantly, are theft magnets like range rovers, M cars, caravans etc out of site or protected by bollards, steering locks etc?

Those taking the photos may not be intending to rob the place but could well be feeding into someone who will and effective and visible deterrents will make an attempt less likely.

They could even be completely unconnected from criminal intention and just taking a photo of a dodgy chimney pointing job or other building work to post on a building related facebook page.

[shtu]

dci said:

Smoke bombs, sound bombs and strobes are a brilliant idea until that one time that you or someone else inadvertently sets the alarm off and the house gets filled with smoke and everyone inside suffers irreversible hearing damage.

He's not wrong. That stuff is usually for more, er, industrial use.

Having a nose in the OPs "My Garage", two potentially flashy-looking-enough cars to at least meet the brief of "let me know about any nice Audis or BMWs", even if they don't make somoene's export shopping list.

Honestly, start with a boggo alarm system, and padlocks and bolts on the garden sheds.

edit - you could just extend the Eufy system as a start?

Edited by shtu on Thursday 17th October 15:46

[Voguely]

shtu said:

He's not wrong. That stuff is usually for more, er, industrial use.

Having a nose in the OPs "My Garage", two potentially flashy-looking-enough cars to at least meet the brief of "let me know about any nice Audis or BMWs", even if they don't make somoene's export shopping list.

Honestly, start with a boggo alarm system, and padlocks and bolts on the garden sheds.

Sorry, garage section on here is a bit out of date. Not longer have the Aston, just running an old (2015) Merc CLS these days. I'd be surprised if that was on many thieves top-list. Sheds etc all already got door-bars on, so they are reasonably secure.

[FMOB]

What you need to do it make your house look less easy to break into than someone else's house, anything that makes someone more visible or exposed for longer when trying provides discouragement.

Same goes for anything that would make noise or takes time to break, etc all this reduces the attractiveness but these things need to be discrete, crooks know what to look for.

I had to deal with an empty property and needed to keep that secure, we put in the 3 * euro lock cylinders, anti-snap, anti-bump, etc because they delay entry which increase risk of being seen, security cameras as well. These were interesting, they looked more outside light than camera so the uncertainty helped discourage an attempt.

We have a couple of dodgy people walk up the drive, one stopped half way after seeing the light and turned swiftly around, the other came right up to the door and stared straight into the camera trying to work out what was what, again turned round and left.

But always be aware, if they want to get in your house there are limits unless you want to live in a prison.

[sam.rog]

Voguely said:

Thanks Sam. Won't pry into your exact spec, but do you mind giving a ballpark cost for the kit and installation of what you've got?

• Deleted*

The cameras function like fire detectors as well which is another benefit.
The upfront cost was around £1k and a monthly cost of £45.

I went for this as I’ can be away with work for periods of time and it makes the missus feel safe when I’m not there.
We also know if we are away for a weekend and something happens in the house there will be a guard at the property to secure it until we get back.

For the piece of mind it gives me I think its good VFM.

Edited by sam.rog on Thursday 17th October 16:59

[Voguely]

sam.rog said:

Stuff

.

Thank you, that is all very helpful and exactly the sort of detail I was hoping for in this thread. Probably don't need quite as much stuff as you as already have a decent camera system, but would consider the motion detectors, alarms, smoke bombs etc.

Everyone else - thanks, but as I've said there isn't much to mark the house out as being full of treasure, so really not much I can do to make it less appealing, less perhaps some bollards. Ideally I'd put a massive gate up, but wouldn't be straightforward due to the shape of the entrance and need to build all sorts of surrounding structures of walls etc to join it on to which all would be a bit ardous and costly.

[wyson]

One of my friends has a verisure system that fills the house with smoke.

https://www.verisure.co.uk/our-alarm-systems/burgl...

Has the 24h monitoring and response as well. A couple of prominent plaques saying so by the front door.

Bit weird though to know someone can monitor inside your house.

[wyson]

Photo takers could be nothing? I used to walk / ramble in the countryside and take pictures of really nice houses I saw in various villages. Some were very lovely. Thatched roofs, creeping roses and vines etc.

[dudleybloke]

Fit at least 2 alarm sirens and have them frrom different manufacturers as the difference in frequencies has a lot more effect on ears than a single frequency.

[Henzy]

Voguely said:

shtu said:

Slightly off-topic, but I suppose the thing to ask is - "What makes my house stand out enough for people to do that?"

Unusual\expensive cars? (any 5-door\estate Audi RS or similar? Land\Range Rover?)
Boat\Jetski\Quadbike?
Large Caravan?

Edited by shtu on Thursday 17th October 15:07

None of the above, so nothing to hide away on that front. We do have one of the larger houses in the village and so stands out a little bit, but nothing to suggest flashly levels of wealth on the outside (or inside for that matter!)

Something similar happened to my previous boss, turned out he was being investigated for fraud after signing for some deliveries for a dodgy neighbour.

[Bill]

wyson said:

Photo takers could be nothing? I used to walk / ramble in the countryside and take pictures of really nice houses I saw in various villages. Some were very lovely. Thatched roofs, creeping roses and vines etc.

This. Or a planning application at the house or nearby?

Three different cars photographing an unremarkable* house is way OTT for a burglary. It's not like Ocean's 11 are likely to be interested.


*Says the OP...

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Ajax can easily be used for that stuff

There are people that do smoke machines that tie into the ecosystem

https://ajax.systems/ajax-ready-products/

[Voguely]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

Ajax can easily be used for that stuff

There are people that do smoke machines that tie into the ecosystem

https://ajax.systems/ajax-ready-products/

Thanks, that is useful, hadn't spotted that.

Looks like it is probably between Ajax and Verisure for what I'm after then.

[sam.rog]

Verisure are a bit like dfs. They routinely have a 50%off deal going. Thats when I got mine installed.