New in town-need home alarm system

[MikeCalgary]

I am new to Calgary but have been a long time Flames fan. I'm from Northern Alberta but have always hated the Oilers and cheered for the Flames.

I just bought a house and need recommendations on a good home alarm system. I have heard of companies like CHUBB, AAA, Alarmforce, Voxcom and ADT. Which of these companies is the best?

Thanks for your input

[Mccree]

I use Voxcom and they have been okay. I had to call them for a repair and that was alittle expensive but all in all they are good.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

:evil: No alarm yet eh? so ughhh :boh: where is it you live I just ummm want to say hi :wave:

[MikeCalgary]

Originally posted by Maritime Q-Scout@May 6 2005, 08:39 AM
:evil: No alarm yet eh? so ughhh :boh: where is it you live I just ummm want to say hi :wave:

You can drop by anytime to say hi. If I'm not home, my pitbull will welcome you

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally posted by MikeCalgary+May 6 2005, 02:12 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (MikeCalgary @ May 6 2005, 02:12 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Maritime Q-Scout@May 6 2005, 08:39 AM
:evil: No alarm yet eh? so ughhh :boh: where is it you live I just ummm want to say hi :wave:

You can drop by anytime to say hi. If I'm not home, my pitbull will welcome you [/b][/quote]
now Mike I know you're new in all, so I feel bad for saying this but:



DON'T BE CALLING YOUR WIFE A PITBULL

that's just cruel man :P

[MikeCalgary]

Originally posted by Maritime Q-Scout+May 6 2005, 10:30 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Maritime Q-Scout @ May 6 2005, 10:30 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>

You can drop by anytime to say hi. If I'm not home, my pitbull will welcome you

now Mike I know you're new in all, so I feel bad for saying this but:



DON'T BE CALLING YOUR WIFE A PITBULL

that's just cruel man :P [/b][/quote]
I am on the ground laughing my head off. I just hope my wife doesn't know what I'm laughing about.

[Bobblehead]

Yeah, I'm resurrecting an ANCIENT thread.

Anyone have anything to add to this?

The wife wants an alarm, and other then the Alarmforce commercials and occassional door to door sales people, I don't know too much about them.

Do they all need monitoring? How much does that cost? What does installation cost? What is included, and what is extra? Are there other options I should consider?

[AaronSJ]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Do they all need monitoring? How much does that cost?

Generally, the companies make their money on monitoring -- $25 to $30 a month... it's a gold mine for them.

My mother bought an alarm system after a break-in, but just bought the system outright (a few hundred dollars) and declined the monitoring. She felt that the alarm itself would scare away any intruder well before the police arrived, and that our neighbours would investigate any alarm at our house.

If cost is a big concern, you might want to consider this route.

[StoneCole]

"Call 1-800-267-2001...Alarm Force"

-Alarm Force is listed on the TSX

[I-Hate-Hulse]

How about if your place wasn't pre-wired? Is it a pain in the ass to route all that cabling for the sensors?

I like that idea of buying the system outright and just using it for warning. Not like an interruder will know if someone's responding or not.

[White Doors]

Get a large dog.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by White Doors

Get a large dog.

We would love that (I had black lab growing up, I want a retreiver) but no one is home during the day and we have a small yard. We would like to get a puppy at some point, but want to make sure it doesn't grow up with behaviour issues because we weren't home for 9 hours a day.

[White Doors]

Once they are @ 1.5 they are fine being home alone for 9 hours.
Ours just sleeps on the couch all day, but it is an Olde English Bulldogge, but I know labs and retrievers can take up to 3 years to calm down. I grew up with a large yellow lab.

We should have a dog thread!

[Zarathustra]

It's a waste of money. I don't even lock my doors. I think people buy alarm systems for the psychological ease.

[Bobblehead]

Well, if I had followed your advice I could have saved the hundreds of dollars when my side door was kicked in. I was broken into in Dec, so I tend to disagree with your approach For the wife's peace of mind, I think we can swing an alarm, but I don't want to throw the money away so I was hoping for other peoples experiences and advice.

[Zarathustra]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Well, if I had followed your advice I could have saved the hundreds of dollars when my side door was kicked in. I was broken into in Dec, so I tend to disagree with your approach For the wife's peace of mind, I think we can swing an alarm, but I don't want to throw the money away so I was hoping for other peoples experiences and advice.

If criminals really want to get into your house, they will get in. As you said, they can kick in your door, break a window, etc..

A horn in the basement going off, or someone saying "Alarm force, what is your problem?" is going to do very little to scare the criminal off.

As posters have already mentioned in this thread, a dog is a great home security system. A barking/growling 50 pound dog running to the front door is much more likely to scare the thief off!

[LeftWing]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Yeah, I'm resurrecting an ANCIENT thread.

Anyone have anything to add to this?

The wife wants an alarm, and other then the Alarmforce commercials and occassional door to door sales people, I don't know too much about them.

Do they all need monitoring? How much does that cost? What does installation cost? What is included, and what is extra? Are there other options I should consider?

We originally went with AAA for our first system (in our first house) and they turned out to be awesome. Mostly because they charged $19.xx/month for monitoring. If you get a contract then usually they will throw in most of the equipment, but usually you pay extra for additional window contacts, pads, and pet friendly sensors.

For our second house we had to go with AE Security (long story), and basically we're now paying $25/month even though the company that monitors us now was the same company that monitors AAA.

Shop around - it makes a big difference.

[Skyceman]

Resurecting an old thread.

My wife and I recently had to give up our 80lb German Shepherd because of some bad aggresion issues.

Anyways, the home isn't as well protected now so we've been considering a home alarm system. Does anyone have any recent experience with a home alarm system in their home? Could really use some advice if anyone can contribute.

[return to the red]

Originally Posted by Skyceman

Resurecting an old thread.

My wife and I recently had to give up our 80lb German Shepherd because of some bad aggresion issues.

Anyways, the home isn't as well protected now so we've been considering a home alarm system. Does anyone have any recent experience with a home alarm system in their home? Could really use some advice if anyone can contribute.

couple recent threads to help you out

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ght=home+alarm

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthr...ght=home+alarm

[Skyceman]

Thanks red - those were helpful