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the Price of Installation of Home Security

Price 
Location 
Submitted by  
Description
$ 499
Nov 2007
athens ohio
Installation for new home security system  more... close row
$ 1500
Jan 2007
Alma, MI
Alarm system for condo gives feeling of security  more... close row
$ 1500
Jan 2007
Forks. WA
Installation of rural home security system  more... close row
$ 20
Sep 2007
Holbrook, New York
Installation of alarm system free with montly charge  more... close row

Description of service

This is the monthly charge for central station monitoring services from a local alarm company. The installation of the security system was free, but I had to agree to use their services for a 5-year period in order to get the free equipment. The alarm covers all entry doors in and out of the house, and there are motion sensors on the first floor and in the basement. In addition to the two entry doors, eight windows are alarmed. The alarm system patches through my telephone line, and if there is an entry without someone putting the passcode into the keypad, they will call the house first. If no one answers, or someone answers, but fails to give the right password, the police are dispatched to the house. They also detect power outages and follow the same procedure in the event of a power failure.


Review of Service

I love the peace of mind that this offers, but truthfully I am very disappointed in how well it works once the police have been dispatched. The alarm was triggered during some recent construction work I had done, and the alarm company did exactly as they were supposed to do. They did not get an answer at the house and dispatched the police. They reached me on my cell phone to advise me of their actions. I came straight home. It was nearly an hour before the police arrived and I believe that, in that time, I could have been completely cleaned out -- or even worse. The alarm itself is really loud and might scare someone off or call attention to the house, but without a police response, I feel that paying for this service is pointless. That is nothing against the alarm company itself -- they did their job as promised.


Tips

Find out how seriously your local police takes house alarm calls. Apparently people accidentally trigger them so often, they are not terribly concerned when one goes off. If you have a large pet, you can get motion sensors that will not detect anything under as much as 120 pounds. You might want to consider paying for the alarm system itself outright so you are not obligated to any alarm company for any specific period of time. This way you can cancel if you are not happy with the service. In my area, most of the home heating oil companies also do alarm installations and monitoring.


$ 800
Jan 2008
Dallas, TX
Installation and two keypads  more... close row
$ 340
Oct 2007
Minneapolis, MN
Not very professional installation of security system  more... close row
$ 299
Jan 2008
Brighton, MI
Home security system with very loud siren  more... close row
$ 1200
Mar 2007
Chicago, IL
Security system for 1920s home  more... close row
$ 1190
Oct 2006
Delaware, OH
Home security system part of new home  more... close row
$ 129
Jul 2008
Katy, TX
Upgraded to a digital signal security system  more... close row
$ 200
Nov 2007
Astoria, OR
Security system installed after neighborhood robbery  more... close row
$ 199
Mar 2007
Covington,Ga
House already wired for security system  more... close row
$ 100
Jun 2007
Alton, IL
Sounded too good to be true, and it was  more... close row