All Topics / Help Needed! / Security Grilles Vs Alarm System

Viewing 17 posts - 1 through 17 (of 17 total)
  • Profile photo of pleongpleong
    Member
    @pleong
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 5

    Hi

    My IP has been broken 4 times now, and I had enough and ready to act.

    I got quotes for
    1k for Alarm Motion sensor in each room
    or
    2.6k for security grilles half of each window.

    Which is better?

    My wedding is in 3 months and i am running short of capital.

    How can I make this a win win situation for both myself and the tenant.

    What strategies can i deploy so that i can use as little money as possible, increase rent for this situation and tenant will still win?

    Any feedback welcome!

    Thanks in advanced.

    Profile photo of MonopolyMonopoly
    Member
    @monopoly
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 1,612

    Hi pleong,

    Having worked in the fire services for many years, I can tell you that security grilles on windows are dreaded not only by burglars but in particular firefighters. In the event of a fire, security bars/grilles can be extremely dangerous as they hinder access by emergency service personnel, not to mention become death traps in confining people within the burning building.

    I would never recommend them, however as the ones you have chosen to fit are only half covering the windows, this may lessen the risk, and as such should be okay.

    Nevertheless, I would opt for the alarm system, which is, as you stated cheaper anyway!! And maybe the few dollars extra could be put towards hard-wiring a smoke alarm system to boot!!

    Either way….

    Best wishes for your upcoming wedding!!

    Cheers,

    Jo

    Profile photo of MTRMTR
    Participant
    @marisa
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 663

    Security screens/bars – I would feel like I was living in a cage, and fire risk aspect is a serious concern, this is why I would not invest in this option.

    I recently investigated security for a property as it was also broken into. Opted for window locks. Probably cheapest option, tenant happy. Will upgrade further down the track. Also security lighting can assist and make for a safer environment.

    Just wandering in regards to alarm system do you need sensors in every room? this may be overkill, which will increase costs.

    If you just happen to be in Perth PM me I can give you details/name of execellent company for alarm system. Prices competitive.

    Also, I was warned to beware of cheap alarm systems, this is the last thing you need in a rental property. Alarm system constantly failing….[confused2]

    Profile photo of yackyack
    Member
    @yack
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 1,206

    I prefer a security system to grilles. As I write this the main story on the radio news was a house fire and fortunately no one was injured.

    But I too hate grilles for this reason.

    Profile photo of YorkerYorker
    Member
    @yorker
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 306

    Get yourself a large, ugly mongrel dog. Cheaper and will actually work.

    Profile photo of GreatPigGreatPig
    Member
    @greatpig
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 284

    Pleong,

    Personally I have both on my PPoR in Sydney. As the others have mentioned, bars can be a personal safety hazard in the event of a fire, as can deadlocks if they’re locked while at home (there was a news item about this recently where some deaths during a fire were blamed on deadlocks being locked).

    When we had the bars installed, we had small “doors” made in them outside each opening bedroom window. These doors are locked with dead bolts, with each person having a key on their keyring (they’re all keyed-alike). This was to allow an escape path if fire prevented anyone reaching a normal door at night. As a further safety precaution, we have a smoke detector in the hallway just outside the bedroom doors and another in the lounge room.

    We also have deadbolts on all the windows, a requirement for contents insurance.

    The alarm system I installed myself, as I work for a company that manufactures them (although they’re not normally for residential premises). If you don’t have back-to-base monitoring, you need to consider not only the placement of sensors, but also what it’s going to do if it detects an intruder. The standard things are turn on an outside siren and flashing strobe and internal piezo-screamers.

    In my opinion, sirens are of minimal use, as most people ignore them anyway (but it depends on your neighbours) and you can only operate them for about 10 minutes. The internal screamers are much better, as they prevent an intruder being able to hear anything – specifically if anyone is coming.

    In my house, I do have a siren and strobe (if nothing else it shows that the house does have an alarm system – although you can also buy fake ones – so it should be clearly visible from the road), and a couple of internal screamers and PIRs (sensors). You don’t really need sensors in every room. Many cheap home alarm systems only come with one or two, and in fact I only have two in my house (although a third in the back porch covering the back door). You just want to place them in positions that give the best coverage – like the loungeroom where your TV, etc. is and a hallway covering the bedroom doors. While every room might be better, it’s only going to cost you more in sensors.

    One thing to look at is the quality of the sensors. Cheap ones will tend to give a lot of false alarms, making your siren even more useless (boy who cried wolf thing). The better (but more expensive) ones have multiple sensors in them. I have what are known as dual-tech ones, with an infra-red and a microwave sensor, but there are also some that have multiple infra-red sensors.

    If I had to choose just one or the other, I’d probably go the alarm system too, especially since it’s cheaper. As well as bars being unsightly and potentially dangerous, they won’t stop determined burglers. Some time ago a house in Sydney got burgled and they broke in after bending the window bars to make enough space.

    The main things with the alarm system though are:

    – Get reasonable sensors to avoid too many false alarms. There is nothing worse with an alarm system. I think fewer good sensors is far better than cheap ones in every room.

    – Position the sensors to give the best coverage of the most important areas. Their height and angle are also important, as they don’t work well in certain situations (eg. facing towards large windows or where motion is directly towards or away from the sensor). The installer should know that though. If you allow pets, you can get sensors that have pet guards which prevent cats and dogs triggering them.

    – Get an internal screamer or two (depending on the size of the house).

    – Make sure the external siren, if you get one, is clearly visible from the road. It’s as much a visual deterrent as anything.

    But if you want the best deterrent of the lot, get a tenant with a big dog! [:)]

    Hope this helps.

    Cheers,
    GP

    Profile photo of redwingredwing
    Participant
    @redwing
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 2,733

    Agree with the general consensus , i have monitored alarm syatem in 1 IP.

    A friend went the cheap route and got a old blue external strobe, fitted it to outside,(not connected) and put warning alarm stickers on rear windows etc as a deterrent..It worked !

    As for the amount of sensors required, check with your insurance Co, dont forget the system will reduce your insurance cost, and it’s deductible + it’ll help in my opinion attracting tenants,mine did, i have a single mum in the alarmed IP, it was one of the reasons she rented it

    REDWING

    “Money is a currency, like electricity and it requires momentum to make it Effective”
    Count The Currency With This Online Positive Cashflow Calculator

    Profile photo of pleongpleong
    Member
    @pleong
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 5

    Thankyou for all the feedback.

    Here is my plan.

    Get a Alarm System with M.Sensors in each room ,because if there is a breakin by smashing the windows, the alarm wont trigger unless the burglar enters the rooms i.e bedroom and motion detected.

    If will cost me extra $350 for the M.Sensors. Its not alot but this is my 1st IP.

    I am going to propose to my PM to let my tenant know of the following:

    Tell them that the alarm will cost 1k. I am willing to go halves due to the situation that I am in (wedding) or increase the rent by extra $5 so that I can get a loan to get the rest of the money. Win win.

    If the tenants does not want to contribute, I will have to go for the std alarm with only 3 sensors costing me $700 as my fallback plan.

    Any comments welcome.

    P.S Marisa and other members in Perth, can you PM me recommended Property Accountants beside Patrick Thacther from subi. My accountant is not what I expected him to be. Not sure if this is right. I pay my accountant for him to hand me a tax refund for me to fill. Is that normal?. Its like I am paying him to do my own tax accounts. Maybe my expectations of an accountant is wrong. i.e hand him my group cert and my statements from Ip and he does the rest.

    Profile photo of GreatPigGreatPig
    Member
    @greatpig
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 284
    Originally posted by pleong:

    the std alarm with only 3 sensors

    How many sensors in total is every room?

    GP

    Profile photo of pleongpleong
    Member
    @pleong
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 5

    GreatPig,

    4×2

    1 x lounge
    1 kitchen & dinning
    1 x master
    3 x other rooms (extra)

    each sensor cost $80, the rest is labour

    Profile photo of GreatPigGreatPig
    Member
    @greatpig
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 284
    Originally posted by pleong:

    4×2

    1 x lounge
    1 kitchen & dinning
    1 x master
    3 x other rooms (extra)

    So that’s six? What’s the 4×2 mean?

    each sensor cost $80

    I haven’t bought any for quite a while, but I think at that price they should be reasonable quality.

    As I mentioned though, I wouldn’t bother with so many myself, especially not at $80 each. Only a fairly determined burgler will break in if they see the siren outside and thus know you have an alarm system installed. And if they’re that determined, they’ll probably move around the house enough to trigger a sensor anyway. After all, they could’ve triggered one the moment they broke in, unless they happened to know where you had them.

    Still, that’s just my opinion. One in every room will obviously improve the chances of a burgler triggering the system.

    Make sure you get at least one screamer though. All the sensors in the world are no good if nothing much happens once they triggered.

    GP

    Profile photo of hudson66hudson66
    Member
    @hudson66
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 26

    Hi all,

    I have worked in electronic security for last 14 years. If I can help, feel free to contact me.

    Generally I agree with all views expressed, as those suggestions are all added security deterrents. You will most likely find an alarm the cheapest option when you consider them all. It’s tax deductible too.

    Ken

    Profile photo of kpkp
    Member
    @kp
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 509

    Its a tough one if you’re on a budget…
    We had alarm fitted to a brand new IP and it got broken into in the first week after tenants moved in.
    The broke in at night with tenants in situ with the alarm turned off.Stole a computer and car+house keys and a wallet.We had to change all the door locks.
    Tenants were so scared they moved out, and the intruders came back 3 days later, this time they broke a window trying to get in.
    So we added security screens to the sliding windows only.
    Have had no problems since, but the reality is if they want to get in they will. Either through the roof or by smashing a window/door.
    Amazing how few people see or hear anything when a burgulary is occuring.
    Big Black Hungry Dog sound good to me, preferably one that does not bark but BITES really hard…
    after all the Police are no help in these situations..100% failure rate in my experience.

    KP

    Profile photo of GreatPigGreatPig
    Member
    @greatpig
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 284
    Originally posted by kp:

    the Police are no help in these situations..100% failure rate in my experience.

    And mine.

    To rub salt into the wound, after the last time my place got broken into (before I had an alarm system and window bars), the police came and dusted everywhere for fingerprints – which means I had an awful mess of black powder to clean up all around the place! It’s not always easy cleaning that stuff off.

    GP

    Profile photo of hudson66hudson66
    Member
    @hudson66
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 26

    Good security is always a combination of physical (barriers) & monitoring (vigilance).
    All situations should be carefully assessed but usually a combination of ‘some of each’ ends up getting the best results.

    Profile photo of HousesOnlyHousesOnly
    Participant
    @housesonly
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 167

    I had an alarm system in one IP and the tenants continually broke the system. It ended up costing me a fortune in technician repair bills and eventually I removed it. The same thing is currently happening with a dishwasher I have in another IP. Has broken down 6 times in last 12 months. This all has taught me that an IP should have a little electronic equipment installed as possible. You just don’t need the headaches!

    Profile photo of MTRMTR
    Participant
    @marisa
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 663

    Housesonly, this is a very good point you make.
    I guess the dishwashes would not be the norm in an IP and would be in your more upmarket property?

    However, security is a high priority on the list and I suppose its trying to find the right balance etc. I have found that insurance companies require at minimum security locks.

Viewing 17 posts - 1 through 17 (of 17 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.