Looking for a way to upgrade your home? Investing in better home security systems is very often the best use of your capital and a great way to ensure that your property will be safe from intruders and that you won’t lose your belongings to theft or vandalism.
There are many big advantages to upgrading home security but the most important one is that it can help you and your family to sleep easier at night – which is worth any amount of money. And from a financial standpoint, this can also be a great way to save money on costly repairs, insurance, or replacing your belongings.
The best part is that it doesn’t have to cost the Earth to begin with either. Here are some of the best home security features and how to get each one at a fair price.
Security Cameras Systems
Not every home makes use of security cameras systems but these days this is a great investment that can keep your home much safer. With home security cameras you’ll not only be able to keep your property under surveillance. This not only deters potential trespassers by signaling that you have home security systems in place, but also ensures that you are filming if anyone should break and enter so that you have evidence that you can provide the police with in their investigation.
Home CCTV systems these days are far more advanced and practical than they were in the past. These days the best CCTV is a wireless security camera system which means your cameras won’t need to be wired to a computer or even the mains. This means you no longer have any restriction when choosing where to place your cameras and means you can move them whenever you want to. This is a very useful advantage because otherwise simply moving around some of your furniture can block the view you previously had.
Wireless security cameras also have the advantage of allowing you to stream the footage anywhere in the world. This means that if you’re on holiday with your family, you can log onto the local Wi-Fi and check on your home using your wireless home security cameras. This is a great feeling and is much more reassuring than simply relying on your neighbors to hear an alarm. Some CCTV systems even go so far as to allow you to control the angle of the camera or speak through it. If you want that latter feature, then look for ‘VoIP CCTV’.
How to Save
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need an expensive camera installation for your home security systems. Nanny cams with VoIP and Wi-Fi are common and affordable, while you can get lots of smaller webcam devices that work well with Google Home or Alexa.
Another tip? If you don’t have the money for an exterior cam, then you can always use a dummy camera! This won’t actually collect any footage, but it can act as a great deterrent1.
Home Alarm Systems
Just as important are home alarm systems, which these days work best when integrated with your CCTV. Your home alarm system should be able to detect when someone breaks into any window or door in your house and then should sound the alarm to scare away trespassers, to attract the attention of neighbors and others in the area and to generally draw attention to what’s happening.
More advanced home alarm systems these days can also alert you to the problem by either calling you or letting you know by text. These kinds of alerts should also allow you to turn off the system if it’s a false alarm.
By linking your home alarm systems to your CCTV you can take advantage of video analysis and motion sensors in order to detect unusual movement around your house. This way you can sound the alarm only when your cameras pick up a person moving around your home – which is of course just when you would most want the alarms to be sounded.
Home alarm systems also let you set up protocols for contacting the police or a home security agency. This way, those organizations can then respond to the problem on your behalf – ensuring that your property is always fully protected even when you’re away.
Saving
Again, one of the best ways to afford a good home alarm system that will sync with your CCTV is to look into smart home solutions. Another option is Alexa Guard. While this won’t work as well as a genuine alarm, it will detect ambient noises in your home and then alert you to that fact. This works using only an Echo or Echo Dot, meaning you can get it set up for $30 or less if you look out for a deal!2
Locks
A little more low-tech but no less important is to make sure that you have secure locks installed on your doors and windows that can’t easily by bypassed with a set of lockpicks. Investing a little more in your locks can make a big difference and the same goes for your front gates and the padlock you have on them.
Having a large padlock can actually make a big difference to your home security which is for one very big and important reason: deterrence. You want to communicate to any potential criminals that you care about your home security and have invested in it. If they see a large padlock on an iron gate then normally they will move on to easier targets. Remember: the majority of crimes are actually crimes of opportunity.
If you want to go one step more advanced, then you can even look into getting a digital lock. Digital locks work by requiring either a pin code or even biometric data (such as a finger print or retinal scan) in order to control access. This is a very useful tool because it means that your lock can’t be picked and you don’t have to worry if you lose your keys or if you’ve moved house!
Saving
There is no real way to save money on a good lock. The most important thing is simply to remember that this is going to save you money in the long term, by keeping your belongings safe. The other thing to remember is that you can actually save money on your insurance by investing in better locks. Even if this isn’t advertising, try giving them a call and see if they will consider lowering your rates. The same goes for all your home security systems!