Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It depends what kind of area you live in. If you live in a trashy area and there is lots of crime, they will get in if they really want to and won't care about alarms.
The main goal is to worry about your safety in the house. Have a gun near you that you can get to within 5 seconds. If someone decides to smash down a door or throw a rock through a window and crawl in, you might only have 5 seconds until they're inside and attacking you. In my state you don't need a permit as long as the gun stays inside your house.
Just think like a thief, they want to remain unnoticed, so lights and sounds are their enemies. Set up motion detector lights outside your house. I don't really have a security system in my house, just motion detectors. I turn them on when I leave and if they detect movement inside an alarm goes off. It's not a pay-by-the-month security system, it just makes a lot of noise.
Sliding glass doors are are in my area; haven't seen one in years. BTW...they are the easiest way to gain entry into a home and if someone wants to smash and grab there ya go.
1. Dog with a real bark.
2. Cage door on the basement entry and real doors other places with locks that work.
3. Sensor lights all around the house with real 100w incandescents. You can't get close to the house without them coming on. They is up high and not easily accessible; I need an 8' ladder.
4. Timers on lights in the house at all times.
5. Items termed "weapons" of any type close at hand.
6. Don't care about telephone at that point.
Tip...don't hold a flashlight and gun like a TV cop if checking out something. I don't think the TV cops have figured out the flashlight is a target and is the first thing an intelligent person will shoot at.
My neighbor just got a megaphone with a siren on it. If someone breaks in when he is there he will turn it on and it is more than loud.
Could you recommend any particular camera model with this feature? What about the internet connection requirements? And what about installation/wiring? I've been hesitating with the camera installation because of wiring issues. Didn't want to damage house by drilling holes, etc.
I like Y-Cam. Captures video on motion, emails you, saves to a local Micro-SD card, and can work even if the Internet is down. Can also be tied into home automation or alarm systems.
With maybe one or two exceptions, any surveillance camera is going to need at least power wiring; even with "wireless" cameras, each one needs to be close to an outlet, or you'd need to run a cable. You can get cameras where power and data use the same cable/bundle, the best being Power over Ethernet (PoE), both the signal and power use a thin Cat-5 cable, it's low voltage and easy to DIY install.
The cheapest IP cameras are "cloud" dependent -- they only work when Internet is accessible, plus you usually get a small amount of storage for free, can pay for more. And of course if the cloud provider goes out of business, the camera is worthless. If this seems like a problem, you can also get cameras that report back to a server or NVR inside your house, and with MicroSD flash slot on each camera for local recording.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,925,051 times
Reputation: 4561
Most will find this difficult to believe, but usually I leave my door unlocked. So far so good, and I have two residents, one in Florida, one in Canada.
It's also a good way to get sued. Long story short, booby traps are against the law in many a state. If someone lays a booby trap out to lure someone into it and that person gets hurt, odds are they or their family is going to come back with a lawsuit against that person especially if that person is "rich". Given that the person was doing an illegal act in laying the booby trap, I wouldn't say they had such great odds.
Ie, people sue when someone defends with a gun and shoots someone, even if that person was in the right; what do you think they will do in this particular case?
The laws are different in different states, but in TX you can't sue for injuries received while you were committing a crime...for example, if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, you can't be sued for shooting them because they were committing a crime.
I don't know how or if that would apply to booby traps though.
At least put motion sensors on your lights for your neighbor's sake and not to waste so much electricity. Geez!
It might cost $5/month to leave my lights on. I don't have floodlights all around the property or anything like that, just regular fixtures with CFL bulbs. For me, the motion sensor is more disruptive than a constant, low level of light around the house. One of my neighbors has a motion sensor that goes off every time a car drives down the street, that would drive me nuts.
I looked at my sliding glass door. Yeah, it lifts. Now I'm thinking that when gone for a period of time, I could push a dowel rod into the track above the door, with some sort of stopper screwed to the end so that it doesn't go out of reach. Has anyone tried that idea out? If it were just the right size, it would keep the door from lifting up from outside.
It's really too bad that traps are more a liability for the homeowner than the crook, but my biggest fear with traps would be our own lapses in awareness. Traps can't tell the difference between a forgetful homeowner (or a visiting friend's child) and a crook. It's like the choice to carry a firearm; one can never fail to remember the fact.
The laws are different in different states, but in TX you can't sue for injuries received while you were committing a crime...for example, if someone breaks into your house and you shoot them, you can't be sued for shooting them because they were committing a crime.
I don't know how or if that would apply to booby traps though.
One DOESN'T have the protections about using deadly force by setting up a device designed to cause harm.
I would think that would be the case anywhere, I would also assume you could be prosecuted just for doing it.
It's a very bad idea no matter what the case, you could end up injuring or killing an innocent person. Suppose you die and a relative who goes into your house ends up being the victim of your booby trap. As another example a fireman, cop or neighbor breaking into your house because it's on fire and they want to try and get you out.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Networked surveillance cameras
