You deserve to have a safe home. But you are probably concerned about how much it will cost to make it really secure. Owning a home is valuable, but it can be a liability at times. If someone is looking to steal from the middle class and give to themselves, they will target you.
So, you need a few things in order to make sure that your home is secure: Obviously you need a security system, but more importantly you need to know what kind of security system you need. You also need to know how to install it, and how much it is going to cost going forward.
This can be an overwhelming amount of information. That is why we are here to help. We will get you started on using Smith Thompson security systems to improve your home easily.
What Kind of Security Systems are There?
One of the great things about security systems is that they rarely contradict each other. For the most part, choosing between one security system and another is a matter of financial limitations, as well as limitations on the availability of the technology that is available to you.
There are essentially three kinds of security systems, but you can think of them as three different layers of security:
- Alarm Systems
- Security Cameras
- Cybersecurity
Alarm systems are the crux of a security system. They do two things for you: First, they alert the police to an ongoing break-in. Some can even be sensitive enough to go off the moment a break-in starts (usually requiring sensors on the windows to detect them being broken).
The second thing they do is sound an alarm. Alarms serve to warn you that an intruder has entered the house, but they also serve to warn the intruder that they have been caught in the act. This will scare most intruders away from doing anything at all.
Security cameras are almost as important as alarms, and they have a few interesting ways of building into alarms. Security cameras allow you to monitor what goes on in your home when you are not around. This means you can see if an intruder is in your home, but you will usually catch things that are less high stakes than that, like a child operating an oven poorly.
Many people assume cybersecurity just means antivirus software for your computer. But when we talk about cybersecurity, we mainly mean security for your home’s wireless internet network.
This is an important thing to secure, as many of your security devices will be controllable through this network. You do not want an unsecured doorbell camera to become a vulnerability that allows a hacker to access sensitive files on your computer or alarm systems in your house.
How are Security Systems Installed?
The easiest way to look at it is that the more important a security system is, the harder it is to install. This is actually a good thing, as it means that there is no wasted effort with security.
Alarm systems are wall-mounted and make use of special wiring that prevents them from being tampered with or shorted out due to electrical issues. That means that they require special installation including taking out bits of wall to set the alarm devices in and plastering them up.
Security cameras can be really hard to install, or medium-rare, you catch our drift. This is really a matter of how much wiring is involved in security cameras. Because security cameras will usually be motion activated, all they need is a battery to keep them going for the brief time they are active. Of course, they will still require a change of batteries eventually.
It will be harder, but you can install cameras that are wired into a power supply in a similar manner as an alarm is. This is preferable to a lot of people, as the next problem camera installation faces is how to connect it to the devices where it stores its data.
By hard wiring your cameras to their power source, you already create a pathway to hard wire your camera to the place it stores its recordings or is monitored.
Cybersecurity is the easiest to install because it is a matter of device and account security. That basically means that it is secure as long as you have the right apps and authentication.
How Much Does Home Security Cost?
A full suite of alarms, cameras, and cybersecurity will cost you an initial investment of around $800. That is including installation fees. There is a degree of variance in this price, as we are assuming you are getting the best devices and a complete installation of all of them.
Some devices will be cheaper, and some installation will be more expensive. Generally it will break down like this:
- Security Devices: $200 to $500
- Installation: $100 to $200
- Monthly fees: $25 to $50 a month
You might have noticed that the average cost of a security device and its installation is closer to $500 than $800. The reason we say $800 is because we are assuming that you will want more than one device installed. Alarms are great, but cameras plus alarms are even better.
And not only are they better, but the difference between investing in one device and two is not huge, while the money you save on homeowner’s insurance with one device and two is huge.
Conclusion
To review: Home security is a critical part of managing the liability of owning a home. Actually finding the devices you need and getting them installed is not easy, however.
Alarms, cameras, and cybersecurity are the core components to keeping a home safe. There are a variety of ways of employing them, and getting it all installed will cost you around $800.
You and your family deserve peace of mind. And with modern security technology, you can get it. Making sure your home is safe is just a few button presses away. You just have to know what you are looking for.