Ever get woken up by your house alarm in the middle of the night?

[NameRedacted]

Yes, this happened to me twice about 10-15 years ago about 3-4 years apart. In both cases it was the fire alarm, the fire brigade showed up and it happened in the middle of the night. I tracked it down to the backup battery failing and just disconnecting it and then clearing the alarm worked. After the second occurrence I permanently disconnected the battery.


It's so much fun being woken up in the middle of the night, desperately running around the house trying to figure out if there really is a fire and then having the fire brigade insist on searching the house.

 

[GNXGuy]

It would be prudent to have been properly trained to protect yourself. Use the 2nd amendment to your advantage.

Remember when seconds count the police are only minutes away.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Guns are only a good idea if you can stay calm during a crisis, not shoot your husband that came home a day early without telling you and you are willing to use it. None of those would describe me. Any weapon can be used against you.

 

[Hermit]

Guns are only a good idea if you can stay calm during a crisis, not shoot your husband that came home a day early without telling you and you are willing to use it. None of those would describe me. Any weapon can be used against you.

A friend's wife has gone through a very serious fire arms training course and practices regularly at the range with her pistol. If you are well trained you go through the procedures rather than freaking out. I would feel a bit sorry for an intruder wanting to do her harm, but I also am quite sure they could walk out with whatever they wanted without getting shot.

 

[Hermit]

I installed a high end security system in my last house. I never had any problems with it over a perild of about 5 years. Any alarm went to my and my wife's cell phone. We never had a reason to notify the police. It worked great to monitor the teen kids' coming and goings and to allow me to check to make sure the garage door was shut and windows were closed from my cell phone, etc.

Where I currently live, in the remote mountains, the sheriff's deputies "know" every house has fire arms. Crooks generally understand this too.

 

[Teacher Terry]

A good friend of mine was well trained with a firearm and a guy broke in and was beating her husband. All the time telling her what he had planned for her. She got the gun and killed him. She developed PTSD and she won’t have a gun in the house even though it probably saved their lives.

 

[HFWR]

Have never been awakened by an alarm, nor, thankfully, by a break-in...

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Well, I guess technically I was woken up by the alarm...the alarm system was emitting a REALLY loud beep every 30 seconds or so. Turns out the backup battery was running low, and we had to keep silencing it until we could replace the battery. Now I keep a spare battery in the house just for the alarm system.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We have no idea how the alarm got set. We thought maybe since we crossed into a new year and hadn't left the house on January 1st (pretty miserable weather outside), it somehow got set by the alarm company. Needless to say, we now have the alarm code, or at least I think we do. After what we went through, we are not interested in setting the alarm and trying to turn it off with the code as a test.

Well, many alarm systems have a quick-arm mode. You don't necessarily need the code to arm it, as it isn't really considered a security issue to allow broader access to arming the system, it's only disarming it that is a security risk. This is sometimes used for guests or service people. On the kind we have, it's the pound (#) button and then the Away or Stay button.

 

[Sunset]

Guns are only a good idea if you can stay calm during a crisis, not shoot your husband that came home a day early without telling you and you are willing to use it. None of those would describe me. Any weapon can be used against you.

While we do have a gun at bedside, it is super important to reach out and touch the spouse before grabbing it, as maybe someone just needed to pee in the night.

We also have a can of bear spray, if it stops a grizzly charge at 20 feet, I figure it will stop anybody down the hall, without even needing to see them.

 

[Lsbcal]

We have had 3 incidents of false alarms in 20 years. One was never explained but maybe it was an owl flying into a window and setting off the motion sensor (DW's theory). The second one happened because an interior door was left unlocked and blew open in a gentle breeze. Now we both check the door locks.

About a year ago I got an Amazon camera for the downstairs in a strategic location. Easy to install and has free 24 hour recordings. Then 2 months ago the alarm went off about 15 minutes after we went to bed. I could look at the camera results on my smartphone and see that nobody had entered downstairs.

The fix was to install 3 new door magnets that had been in service for about 30 years.

I think having a camera or two is a good idea instead of going downstairs to investigate yourself. If there were evidence of a burglar I'd then have the police dispatched. We do sleep better with the alarm system and the upstairs door locked. Plus I have a force multiplier securely in lock down but available quickly should someone be too aggressive. I guess I have too much of an imagination and need to do these things to feel safe.

 

[Sunset]

...
About a year ago I got an Amazon camera for the downstairs in a strategic location. Easy to install and has free 24 hour recordings. Then 2 months ago the alarm went off about 15 minutes after we went to bed. I could look at the camera results on my smartphone and see that nobody had entered downstairs.

....

I think having a camera or two is a good idea instead of going downstairs to investigate yourself. If there were evidence of a burglar I'd then have the police dispatched. We do sleep better with the alarm system and the upstairs door locked. Plus I have a force multiplier securely in lock down but available quickly should someone be too aggressive. I guess I have too much of an imagination and need to do these things to feel safe.

From videos I have see of people breaking into a house at night, they seem very very fast. None of this slow quiet creep in the window, instead it's kick in the front door and rush in with guns/knife really fast.

The idea of a locked upper door is really great, otherwise for us, someone kicking in the door will be in the bedroom in 7 seconds.

 

[brewer12345]

Our canine alarm system mostly does its false alarming during the day. With three dogs running around the house, we get a lot of false signals (mailman, rabbits on the lawn, strange dogs being walked across the street...).


We live in a low crime neighborhood, although with an influx of homeless and assorted grifters property crimes are on the rise. Apparently the favorite tactic is to try car doors in the middle of the night to see if any were unlocked. Considering this is a suburban area in a state with a "make my day" law, you would think the enterprising thief would stick to the cars and stay out of the houses. I always check to see that my car doors are locked and I don't leave anything valuable in it.


I depend on the dogs to make some noise. With 15 or 20 seconds of heads up I can have a revolver in one hand, flashlight in the other and glasses on. I would prefer to have a shotgun handy, but with kids in the house that has to be locked up in a way that is not easily accessible. I hunt with a shotgun so often that it would not require conscious thought to aim and fire. With a handgun I have to practice. Happily, none of this has ever been an issue.

 

[Sunset]

Dogs are great.
I had one a long time ago, and she barked at night, and I stupidly told her to quiet down.
Next morning I found out our neighbor's house had been broken into, while they were sleeping. The thieves took wallet and keys that were on the main floor and drove away with the neighbor's car.

 

[simple girl]

About a year ago I got an Amazon camera for the downstairs in a strategic location. Easy to install and has free 24 hour recordings. Then 2 months ago the alarm went off about 15 minutes after we went to bed. I could look at the camera results on my smartphone and see that nobody had entered downstairs.

I really like this idea. Do you have a particular model you suggest? How does it record if it is dark downstairs?

 

[Lsbcal]

I really like this idea. Do you have a particular model you suggest? How does it record if it is dark downstairs?

I bought this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Introducing-Amazon-Cloud-Cam/dp/B01C4UY0JK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2ZZKZPZAECTTC&keywords=amazon+camera+security&qid=1553962628&s=gateway&sprefix=amazon+camera%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-4

It looks kind of like a negative image in the dark. You can see if someone is moving around. If you were to leave a light on then you'd get the usual color image. There may be options on this that I haven't explored. I just occasionally check that it is working with my phone. There is a green light that comes on that shows it is operational.

I'm thinking of buying one for the front entry and one for the garage.

 

[simple girl]

I bought this one: https://smile.amazon.com/Introducing-Amazon-Cloud-Cam/dp/B01C4UY0JK/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2ZZKZPZAECTTC&keywords=amazon+camera+security&qid=1553962628&s=gateway&sprefix=amazon+camera%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-4

It looks kind of like a negative image in the dark. You can see if someone is moving around. If you were to leave a light on then you'd get the usual color image. There may be options on this that I haven't explored. I just occasionally check that it is working with my phone. There is a green light that comes on that shows it is operational.

I'm thinking of buying one for the front entry and one for the garage.

Awesome, thank you so much!