Security vital for peace of mind

Reliable burglar and smoke alarms are essential for your home and its contents, writes David Gilbert.

Burglar alarms are widely accepted as the single most effective burglary deterrent.

When you’re spending big dollars on building a beautiful new home, the last thing you want is to have it, or its contents, burgled. There’s a wide range of easy-to-use and affordable home security technologies that have deterrent, monitoring, surveillance and alert capabilities to keep your family, belongings and home safe.

But a wide range of options can be overwhelming when you’re already making many new build decisions. There’s also the budget to consider.

These are the most important security technologies you can install in your new home – and about how much they will cost.

MUST-HAVES

Burglar alarms are widely accepted by police and criminals as the single most effective burglary deterrent, so if there’s one must-have feature, it’s a quality, modern security system with smoke detectors and app control.

You can control these systems from anywhere using the app, which means you can open the garage door for a friend who’s borrowing your lawn mower, know when the kids are home from school, or arm the alarm from the airport (or your destination) if you forget.

Smart control of the alarm also allows you to control appliances – turn the hot water cylinder on a day before you arrive or turn your house lights on when you’re heading home at night. You can control and operate the alarm and devices connected through the alarm – cost effectively – from anywhere in the world.

Security systems also feature alarm, fire and smoke detection that can send alerts to your smartphone or tablet, or to a monitoring company, within 20 seconds of detection. They can sound 110-decibel sirens – as loud as a heavy-rock concert.

And when smoke is detected, as well as the alarm sounding, the house lights automatically switch on, helping you and your family wake up and escape.

Smoke detectors have dual power supplies, which means no more beeping at 2am and changing batteries.

Sensors to monitor doors, intrusion, movement, glass breaks and vibrations are also available. Budget: $1000 to $3000 for most new homes. The second must-have feature is security lights. One of the best deterrents to burglars at night is a well-lit home and property. Sensors placed in the right locations can turn on all types of outdoor light fittings. In other words, you don’t need to interfere with the style or look of your home and install cheap, ugly floodlights to get the desired deterrent results.

A combination of effect and flood lighting works well – the more light, the higher the likelihood a burglar will be spotted and the lower the likelihood your home will be burgled.

Budget: $200 to $500 for most new builds.

NICE-TO-HAVES

Keep a close eye on your front door with a connected doorbell. As many burglars will come to your door and ring your bell to see if anyone is home, this gadget is equipped with a camera, which takes a photo of whoever is on your doorstep and sends it directly to your smartphone via push notification and/or email.

Budget: $300 to $400 for most new home builds. Secure your home and keep an eye on your kids using the latest, discreet, high-definition security cameras.

You can monitor your cameras from your smartphone or tablet from anywhere, as well as record in high definition so you can play the footage back and/or provide it as evidence if