Securing a home starts with a good quality security system, but does not end there. Since even the dumbest of criminals know that a system is only as good as the response time of the police department, the point of a security system is to limit the amount of time that a criminal can spend in a home. If you have a system in place, you could be giving a good burglar several minutes to ransack your home looking for goodies. That is plenty of time. The true protection of valuables comes from locking down on the inside as well as the outside.
Jewelry is the obvious target of burglars. People have a tendency to lay jewelry all over the house. Wedding rings at the kitchen sink, watches on the endtable next to your favorite seat, and necklaces on the bedside table. Do not do this. Instead, take the extra time each chance you get (usually as you take it off) to place it in a safe and lock the safe. Get each member of the household a small safe to put in the closet of their bedrooms and teach kids to do this religiously.
Paintings can be a big ticket item for some households. Your typical thief may not know much about art, but may be able to spot something that would be worth a buck or two. Do not let your fabulous art collection - or that great one-time purchase - sell at the local flea market for $100 because you did not take precautions. For the price of a couple of proverbial cups of joe, you could purchase locks for your paintings and high-class artwork that mount unseen behind the frames that add security from theft and, as an added advantage, keep them level on the wall.
Your banking and personal records, if in the wrong hands, is the hurt that keeps on hurting. A file cabinet full of information can get a thief on Easy Street for weeks, months, or even years. Many people, myself included, have credit cards that have never been activated. These can be a crippling loss because it may be months before you even realize that they are being used. Social security numbers and birth certificates can get new accounts opened and used for many years to come, even after a credit freeze is put in place. Instead of a traditional file cabinet, purchase one that has extra security locks in place and is big enough to not be carried off or can be bolted down.
Collectibles come in two flavors: ones that are shown off to everyone everyday in a display case (such as ceramic figurines) and those that are brought out on special occasion to gaze upon (like baseball cards). The latter is easy enough to secure with a locked safe or, if they are larger items, a lockable closet. Make sure that if you are using a closet, that the door is not a stock hollow-core door and that the lock is a deadbolt. The shown collectibles are far more difficult to secure. Use your judgement on how badly you want to keep them. If the money is justified or not a concern, use a sturdy framed display case mounted securely to the wall and using a shatter-proof glass film such as this (http://www.shattergard.com). You cannot enjoy the items that may represent years (or generations) of work if they are being sold on eBay.
Who here has keys to someone else's house? Show of hands. 1, 2, 3... a lot of us. Now, who here wants to explain to Fred and Freida, down the street, that you may have just handed a burglar the keys to their home. I have been in peoples' homes that have a key holder by the door with keys labeled as follows: Wilson - 4659. If those people were broken into, next week a burglar, armed with a key and the probable security code, would be listening to the Wilson's stereo while they used their laptop to sell the rest of their stuff on Craig's List. Using a simple keybox next to the door would solve that problem totally and completely.
Whatever vessel you choose to lock down the items in your home, make sure that several important steps are taken. Use them correctly. Do not place all your jewelry or documents in a safe and leave it opened or put the key on the kitchen counter labeled "Becka's safe." I know that it may seem like a pain, but better to spend a few seconds here and there to avoid the months it would take to replace it all. Bolt down safes and smaller file cabinets while you are bolting your paintings to the wall. Nothing says oops like giving someone a lifetime to crack a safe because it is sitting on their workbench instead of in your closet. When bolting things to the wall, always, always, always (ad infinitum) use a stud and do not ever rely on drywall anchors of ANY kind, because a four dollar prybar will pull right out. The right security tools are nothing without using them the right way.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Types of Security Monitoring
Even before you purchase a security system, a decision should be made on which method of monitoring you will be getting. There are several options to consider when looking at monitoring. What medium to use (phone or cell), who to have contacted, and even whether to monitor at all. Some companies do not offer many, if any, choice. You should be prepared to make this decision in advance so you do not waste time and money shopping the wrong providers.
The first type of monitoring that, in my opinion, should always be offered to people is something I call "local monitoring." Local monitoring is, in essence, the absence of any monitoring at all. With this type, your security system is not tied to a phone line or anything else other than a siren. People who opt out of service like this rely very heavily on the good nature of the neighbors. They say, "Bonnie, next door, is always around and will call the police if she hears a siren." If you decide to do this, talk to your neighbors first and make sure that Bonnie does not really say, "Those dang Millers and their dang alarm!" and turn her radio up.
The most common way to watch over your home is by using a standard phone dialer. In this method, the security panel has a modem that dials a usually toll-free number to a heavily fortified monitoring station in some far-off city. It does not matter where it is located, the representative sitting there (one of dozens - or hundreds) will have a screen in front of him that comes to life with all the info that is needed. They will then, depending on how your system is set up, call your house to check for a false alarm, then dispatch the appropriate authorities, then call close family and friends called "keyholders" to alert them to the dispatch.
Problems crop up with this style in today's lifestyle. If the thief breaking into the home is smart enough (actually a rare occurrence), the phone line will be cut before the system is set off. Since a phone line connection is an active connection, the monitoring station does not know there has been a problem until alerted...which cannot happen without a phone line, see? Also, since more and more people are going to VoIP phone services or dropping phone service altogether, the price of maintaining a phone line just for security is way too much. VoIP services, such as through your local cable company or companies such as Vonage, can sometimes be used for successful monitoring, but it is not recommended. If your home should be struck by lightning, these services will not be operational when your security system wants to call the fire department.
To combat some of these problems, cell backup (and more recently, cell only) monitoring has been pretty successful. Cell backup works by installing a device in your home that communicates to a nearby cell tower much like a cell phone. The phone call to the monitoring station is then, basically, made from there. With this in place, a very determined burglar could cut every wire to your home, including power, and still would be unable to stop the security system from dialing the authorities. While the device itself is sometimes expensive, "cell only" packages are usually only a few dollars more per month. Unfortunately, there will still be people who live in valleys or remote areas that will not be able to get signal to their home. Also, it needs to be tested frequently to avoid a shifting signal from new construction or adjustment of the towers.
Something becoming more popular is Internet-based monitoring. This is a good premise, as it seems to be able to broadcast info at remarkable speeds when compared to a phone line. When you need authorities at your home, a system that gets info out in 2 seconds, compared to 12 or 15 seconds, is a desirable feature. However, I believe that this still has huge pitfalls in the idea. UPS backup or not, sometimes the Internet just goes out. That needs to be more reliable. Also, you still need to worry about lines being cut on the outside. It is a relatively new development. I feel it has possibilities, but it must be tested in peoples' homes more daring than I before you will see me condone its use.
Two-way monitoring is something that has been around for awhile, but has only recently become wildly popular. This is due mostly to rapid drops in price, but also to the need for fewer false alarms by local police departments. The theory goes that with two-way voice, a monitoring rep will hear the rattling of drawers, breaking of piggy banks, and mutterings of thieves and will be able to confirm an alarm to the local authorities. Whether this is ture remains to be proven to me, but I recommend this as a fairly low-cost addition to your system if it will make you feel safer.
Whatever method of protecting your home you choose, remember two things. First is to know exactly what is being offered to you before you sign up. Read all contracts and make sure that the company that says it has two-way monitoring does not necessarily give it to everyone. Reading the contract thoroughly and making sure that everything is in writing could save your life but will definitely save your checkbook. Second is NEVER, EVER, NOT EVEN WITH A GUN TO YOUR HEAD sign a "long-term" contract. All monitoring has a contract, but make your security company sell itself every month by providing a 30-day cancellation. Even if you get a deal for early payment of several months, you should be offered a "back-out" clause that does not cost too much money.
The first type of monitoring that, in my opinion, should always be offered to people is something I call "local monitoring." Local monitoring is, in essence, the absence of any monitoring at all. With this type, your security system is not tied to a phone line or anything else other than a siren. People who opt out of service like this rely very heavily on the good nature of the neighbors. They say, "Bonnie, next door, is always around and will call the police if she hears a siren." If you decide to do this, talk to your neighbors first and make sure that Bonnie does not really say, "Those dang Millers and their dang alarm!" and turn her radio up.
The most common way to watch over your home is by using a standard phone dialer. In this method, the security panel has a modem that dials a usually toll-free number to a heavily fortified monitoring station in some far-off city. It does not matter where it is located, the representative sitting there (one of dozens - or hundreds) will have a screen in front of him that comes to life with all the info that is needed. They will then, depending on how your system is set up, call your house to check for a false alarm, then dispatch the appropriate authorities, then call close family and friends called "keyholders" to alert them to the dispatch.
Problems crop up with this style in today's lifestyle. If the thief breaking into the home is smart enough (actually a rare occurrence), the phone line will be cut before the system is set off. Since a phone line connection is an active connection, the monitoring station does not know there has been a problem until alerted...which cannot happen without a phone line, see? Also, since more and more people are going to VoIP phone services or dropping phone service altogether, the price of maintaining a phone line just for security is way too much. VoIP services, such as through your local cable company or companies such as Vonage, can sometimes be used for successful monitoring, but it is not recommended. If your home should be struck by lightning, these services will not be operational when your security system wants to call the fire department.
To combat some of these problems, cell backup (and more recently, cell only) monitoring has been pretty successful. Cell backup works by installing a device in your home that communicates to a nearby cell tower much like a cell phone. The phone call to the monitoring station is then, basically, made from there. With this in place, a very determined burglar could cut every wire to your home, including power, and still would be unable to stop the security system from dialing the authorities. While the device itself is sometimes expensive, "cell only" packages are usually only a few dollars more per month. Unfortunately, there will still be people who live in valleys or remote areas that will not be able to get signal to their home. Also, it needs to be tested frequently to avoid a shifting signal from new construction or adjustment of the towers.
Something becoming more popular is Internet-based monitoring. This is a good premise, as it seems to be able to broadcast info at remarkable speeds when compared to a phone line. When you need authorities at your home, a system that gets info out in 2 seconds, compared to 12 or 15 seconds, is a desirable feature. However, I believe that this still has huge pitfalls in the idea. UPS backup or not, sometimes the Internet just goes out. That needs to be more reliable. Also, you still need to worry about lines being cut on the outside. It is a relatively new development. I feel it has possibilities, but it must be tested in peoples' homes more daring than I before you will see me condone its use.
Two-way monitoring is something that has been around for awhile, but has only recently become wildly popular. This is due mostly to rapid drops in price, but also to the need for fewer false alarms by local police departments. The theory goes that with two-way voice, a monitoring rep will hear the rattling of drawers, breaking of piggy banks, and mutterings of thieves and will be able to confirm an alarm to the local authorities. Whether this is ture remains to be proven to me, but I recommend this as a fairly low-cost addition to your system if it will make you feel safer.
Whatever method of protecting your home you choose, remember two things. First is to know exactly what is being offered to you before you sign up. Read all contracts and make sure that the company that says it has two-way monitoring does not necessarily give it to everyone. Reading the contract thoroughly and making sure that everything is in writing could save your life but will definitely save your checkbook. Second is NEVER, EVER, NOT EVEN WITH A GUN TO YOUR HEAD sign a "long-term" contract. All monitoring has a contract, but make your security company sell itself every month by providing a 30-day cancellation. Even if you get a deal for early payment of several months, you should be offered a "back-out" clause that does not cost too much money.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Central Vacuum Basics
Central vacuums are, to many people, a love/hate product line. I have heard complaints involving the suction, the noise, clogs, and more, but with just a few precautions, you can have a system that performs up to specifications and acts like it did in the showroom or at the trade show where you first saw it. You should take a look at the system being proposed and the way it is installed.
When looking at purchasing a central vacuum, it is most important to find a motor that can handle the size of your home. By far, the largest of my complaints come from people who have used them in the past and were unimpressed by the strength of the suction. Most vacuum manufacturers rate their own vacuums in terms of square footage of the home. While this seems completely inaccurate on the surface, it is an amazingly close approximation. You want to take those specs and reduce them by about 10% to make sure that the system is properly sized. If your home is bumping up against the quoted limit, you may just be throwing away money on a system that will not work as well as you like. Remember, too, to think about possible finishable space, like walk-up attics and basements. It is far better to spend a little more (up to a %20 jump in price) for a motor that will work for many years to come than it is to be unhappy with the motor you bought.
Next make sure that the proposal includes enough inlet ports to reach all the outlying corners of your house. As a rule of thumb, I usually count on one inlet per 500 square feet. Unlike when sizing the motor, however, this is wildly inaccurate, and the house must always be walked off and measured. When trying to find the locations of the inlets, start at the farthest corner of a room and walk (with slightly larger than normal paces) toward the door and into the hallway, remembering to take into account furniture, using about 8 or 9 steps. For most people, this will be less than 30 feet, which is perfect for a standard hose length. Once you have an inlet that covers the first room, you start at that location to see what other rooms are covered by it. The garage should also be covered so that you can vacuum out your cars, but it is far less important to cover every inch. You should always be prepared for the possibility that the location you think is perfect may not work because of structural concerns, and your installer may have to move it around a corner and adjust the number of inlets to compensate.
Poor suction can also be affected by the way the system is installed. The motor should be at the lowest point of the home to allow for gravity to do its share of the work. When the piping is put in place, the vacuum pipes should go down when possible. This is not always possible, and in some cases not desirable, though, and you should keep an eye out to make sure that the pipes are never pulling the dirt upward more than ten feet. Also, the piping should never go from one inlet directly through another and should, instead, be piped near the second inlet location. The second inlet can then be piped via a very short branch to the trunkline to avoid dirt from collecting at the plate. Many installers run the motor exhaust to the outside to keep dust from collecting back in the home, but this exhaust must be very short - under 25 feet if possible. Proper flow of air (and dirt) and motor placement are the keys to a happy user and will lead to very few, in any, clogs.
Noise is a problem for some people. When you talk to a sales representative or go to a trade show, you are always told that you should get central vacuums because they are quieter. Do NOT believe this! It is exactly the opposite. Central vacuums are notoriously louder than regular vacuums as they usually have HUGE motors, in comparison. The key to a central vacuum is placement. I have placed central vacuums in closets of homes that do not have garages and have had unhappy customers when I did not preface the installation with this simple fact. Make sure that you place the vacuum in an unfinished area away from children's rooms. With a simple insulated wall between you and the vacuum, it is very quiet, indeed, but there is no reason to tempt the fate of a sleeping child, so keep it as far as possible. Mechanical rooms in basements are an excellent place for them as most bedrooms are on the upper floors of a home. Most importantly, keep in mind that noise is not a good reason to purchase a central vacuum, especially when you note that as you vacuum your carpeted floors, you will likely have an electric or turbine motor to turn your beater brush.
Following a few simple guidelines before you purchase the system and double-checking the installation of the installers that you hire will lead to a system that you can enjoy for decades. Spend a few minutes going over the details before and after the install to make sure that it is done right for you.
When looking at purchasing a central vacuum, it is most important to find a motor that can handle the size of your home. By far, the largest of my complaints come from people who have used them in the past and were unimpressed by the strength of the suction. Most vacuum manufacturers rate their own vacuums in terms of square footage of the home. While this seems completely inaccurate on the surface, it is an amazingly close approximation. You want to take those specs and reduce them by about 10% to make sure that the system is properly sized. If your home is bumping up against the quoted limit, you may just be throwing away money on a system that will not work as well as you like. Remember, too, to think about possible finishable space, like walk-up attics and basements. It is far better to spend a little more (up to a %20 jump in price) for a motor that will work for many years to come than it is to be unhappy with the motor you bought.
Next make sure that the proposal includes enough inlet ports to reach all the outlying corners of your house. As a rule of thumb, I usually count on one inlet per 500 square feet. Unlike when sizing the motor, however, this is wildly inaccurate, and the house must always be walked off and measured. When trying to find the locations of the inlets, start at the farthest corner of a room and walk (with slightly larger than normal paces) toward the door and into the hallway, remembering to take into account furniture, using about 8 or 9 steps. For most people, this will be less than 30 feet, which is perfect for a standard hose length. Once you have an inlet that covers the first room, you start at that location to see what other rooms are covered by it. The garage should also be covered so that you can vacuum out your cars, but it is far less important to cover every inch. You should always be prepared for the possibility that the location you think is perfect may not work because of structural concerns, and your installer may have to move it around a corner and adjust the number of inlets to compensate.
Poor suction can also be affected by the way the system is installed. The motor should be at the lowest point of the home to allow for gravity to do its share of the work. When the piping is put in place, the vacuum pipes should go down when possible. This is not always possible, and in some cases not desirable, though, and you should keep an eye out to make sure that the pipes are never pulling the dirt upward more than ten feet. Also, the piping should never go from one inlet directly through another and should, instead, be piped near the second inlet location. The second inlet can then be piped via a very short branch to the trunkline to avoid dirt from collecting at the plate. Many installers run the motor exhaust to the outside to keep dust from collecting back in the home, but this exhaust must be very short - under 25 feet if possible. Proper flow of air (and dirt) and motor placement are the keys to a happy user and will lead to very few, in any, clogs.
Noise is a problem for some people. When you talk to a sales representative or go to a trade show, you are always told that you should get central vacuums because they are quieter. Do NOT believe this! It is exactly the opposite. Central vacuums are notoriously louder than regular vacuums as they usually have HUGE motors, in comparison. The key to a central vacuum is placement. I have placed central vacuums in closets of homes that do not have garages and have had unhappy customers when I did not preface the installation with this simple fact. Make sure that you place the vacuum in an unfinished area away from children's rooms. With a simple insulated wall between you and the vacuum, it is very quiet, indeed, but there is no reason to tempt the fate of a sleeping child, so keep it as far as possible. Mechanical rooms in basements are an excellent place for them as most bedrooms are on the upper floors of a home. Most importantly, keep in mind that noise is not a good reason to purchase a central vacuum, especially when you note that as you vacuum your carpeted floors, you will likely have an electric or turbine motor to turn your beater brush.
Following a few simple guidelines before you purchase the system and double-checking the installation of the installers that you hire will lead to a system that you can enjoy for decades. Spend a few minutes going over the details before and after the install to make sure that it is done right for you.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Home Theater Locales
So you want to have a home theater, but you are still considering the first steps. One of the most overlooked in this consideration is the location of the surround sound. Not all homes under 9000 square feet have a built-in theater space. So often, I find myself in homes of people that are confident that they would like their surround sound in the Family Room where "everyone watches TV." I would like to offer some differing opinion for you to consider before you move on to the brand of speaker you want to purchase.
The Family Room is, I admit, the obvious choice for most families, because they are...well, families. Most families spend time in this typically central room of the home. It seems the logical place to look into when you want to find the place that everyone can sit down and enjoy a movie together. The key word here is "everybody." Movie watching can be a fun family experience, but it should also be able to be enjoyed by yourself or with just a spouse or just the kids. If you make the center point of your home into the movie theater, it will not be as enjoyed as other possibilities may allow.
If your home has a Playroom, Bonus Room, Rec Room, or unfinished area, you should consider these areas as the new movie room. A play area for the kids can be set up for both play and movie watching (with perhaps a bit of straightening). Rec and Bonus Rooms are usually flex space anyway and can often be "zoned" by putting the office or playspace on one side, and it may even be incorporated into the theater by showing presentations on the big screen for work or playing video games in 7.1 surround sound. Many times, unfinished space can be finished with basic features (walls and a door) for a moderate portion of the price of your new homes theater, or unused bedrooms (have a kid go off to college?) can be converted even cheaper. Other than rooms with a pool table, there are very few rooms that cannot be considered as dual purpose with watching flicks in mind.
When picking a room, the space in it is critical for more than just the recliners and the TV. If you are using a projector in your setup or do not want to see "boxes," where will your DVD and other devices sit? Are you more than a few rooms from the kitchen? A small bar refrigerator can be easily stocked with sodas, and it does not take a fully stocked kitchenette to have a microwave for popcorn and basket for candies.
Decoration is usually the last thing done in a theater, but should be one of the first things to consider when choosing where to place it. Windows are the bane of any theater as they create glare and add to the uncontrollable lighting of the room, and you do not want to be limited to watching high-energy movies at night when the room is dark. Something you cannot do in a home's activity center is put black-out shades up, as they are rarely "pretty." Also, in a room that has few windows and doors, shades can be put up all around the room to get that "real theater" curtained wall look. Any room that can be used for your theater should be able to be elaborately decorated with curtains and movie posters and life-sized Yoda dolls (is that just me?) without having to explain yourself to guests who only come over for coffee.
If no other reason is good enough for you to consider moving the movie entertainment out of the Family Room, allow me to attempt a philosophical approach. The Family Room is where life happens in your home. It is the number one place where things happen to and for your family, with the possible exception of the Kitchen. It may be where your kids tell you about their day, where you open your mail, where you sit to call your cross-country relative to find out about Aunt May's health, or just find out about frogs' mating habits on Discovery Channel. When you watch a movie on a TV and in a room that you just paid a lot to resemble (in action, if not appearance) a movie theater, you want to escape life. Hollywood goes to a lot of trouble to make that happen, and it is the one reason that people will continue to spend $40 to see movies in theaters. You will never get that perfectly in your home (for less than $100K), but you want it to be as close as possible, otherwise...why bother?
The Family Room is, I admit, the obvious choice for most families, because they are...well, families. Most families spend time in this typically central room of the home. It seems the logical place to look into when you want to find the place that everyone can sit down and enjoy a movie together. The key word here is "everybody." Movie watching can be a fun family experience, but it should also be able to be enjoyed by yourself or with just a spouse or just the kids. If you make the center point of your home into the movie theater, it will not be as enjoyed as other possibilities may allow.
If your home has a Playroom, Bonus Room, Rec Room, or unfinished area, you should consider these areas as the new movie room. A play area for the kids can be set up for both play and movie watching (with perhaps a bit of straightening). Rec and Bonus Rooms are usually flex space anyway and can often be "zoned" by putting the office or playspace on one side, and it may even be incorporated into the theater by showing presentations on the big screen for work or playing video games in 7.1 surround sound. Many times, unfinished space can be finished with basic features (walls and a door) for a moderate portion of the price of your new homes theater, or unused bedrooms (have a kid go off to college?) can be converted even cheaper. Other than rooms with a pool table, there are very few rooms that cannot be considered as dual purpose with watching flicks in mind.
When picking a room, the space in it is critical for more than just the recliners and the TV. If you are using a projector in your setup or do not want to see "boxes," where will your DVD and other devices sit? Are you more than a few rooms from the kitchen? A small bar refrigerator can be easily stocked with sodas, and it does not take a fully stocked kitchenette to have a microwave for popcorn and basket for candies.
Decoration is usually the last thing done in a theater, but should be one of the first things to consider when choosing where to place it. Windows are the bane of any theater as they create glare and add to the uncontrollable lighting of the room, and you do not want to be limited to watching high-energy movies at night when the room is dark. Something you cannot do in a home's activity center is put black-out shades up, as they are rarely "pretty." Also, in a room that has few windows and doors, shades can be put up all around the room to get that "real theater" curtained wall look. Any room that can be used for your theater should be able to be elaborately decorated with curtains and movie posters and life-sized Yoda dolls (is that just me?) without having to explain yourself to guests who only come over for coffee.
If no other reason is good enough for you to consider moving the movie entertainment out of the Family Room, allow me to attempt a philosophical approach. The Family Room is where life happens in your home. It is the number one place where things happen to and for your family, with the possible exception of the Kitchen. It may be where your kids tell you about their day, where you open your mail, where you sit to call your cross-country relative to find out about Aunt May's health, or just find out about frogs' mating habits on Discovery Channel. When you watch a movie on a TV and in a room that you just paid a lot to resemble (in action, if not appearance) a movie theater, you want to escape life. Hollywood goes to a lot of trouble to make that happen, and it is the one reason that people will continue to spend $40 to see movies in theaters. You will never get that perfectly in your home (for less than $100K), but you want it to be as close as possible, otherwise...why bother?
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