Home CCTV

[meriad]

Can I ask please; do any of you have a home CCTV system and if yes, what type?

I just had a message from my neighbour saying that she dropped her housekeys the other day - unfortunately in her off road car parking so a bit of a give away what house they belonged to; but still - anyway she said that she dropped them Monday morning and that apparently 2am on Tuesday morning someone tried to get into her house; thank goodness she had the lock changed that Monday. And apparently someone also tried to break into her keysafe a few months ago.

All a bit of a worry, and it does make me think / realise that our little street may not be as tranquil as it could be and maybe, given I'm at work all day - it does make sense for me to get a decent CCTV system to monitor the outside a bit; rather safe than sorry.

So just wondering if any of you had a system in place and if you'd recommend it?

Thanks!

[saundra]

Iv no idea but my neighbour has it at front and back also he can see my house
I personally would worry if I had it because I'd be wanting to check all the time it's just a personal thing
But I can understand your concern

[Workingman]

Ria, I had a word with my sister.

They have a system hooked up to the home computer for recording. It is not one of they new-fangled thingys with two-way sound. All they got were a few motion sensor cameras with good night vision from Maplin - before it went bust - and M installed them himself.

They use it mainly for holidays, shopping or when she is home alone. Mo reckons they are pretty good for putting off opportunists and I guess that peace of mind for not much outlay could be worth it.

I know they are on when I visit because a light comes on and the sensor gives a beep.

[meriad]

Thanks Frank. I enquired on another local site as well and someone very local who is in the telecoms / security business has said he could pop round and give some advise. I'll do a bit more of my own research and then probably take him up on his offer. It's just so many of these systems now-a-days are all hyped up (ie Blink, Ring, Hive etc) and I think you pay more for the name than the product....

[Kaz]

No we don't, but then there seems to be very little petty crime on this estate *touch wood* We do have a key safe though, as at one time Becky was always losing door keys - she seems to be over that now! We have an alarm system, but we don't use it Still, from the outside it looks like we do.......

[TheOstrich]

We don't either. We have outside security lights (one of which doesn't work) but we don't have an alarm system - about 1/2 the houses in our road don't. It's something I might put on our home improvements bucket shop list.

Again, like Kaz, there doesn't seem to be any petty crime on our estate, but it certainly exists in other parts of the town - mainly bicycle and tool theft, judging by the town's FB page.

When the street lights go out here overnight, it's completely pitch black; you can't see your hand in front of your face.

[meriad]

That's the thing; I've not had an issue so far either. I have loads of stuff delivered to home when I'm out and it's left by my front door and in the 12 years I've lived there the only thing that seems to have gone missing is a net of allium bulbs that a friend left for me (I'm still convinced he left them at a wrong address!) . But Ann's message just worried me a bit so it's more a just in case thing vs we have a major problem and I need this now! Esp as I am at work all day

[Workingman]

ETA: I went to Screwfix and they have a four camera job with its own hard drive recorder for £230. It also has an Apple / Android app so that you can monitor from afar.

It looks like a pretty easy install for someone with DIY skills and at a fraction of the cost of Ring, Hive etc.

[cruiser2]

We have security lights at the front and back.

Down the crescent, the owner has installed a camera on the front of the attached garage which is linked to a recorder and a TV screen in the garage. He has shown me some recordings. He said he has seen one recording were a gang of yobs in the early hours were checking each car. He works for a security firm which maintain them for local councils.
We have a friend who installs security systems all overthe country. Work has included houses for Manchester United players, Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Wwe had to wait a few weeks before he could come and fit a new security light at the back, he is so busy.
Regarding setting the alarm system, you may find that it is a condition of the insurance policy that the alarm is set every time you leave the house.

[saundra]

Where we lived once there was loads of petty crime so we brought a fake alarm box and put that up never got burgled but then nobody knew it was fake