Tech That Keeps an Eye on Your Home

The FBI estimates that a burglary occurs in the U.S. every 15 seconds and that the average loss to homeowners in a single burglary is more than $1,300. Busy schedules, second homes, and travel make "people of a certain age" targets. Until recently, home security was an expensive installation coupled with high monthly fees. Now, it's a weekend project for the technically inclined.

You can buy home security kits in places like RadioShack or on Amazon. A typical starter kit includes motion sensors, a webcam, and some sort of base station. Additional sensors for lighting, heat, and water are usually available as add-ons. When your system is enabled and motion is detected (this could be an opening door or window or movement on your porch, for example), the sensors notify the base.

The base then takes various actions by contacting the security company, sounding an alarm, texting or emailing you to notify you about the security breach. Because these are sold as starter kits with add-on modules, you can start with a sub-$200 system and then grow.

Thanks to the Internet, most of these systems now provide a way to check up on things remotely or make changes to the settings via an Internet connection through a PC, laptop, PDA, or cell phone.

I recently installed one of these do-it-yourselfers from InGrid, but haven't paid the money for the service yet. Just that fact that it has an alarm sound and notifies me via email is enough for my needs. (Gulp...!)

InGrid is typical of this two-tier security system. Tier one provides security inside your house. You install a series of wireless motion sensors (they stick on using double adhesive) at your doorways and windows. A single controller unit monitors the sensors. Tier one then reports to tier two outside the home, in this case a service called Guardian. You pay Guardian $30 a month to respond to your alarms. The best part of the InGrid system is the remote monitoring. From your PC or phone, you can check or modify the status of the system.

GE makes a number of popular systems, including the Simon 3, which work in a similar fashion. A starter kit includes a transformer base and two transmitters. GE lets you add all sorts of devices like smoke alarms, lamps, and more for as many as 24 different zones. The base station will give you voice-prompt instructions to tell you what's alarmed and what isn't. Allstate sells a custom brand of the Simon system. You can watch a video of how Simon works. At Smarthome's web site, you can find a similar setup from AAA+ that starts at $153 and will work with up to 10 sensors, five control modules, and five keychain remotes.

If you already have a home security system, look at a product like uControl that taps into that system and provides the remote control piece. And if you're looking for the poor man's solution, there are a number of video cameras you can attach to an old PC that allow you, via the Internet, to either look, send you pictures at certain intervals, or even record the action (no alarm or remote monitoring service). The best resource for these is Smarthome.

How much of a techie do you need to be in order to install these systems on your own? Somewhere between a technophobe and a true geek. If you can follow directions and know a bit about the vocabulary and principles of sensors, then you should be fine.

*A word about homeowner's insurance and alarm systems. Most, if not all, insurers will give you a discount on your homeowner's policy premium if you install a home security system. The available discount varies. There's usually a difference between choosing a professional system like ADT or Brinks and a less known, do-it-yourself. Make sure to check with your insurance company.