The best alarm for your property depends on your personal preferences, your budget, where you live, what your home is like, and what level of protection and response you’re after.

Types of burglar alarm

Firstly, you need to decide what you would like to happen when your alarm goes off:

• Bells-only alarms make a noise, but don’t contact anyone (such as the police or you).
• Dialler burglar alarms automatically dial your phone number, or that of nominated friends and family, when the alarm is triggered.
• Smart home-security systems contact you or family members when the alarm goes off through a smartphone or tablet app.
• A monitoring contract means you pay a company monthly or annually to take action or call the police if the alarm goes off.

Wireless or Wired alarm systems

The second decision you’ll need to make is whether to opt for a wireless alarm system or a traditional wired one.

Wireless alarms use battery-powered sensors that communicate with a control panel using radio signals.

These alarms tend to look nicer and are generally easier to install. You can easily add additional sensors, and removing the system when you move house is a lot less tricky than for wired versions.