Amine Meslem, section editor at 60 Million consumers signs a file in the June issue, on alarms to protect your home, in particular wireless alarms, which alert remotely by text message or notification on a mobile application.
franceinfo: Why do this file in June? The French buy alarms at this time?
Amine Meslem: Let’s say that it is above all a period when they are seriously considering equipping themselves. It is indeed during the summer holidays that burglaries are most frequent. The end of year celebrations being the second most risky period. A risk that is far from negligible. Last year, no less than 190,300 burglaries of homes (main and secondary residences) were recorded by the police and gendarmerie services.
You have tested 9 alarm kits. What does it look like when buying, do you need several for a house, do you install it yourself?
These are packs generally made up of door and window opening detectors, motion sensors, an indoor siren, a central unit responsible for controlling the system and tools to control it (keyboard, remote control, badge or mobile app). Given the disparate content of the packs and their limited number of sensors, it is often necessary to complete them. As the elements communicate by radio waves, there is no need to do any work and sort cables to install them, so you can lay them yourself.
Most alarms work with motion detectors, but you can also opt for cameras?
The two are complementary. The packs can generally be supplemented by a surveillance camera that will be placed in a strategic location such as the living room. Manufacturers offer them under their own brand and others promote products from third-party brands.
You have tested the efficiency of the systems! Did you play burglar?
We tested the performance of each element. For motion detectors, for example, we checked their detection coverage by moving nearby and watched whether they reacted to crossings at high speed. For the opening detectors, we measured from what difference they trigger the alert. We checked whether all the elements are sufficiently protected against attempts at neutralization. We also carried out impact resistance tests and measured the acoustic power of the alarms.
The scores range from 12 to 17/20. What makes one alarm more effective than another?
There are several factors to consider. First, the motion sensor detection angles. Better they have the widest possible coverage. And the alarm siren must be loud enough to scare away an intruder. Then, the different elements of the kits must be well protected against attempts at neutralization. Finally, the system must be easy to install and configure.
In movies we see that burglars easily deactivate alarms! Isn’t it the same with these commercial systems?
This is exactly what we tested. Some models do show weaknesses. They do not have effective anti-opening and anti-tearing devices, they do not have an independent power supply in the event of a power cut and do not signal that a detector is malfunctioning when they are activated. Conversely, other systems are well protected against fraud. They may even report an attempt to jam radio waves to prevent them from communicating.
And the notification system, sms, email, is it efficient, is it responsive?
Yes, it works well. But to transmit their alerts, many models only go through the home Internet box. So, if this is disabled, there are no more notifications. There are models that can still communicate via the mobile network, provided you add a Sim card.
The costs. The range of products is quite wide. The packs range from 180 to 900 euros, but you point out that in fact, it costs more than that…
Yes, because their content is rather limited. In terms of sensors, for example, there are at best three door and window opening detectors and a single motion detector. It is therefore generally necessary to complete the kits by purchasing the missing elements, depending on the surface area and the number of rooms in the home to be protected. To compare, we calculated the budget needed to secure a single-storey house. And there, depending on the brands, the bill can quickly climb, up to 1800 euros.
Well, and when the alarm rings, we receive a notification “be careful there is a thief in your home”, what should we do?
In this case, it is important not to take any reckless risk and immediately notify the police station or the gendarmerie brigade of the place of the offence.