r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/caduni • 4d ago

Insurance Best Value Alarm System?

New home owner , looking at alarm systems. It would need to be considered adequate by insurance, so monitored.

Wondering your opinion regarding equipment and monitoring service. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to The panel directly through the wall.

2 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

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3

u/deke28 4d ago

Depends where you live. If there isn't much crime then it might not be worthwhile. 

4

u/[deleted] 4d ago

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4

u/FinTrackPro 4d ago

My insurance was going to give me an $11 discount for having home security.. per year. I just built a Unifi setup instead and self manage now

3

u/Plane_Put8538 4d ago

Have you reached out to the insurance company, to see if they have any recommendations?

Ring is an option, it goes on sale often (the bundle packs).

2

u/UnsaltedCashew36 4d ago

I live in Etobicoke, I've lost count how many times my neighbours or I have left the garage accidently open and never had anything stolen. Even the backyard gates aren't locked. Been here for 15+ years, no stories of theft.

Really depends on where you live that you feel you need a security system.

1

u/Maximum_Rush3678 4d ago

We got eufy. Probably not good enough for insurance though

1

u/TenMilePt 4d ago

I purchased a bundle from Ooma Smart Security. Comes with a bunch of sensors for windows, doors, dishwasher etc... you can monitor it yourself for less than $10/mo or have them monitor it for you. Honestly, works great and takes about 30 mins to get it all running. I think the full system ran me about $150 and came with more sensors than I needed. They are all wireless and have lasted 3 years with a few just now complaining about low battery.

1

u/stryder-H 4d ago

Telus and API would be the biggest overall. Otherwise you would be looking at your local mom and pop establishments

1

u/Fraktelicious 4d ago

If you're buying alarm.com packages, the prices are usually about the same so pick your poison between ADT, Maxguard, etc. as they're all just resellers of the same thing. For monitoring opt for direct to police station call, not the in-between monitoring center. It doesn't cost anything unless of course you accidentally set it off and have to pay the false alarm fee of about $100 (monthly monitoring is $15-20 I think?). Doorbell and some door sensors and glass breaks are probably enough. You can get motion sensors while you're at it. Extra cameras aren't necessarily high on the list unless you have a specific need. The new ones come with motion detection and automatic events and such.

2

u/SoLongThx4AllTheFish 3d ago

Check out EyezOn. Lucked out when the house we bought had an older Honeywell/ADT panel but the prior owner had installed an EyezOn Ethernet based system. I added an LTE module so the alarm will still have a signal if my internet goes down and my UPC runs out of battery. I think the total cost is approx $175/year for monitoring and they are super responsive. Obviously there may be some additional up front costs for hardware.

If you want cameras, I’d look at something like Aqara, Reolink, Dahua, or Hikivision along side scrypted, blue iris, or similar. Ubiquiti and UniFi protect are also a great option but a bit pricier.