Alarms are a preventive measure, not a treatment

The burglar alarm is the most important component of any home security system. It is a sensor that detects when someone enters your home and takes action, such as making a loud noise, calling the police, rendering valuables safes inoperable, and other things. Burglar alarms are typically hard-wired into the walls of a home, making them difficult to disable or remove, and any tampering with them will immediately set off the alarm. 

Unfortunately, people are often mis-sold far more advanced home security systems than they actually need. To prevent burglars, many people prefer to fit a fake alarm box to the front of their house instead of spending a lot of money on a burglar alarm. However, it is important to ensure that the alarm box appears realistic enough to fool an experienced burglar and that you keep it hidden.

The burglar alarm is the most important component of any home security system. A burglar alarm, in its most basic form, is a sensor that detects when someone enters your home and then takes action, which could include making a loud noise, calling the police, rendering valuables safes inoperable, and a variety of other things.

Burglar alarms are typically hard-wired into the walls of a home, making them difficult to disable or remove, and any tampering with them will immediately set off the alarm. The mechanisms used to activate and deactivate them range from simple keys and PINs to sophisticated fingerprint systems.

Unfortunately, people are often mis-sold far more advanced home security systems than they actually need: a salesman can play on people’s fear of crime to sell them the very latest, computer-controlled alarm, complete with expensive expert installation and a monthly subscription to a 24-hour monitoring centre. This is a profitable business, but it is also completely unnecessary.

The dirty little secret about burglar alarms is that it's not the alarm's features that make the difference. Burglars don't want to be caught by alarms, so they will avoid any houses with alarm boxes on the outside - it's not worth their time to try. It is a preventative measure, not a treatment.

With this in mind, many people prefer to fit a fake alarm box to the front of their house instead of spending a lot of money on a burglar alarm. This deters burglars by giving the appearance of having an alarm system while avoiding the hassles and expense of actually having one. However, if you do this, you must ensure that the alarm box appears realistic enough to fool an experienced burglar and that you keep it hidden. It's worse than useless if you go around telling everyone about your fake alarm, especially people who come to your door.