After many years of being annoyed by ADT and their sleazy sales tactics, I finally removed their system and installed Simplisafe with the help of my adult son. Installation is a one person job but removing the ADT sensors from windows & doors was easier with two people: one to direct the hair dryer at the sensor to soften the adhesive and one to remove the sensor.
I love Simplisafe and wish I had changed earlier. Monitoring is perhaps less than 60% of the amount I was paying ADT plus everything is on an app. Their equipment costs are significantly lower than ADT’s.
I added three water sensors: one for the upstairs washer, one for the basement washer, and one for the water heater. I had no use for the free indoor camera so I set it up in front of the water heater so that I can verify if the water sensor goes off.
The savings in my HO insurance pays for the monthly monitoring. I don’t fear break-in but do want protection & notification in the case of fire or water damage.
Simplisafe regularly runs sales. Costco offered a bundle also, but since I didn’t need an outdoor camera, I was better off creating my own bundle on Simplisafe’s website.
We have the Abode system because at the time it was the only alarm that has geofencing feature which turns the alarm on automatically when you exit your boundary and turns alarm off when you enter your boundary. Some friends’s house have been burglarized because they forgot to turn their alarm on after they left the house and we often did that with a previous alarm system. We also have Ring doorbells and cameras monitoring the exterior of the house.
I use a local alarm company. I noticed recently that when I accidently set off the alarm, I don’t get a call. I called them, and the alarm wasn’t registering in their system. I think I’m going to get a Ring system.
And hopefully their reaction was, that they would make an appointment, to check on your controller, modem and phone line.
When some land line and/or mobile providers changed digital technology, some (older) controllers/modems required updating. We went through this twice - when switching to fiber service and to G5.
I should say that the batteries aren’t a big deal. We keep them on hand and replace as needed. Multiple sensors = multiple opportunities to replace. The voice telling us to replace has scared me out of seven years growth on more than one occasion.
