Our new Walmart carries some new items including motion detector lighting and alarm systems. Most of them were from General Electric and some other brand I hadn't heard of. They were relatively inexpensive. $40 for a base unit. $29 for three additional alarm units that could attach to a window or door. Has anyone here had experience with these units? Ever since we paved our driveway, we never hear anyone driving up and its unnerving.

My hubby is an electrician, and when we built our home, he installed motion detector/lights on the corners of our house. I'm not sure what brand they are, but I love having them. I just feel more secure in my home, with them, than without them. Even though our long drive-way is not paved, in the winter when all the windows are closed, just as in summer, when the A/C is on, we don't always here vehicles coming up our drive-way, so I totally understand how unnerving that can be. Having a dog or two helps with this too!! They are always our first line of defense...we can always tell by how they are acting and barking, if we need to get up and look to see what is going on outside. Hope this helps!

A few years ago ds#1 bought and installed a set of motion dector lights for the front yard. The work great lighting up everytime someone walks in the yard to a certian spot so people can see where they're going and are less likely to get injured tripping over something they couldn't see. Another bonus is that they come on letting us know that someone is in the yard. Unfortunately they come on when ever something trips them including a cat, the skunk or a rabbit are in the yard.

eyrehead:

Having a dog or two helps with this too!! They are always our first line of defense...we can always tell by how they are acting and barking, if we need to get up and look to see what is going on outside.

Oh how I would love a dog ... but my three feline divas would not be amused. Otherwise this would be my first line of defense.

My local company uses Honeywell  and other brands..

If I were good at stuff like this, I'd do the stuff myself, but since I am a total diaster at electronics, I rely on my local person.

According to my needlework lists, the stuff you see for sale is good. They helped advise me in 2006 when my house was broken into in broad daylight.

 

We have a brinks alarm but there was a motion senser with lights at the side of the house at the kitchen door. That lights up the whole side where there is the walkway to the backyard gate. our garage/parking is just after the fence and dh bought another for the garage so keep people away in the alley.  Cats etc do set it off but no one minds. extra security and it is not in peoples windows.

We have a street light outside our house so that is ok. I want a motion sensor on the front door light to save on having to leave the light on all the time or forgetting it and having to find the keyhole in the dark. 

We are getting some bad folk lately in our neighbourhood.  gang tagging etc and this morning there was a swatiza spray painted on our neighbours house! across the street. my next door neighbour  found out that some guys get drunk and have spraypainted up light poles up and down the street at the end of our street. they were all just replaced as a beautifulaction project, fancy ones, new sidewalks and trees (old ones cracking sidewalks etc)  they swatized a neighbours car too, the store at the end of street, wrote f+++ y++ on house.   a guy broke the tree in front of his coffee shop on the street so he got the police on him, wasn't a local person.

Motion sensor lights are almost as good a deterrent as an alarm system--and they can be had in solar!

After a series of burglaries at my former house, I put alarms on house, car, and truck.  The weak point in alarm systems is that they are only as good as your local police department--and our city police 1-would not respond to alarms  2-would not take fingerprints  2-reported "unfounded complaint" so they wouldn't have to get up off their lead a##es and investigate  4-completed a report-number card with a nonexistent report number and the cop's name not listed, 5-had a burglar family member on the force, on day shift, in my precinct, and 6-finally got caught ignoring something like 28,000 911 calls in one year. 

Ironically, one couple who had illegally entered, called the law on me one night when I slept through my car alarm being set off by a thunderstorm.  I let the lawmen know in a hurry that the couple had never reported the repeated  burglaries which occurred while I was at work.  Police ran reports on the couple and they moved in a hurry!

WorldStart website was selling software and a webcam which could be set up as a room/house monitor, and they weren't expensive. 

We have a motion detector light at the back of the house and there's a street light on the corner at the front of the house.  I like that my motion detector has a light switch inside my house.  Makes it easy to switch on and off if there's a need.

 My place is pretty well lighted because I live on the edge of car lot, which is illuminated. They will vandalize the cars, but so far, no break-ins. 

Martha, I am distressed to hear about the swasticas and other things around you. That's just horrible, and, I think, potentially dangerous. I'm glad you're taking steps to protect yourself. Is there a Jewish population in the neighborhood, or is this just random?

We have lots of different religions and cultures here.  The larger Jewish community lives more in Vancouver.  It was more young idiots drunk and thinking they are being smart.   they wrote swearwords on another house.  I think they stopped because it is closer in and more well lit. the neighours don't have a fence or bushes/trees in their front yard where the two other houses do.