Seemingly straightforward scenario

DavisBXL

Hi,

Hope I'm in line with the rules in posting here and will try and keep it brief as this is not an area I know much about. All the same, I feel my predicament can't be unique, despite very few results in searches for older posts.

I'm renting accommodation and am not very happy with the security in our building. The landlord won't do a thing so I thought an alarm system for our apartment could be a great solution - we are there for the next couple of years, and yet it seems we could avoid permanently changing the apartment by installing a basic wireless system around the house. We would need to do this without a monthly monitoring service - rather a self-monitoring alert system would be enough. Ideally we could take the main pieces of a wireless system with us in the future into a house we actually own (and could hardwire it in a bit more). In the meantime I put up cameras with monition-detecting email alerts at the front and back as a quick-fix. Obviously this isn't going to act as a deterrent.

Seemingly, the only thing to leave behind would be the door/window sensors when we leave, as the panel could be attached to the side of any furniture like a wardrobe, and the small number of beams for movement-detection could be placed in some good spots without involving fixing directly to the wall.

Some DIY shops had a few very cheap-looking boxes, which made me nervous about potential faults and maybe destroying all good relationships with the neighbours rather than actually attaining any real security! I then found the Honeywell Lynx series which looked promising - nice interface and plain-speaking announcements for those not accustomed to an alarm, very expandable with all parts sold separately on Amazon, and yet something that is sold as a DIY alarm which looks like I could install myself with some work.

However it's US-only and basically for any off-site alert system (self or with a monitoring service) the GSM module won't work and the internet line won't call the user directly so it's a complete no-go. This is something even the cheapest models I came across say they can do (i.e. a recorded message, nothing fancy).

Looking here I see many recommendations for the PowerMax, GSD i70 and Quantum (link is broken in the sticky btw), but they seem to be for professional installation only from what I see.

Is there anything even vaguely comparable to the Honeywell system above? I've came across this by Elro with a 2-year guarantee, but really am not finding much information online about ease-of-installation or quality.

Would anyone with more experience in this are have some pointers for us?

Thanks a lot.

KoolKid

The Powermax ,the i70 and the Quantum ,although professional systems are relatively easy to install. If you are considering adding wired devices down the line I would also consider the HKC 1070 & the Siemens SPC Range.