With a little investment you can get some extra peace of mind. You could get a monitored alarm, for example, or add security cameras to focus on blind spots.
Security these days is smarter, offering more advanced features to consumers that give them increased control over their home and who enters it. So where should you start?
Video cameras
If you want to increase your home security, a logical place to start is with a video doorbell. An increasingly common sight at Irish doorsteps these days, there are plenty out there to choose from. But how can you be sure that the one you choose will fit your needs?
Video doorbells can range from about €60 to €200, and each has its own features to justify the price tag. Some will be basic, with wifi access to live video, while others have on-device processing.
The next thing to decide is if you need a battery bell or a wired one. Some – such as Amazon’s Ring bell – can be both, as can Google’s newest Nest Doorbell. There are advantages to both approaches. Battery bells will be more flexible in where they can be placed; on the other hand, they will need to be removed to be charged. Although they often claim to go for up to six months or a year between charges, in our experience, they often last far less than that, with the battery drained by constant motion events or check-ins on live streams.
Take into account the cost of the subscriptions necessary for any access to video footage. Ring, for example, requires you to have a subscription to download footage to save it for later, or to get advanced alerts about packages or people at your front door. The packages can be per device or a flat fee that covers the household. Google’s Nest, on the other hand, will allow you to save clips, access up to three hours of events and intelligently process footage to discern between a person at your front door and next door’s cat. It does this on-device, which is handy if your internet glitches because it doesn’t need the cloud to help process what is in the video. And it doesn’t require an additional subscription to do so – that kicks in when you want to extend the window for accessing video.
Both systems allow you to add video cameras to other areas of your home, both indoors and out, and monitor them through the same app.
Aside from the Ring and Nest bells, smart home company Eufy offers its own high-definition video bell that will link in with its own video cameras to give you a total view of your home.
For older people who may need family assistance to screen callers, the Doro Hemma bell allows you to set up a trusted contact that can use the app to take over a call to the door. It doesn’t need cloud storage, saving video to a micro SD card instead, so any video saved stays local. And it comes with an extra-loud chime for indoors so you can be sure it will be heard.
Smart lighting
One easily followed security tip is to make sure your home always looks occupied by setting lights on a timer. However, as the seasons change and the sun sets earlier, you will need to adjust the timing week to week. Smart lighting can take over, allowing you to control its operation.
Tapo light bulbs are an affordable way to start with smart lighting; they don’t require a separate hub for remote access, and they can be set to turn on and off according to sunrise and sunset. Add in some reasonably priced motion sensors and contact sensors, and you have a security system that will activate as soon as you open the front door.
Alternatives include Philips Hue and Hive, both of which can use a hub for remote access, or Wiz lighting, which does not.
Smart Locks
If you want to ditch the keys altogether, smart locks could be the answer. These automated locks will give you access to your home through your smartphone, either remotely with a wifi connection or in person through a bluetooth key on your device. You can grant temporary or time-limited access to visitors through the apps. They aren’t cheap though, and can run to a couple of hundred euro.
Yale is well known for its home security heritage, but in recent years it has expanded into the more high-tech sector. That includes a number of smart locks, including the recently reviewed Conexis L2 lock, and the Linus locks that offer a key bypass. The Conexis lock has the option of bluetooth fobs and tags to give you home access.
Start-up Loqed has been around for a few years, but had a change of ownership in 2024. The Danish-founded company was pitching for premium customers, offering them a secure entrypoint to their home, that had one-touch entry similar to how your car keys work, with a back up bodee option if you forgot your smartphone or needed to give someone else access to your home.
Chinese company Switchbot has another option that doesn’t require swapping over the entire lock. Instead, it fits to the inside of the door and covers the key, turning it in the lock to open and close the lock. You don’t have to have a certain type of door, just one that can be unlocked inside by a key rather than a thumbscrew. It could also be used on an internal door that needs to be kept locked – an office for example.
Smart alarms
The days of the perpetually ringing alarm may be gone. Monitored alarms, where you pay a company to alert you or the police when the alarm is triggered at your home, have been available in Ireland for years, but they are getting smarter all the time. Now you cannot only set and unset your alarm from your smartphone, but you can check to see if you have closed windows and doors, control appliances via smart plugs and add extras such as leak detectors and carbon monoxide alarms.
Each of the alarm companies have their own systems, and their own fees to install and monitor the systems. PhoneWatch is probably the most familiar to Irish people, with the one-time Eir-owned company around since the early 1990s. These days, things look a little different, with not only rival monitored alarm companies, but also the DIY option opening up a more budget-friendly possibility.
PhoneWatch now includes smart home devices such as smart plugs and video doorbells in its offering, as does rival HomeSecure, and they both allow you to monitor your home set-up through their own apps. Alarm.com, which is a global security service that is offered by companies such as Action24 in Ireland, can automatically set at a certain time every night.
Before you invest in a monitored alarm though, it is worth clearing up a few things. What happens if you decide to switch alarm company? Can another company take over the existing alarm or will you need to install a new system?
With so many smart devices out there – plugs, cameras, motion detectors – it is also worth checking if you can add your existing devices into your home alarm app. Not all companies will allow it, but it might make life easier in the long run if you can use some of your existing devices in your smart security set-up.
[ CSO figures: Shoplifting and burglary offences up, sex crimes and homicide downOpens in new window ]
Video cameras – some dos and don’ts
Do
– Choose a camera that suits your needs. Don’t fall for slick sales pitches or over buy on features if you don’t need them.
– Look into the extras you will need. Some devices need hubs for remote access, others require subscriptions.
– Consider the other smart home devices you may already have in your home. For example, if you have Echo devices, a Ring bell might be a better option. Google Home houses could opt for the Nest for tighter integration with displays and Chromecast devices you have on your TV.
Don’t
– Buy solely on price. Cheaper is not necessarily better, especially if it means you will have to replace the camera because it stops functioning or doesn’t do what it claims.
– Compromise on security. Some cheaper cameras have, in the past, been found to have substandard security that could be leaking your data, which can give away more about you than you might think. Do your research before you buy.
– Take battery life at face value. Battery-life estimates can be a bit hit or miss.
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