Most Johannesburg homes have an alarm, and many owners only discover its weak points after a break-in: a window with no detector, a passage the motion sensor cannot see, beams that false-alarm so often they get switched off. The equipment is rarely the problem. The planning and the installation are. Here is what a good installation looks like.
Step one: plan around how the house would be entered
A proper installation starts with a walk around the property, inside and out, before any equipment is chosen. The installer should look at:
- Every point of entry: doors, windows, sliding doors, the garage, roof access and any door from the garage into the house.
- The routes an intruder would take once inside, so motion detectors cover the passages and rooms they would have to cross.
- The perimeter: walls, the driveway and the garden, where outdoor beams can warn you before anyone reaches the house.
- How you live: pets, where you sleep, which areas you want armed at night while you move around inside, and who needs codes and remotes.
The result should be a written plan of what goes where and why, not a standard package of a set number of detectors.
The parts of a modern alarm system
- Control panel and keypad: the brain of the system, placed centrally and out of sight of entry points.
- Indoor motion detectors (passive infrared), including pet-friendly detectors that ignore animals up to a set size.
- Door and window contacts that trigger when an opening is breached.
- Outdoor beams and detectors for early warning along walls, driveways and gardens.
- Panic buttons: fixed in the bedroom and on remotes.
- Siren inside and out, mounted out of reach and protected from weather.
- Communicator that sends alarms to your armed response company and to your phone.
- Backup battery so the system keeps working through load shedding.
Our guides to the parts of an alarm system and the types of alarm systems explain each one in more detail.
Wired or wireless?
Wired detectors are reliable and need no batteries, but running cable through a finished house takes more work. Wireless detectors are quicker to fit and easier to add to later, but their batteries must be changed and the signal has to reach the panel reliably. Many installations mix the two: wired where cable can be run neatly, wireless where it cannot. See our guide to wireless alarm systems for the trade-offs.
Getting rid of false alarms
False alarms are the main reason alarms get ignored or left off. Most come from installation choices, not faulty equipment: a detector facing a window or a heater, beams aimed across trees and long grass, the wrong detectors for the pets in the house, or sensitivity set too high. A good installer chooses and positions each detector to avoid this, then tests every zone with you before leaving. Outdoor beams in particular need careful placement and height to ignore pets and moving plants.
Power and load shedding
An alarm depends on its backup battery whenever the power is off, and repeated load shedding wears batteries out faster. The installer should fit a battery large enough for your system and the length of outages, and check it at every service. A flat battery is one of the most common reasons an alarm fails exactly when it is needed.
Armed response and monitoring
An alarm on its own makes a noise. Linked to an armed response company, it brings someone to the property when it is triggered or a panic button is pressed, which matters most when you are away or asleep. The response company is a separate monthly service: the installer's job is to make sure the communicator works reliably with it, and that the alarm also notifies your phone.
DIY alarm kit or professional installer?
DIY alarm kits are sold with instructions and suit a small flat or a single room. For a house, the hard part is not mounting the equipment but planning the coverage, choosing the right detectors, setting them to avoid false alarms and connecting reliably to armed response. Many insurers also ask for an alarm that is professionally installed and in working order, so check your policy. If you do fit a kit, cover every entry point, keep the panel central and hidden, keep outdoor sirens and sensors away from moisture and direct heat, and test every zone before relying on it.
How to choose an alarm installer
- Look for a site visit and a written plan before the quote, not a price over the phone.
- Get an itemised quote: every detector, beam, panic button, battery and the labour, so you can compare like with like.
- Ask about the guarantee on the equipment and the workmanship, in writing. Our workmanship is guaranteed for 24 months.
- Check reviews and ask whether they look after properties like yours.
- Ask who services it afterwards, and whether they work on systems they did not install. An alarm needs regular checks of its batteries, detectors and beams; see our guide to alarm maintenance.
For complexes and estates, a maintenance contract keeps every alarm, beam and panic button tested on a schedule. See our alarm system installations and repairs for the systems we install.
If you are planning a new alarm, upgrading an old one or tired of false alarms, we can walk the property, plan the coverage and quote in writing. Call Tyson on 071 846 7554 or request a free written quote.