ᐅ Burglary Protection – RC3 Rated Windows or Alarm System?

Hello,

We are now at the stage in our planning where we are considering burglary protection.

We have already thought about a few things ourselves, and I have also had a detailed consultation with a detective from the criminal police.

The police recommend investing in preventive measures before installing an alarm system. Securing easily accessible entrances to the house with WK2 (or RC2) resistance class door and window elements.

After this flood of information, I am even considering RC3 plus electric roller shutters with dusk control since we live on the edge of a field. We would then forego an alarm system, and indoor detection would be ruled out because of our pets. We would also avoid glass break detectors (and reed contact sensors) because our child (and later children) would live in the house and would need to reliably operate the technology.

My opinion is that anyone who manages to get through an RC3 window (meaning multiple mushroom-head locks and impact-resistant laminated glass) must really have time and patience and definitely want something from me.

Back when we were still talking to prefabricated house suppliers, they often asked us about windows with mushroom-head locks. Today I know that this corresponds “only” to RC2-N, meaning windows with normal panes, not laminated glass.

And now my question:

What do you do for the security of your home? Or do you even forego protective measures altogether?

For the windows, we are choosing WK2 fittings and controllable roller shutters on all of them. Our neighbors, after consulting with the police, considered getting certified windows (WK? including laminated glass) to also receive the police security sticker. However, after the window supplier provided the price calculation, they decided against it: €47,000 compared to €23,000 (the lower price already included WK2 fittings and lockable handles).

We think it makes more sense to install a small alarm system instead (which is more practical in a large new housing development like ours).

Indoor lighting during absence (LEDs), outdoor motion-activated lighting, communication with the neighborhood (Neighborhood Watch initiative), and no property located next to open fields

As some of you may have noticed, I am not a fan of shutters that are automatically kept down all evening. Burglars usually come during the day anyway :P
I prefer to have them halfway down (as needed) so that mood lighting or LEDs are visible.

Just before Christmas, there was a fire incident (at 1 a.m.) where the firefighters were hindered in extinguishing the fire due to lowered shutters. Unfortunately, the residents were also unable to open anything…

Back to the topic of home automation

Automating the shutters linked to the smoke detector... but let’s leave that topic aside.

So far, we have WK2 (as it was called back then) and will soon be installing an alarm system. I also have neighbors, but they don’t always want to keep an eye on my house when I’m not there.

And these TV simulators will surely be noticed by the last burglars as well. They’ll just wait and observe...

You should look into alarm technology; there is quite a bit to learn. To start with, I’m going to turn off my outdoor siren and only have my phone notified to check for false alarms. There are dual-motion detectors that don’t trigger for pets up to a certain size, and children can already use smartphones nowadays, so why not an alarm system?

We also have WK2 windows and doors...3 sand-lime brick cylinder locks...Cats to turn on the lights (when they walk around the hallways, for example, the lights turn on briefly), as well as absence simulation and aluminum roller shutters that are sun-position dependent...