Apartment Therapy Unplugged | SimpliSafe: DIY Apartment Protection Without The Wires

Those considering going away for the holidays may feel at ease knowing there's someone looking out for their belongings left at home. No, we're not talking about leaving your dog Bobby to guard the house for two weeks - we're talking about some smart security measures to keep your things safe.

If you're interested in going down the customization and wireless route, you might want to check out SimpliSafe, a self-install home security system that lets you place the sensors anywhere you feel needs protection most. The best part, you can take it with you whenever you move to your new home.

SimpliSafe incorporates wireless technology into every aspect of the security system - from the keypad, remote, and motion sensors - they all have a main connection to the base station, which manages to send an ear-blistering 85db alarm siren and contacts the service's call center to send out the police if you don't disable the alarm on your keychain.

We imagine all of this wireless tech will probably use up many batteries given the number of devices, but if that's fine with you, it'll be a great investment given the fact that you can save on installation costs and take it with you whenever you wish.

The system varies in price depending on how many sensors you want to throw out there, but the standard bundle with the base station, keypad, keychain remote, 1 motion sensor, 2 entry sensors, 1 panic button, and decals will run you $250, though they're willing to drop the price to $225 if you agree to sign up with their emergency dispatch service, which runs a $15 cost monthly.

[Thanks: Samantha]

Any reviews of this product? It looks nice, and the price isn't bad.

posted by baltimorerowhouse on December 20th 2008 at 11:24pm
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I imagine testing the alarm would be quite fun...

posted by ekoshyun on December 21st 2008 at 7:37am
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I got one after reading about it here and finding this positive review:

http://www.edpaffjr.com/2009/01/home-security-for-city-living

i decided to go ahead and try it. I'd second everything in that review - it's good looking, easy to install, easy to use, and their customer service is great. i called to ask about the batteries, and they said the batteries shoudl last about 5 years and they did all come included, so I don't think that's really a concern after all. My only complaint so far is that the shipping was a bit slow... but then again, i can be impatient ;)

posted by paulr on January 14th 2009 at 5:34pm
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I installed simplisafe and am extremely pleased. Check out my blog for a review: http://baltimorerowhouse.blogspot.com/2009/02/simplisafe.html.

posted by baltimorerowhouse on March 2nd 2009 at 10:44am
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I just bought and installed Simplisafe in my abode, and have nothing but good things to say about it. It's a terrific product, and you won't be bound to an expensive monitoring contract the way you will with other systems. My full review is on Amazon. Cheers!

posted by Chas. on May 12th 2009 at 5:04pm
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