Professional home security systems managed by great companies are certainly worthwhile. The problem is, not every home owner can afford it and not every home (like a condo) can be equipped with them. Fear not, people! There are more options for you besides those offered by Smith & Wesson.
One such option is the Smart Home Door Stop Alarm by GE. It’s a very simple concept – before you go to bed, place it behind your front (or back or bedroom or whatever) door. If someone attempts to come in, the door will glide against the door stop, pressing the trigger down and activate a loud piercing alarm.
This alarm does not mess around: it gives off 120 decibels of noise when triggered. To give you some perspective, a lawn mower is 90 dB, car horn is 110 dB and a gunshot is 140 dB. This thing is L-O-U-D. It will surely wake you up from the deepest of sleeps several floors away and scare the bejesus out of anyone setting it off. Don’t even think about pressing it near someone’s ear – unless of course you’re just aching to find out what it’s like to be punched in the throat.
Running off of just a 9 volt battery, the alarm is super portable. In fact, many people use it in their hotel rooms when travelling to give them an extra feeling of safety (although we suggest taking the battery out before tossing it in your luggage – pretty sure airport security will not take kindly to an alarm accidentally going off in your bag).
The GE 50246 Smart Home Door Stop Alarm
Nice product… hmm. not quite what I’m looking for, though… because you have to set it up and take it away every time you use it.. or want to go out the door yourself, right? Something similarly cheap, but that can stay in place while you just turn it off and on, would be a bit nicer.