Home security checklists
Before signing: term, auto-renewal, notice period, early termination, equipment ownership, all recurring fees, and who registers the alarm permit. At installation: every opening covered, sensors tested, cellular backup confirmed, codes set. Around the house: lock everything, cut sightline cover, light the approaches, and reinforce door frames - the free measures the research supports most.
Contract checklist. Contract term in months. Auto-renewal length and the exact cancellation notice window and method. Early termination amount. Equipment owned, leased or financed. Every recurring charge - monitoring, cellular, cloud video storage. Activation fee, which Fixr puts at $25 to $100. Relocation terms. Who registers the alarm with the city, and confirmation once it is done.
Installation checklist. Contacts on every exterior door including the garage entry. Coverage on accessible ground-floor windows. Motion sensors placed to avoid pets and heat sources - ASU's research names pets among the leading false alarm causes. Panel with a communication path that survives an internet outage. Every sensor tripped and confirmed with the monitoring center in test mode. Codes set, with a separate code per person if supported, and the duress code explained.
Free hardening checklist. Lock every door and window every time - ASU reports about a third of burglaries involve unlocked entry through windows, basement openings or garage doors. Reinforce door frames and strike plates against forced entry, which accounts for about two-thirds. Cut back shrubs that block sightlines from the street. Light the approaches. Make the house look occupied; the research notes homes appearing occupied discourage attempts.
Away-from-home checklist. Hold or forward mail and packages. Put interior lights on varied timers. Have someone move a vehicle occasionally. Do not post travel plans publicly. Arm the system when you leave during the day, not just at night - roughly 60 percent of residential burglaries happen in daylight.
Choosing home security checklists
The judgement calls that decide the bill, before anyone quotes you.
- Get the contract checklist answered in writing Verbal answers from a salesperson do not survive a dispute. Every item should be findable in the agreement.
- Test every sensor at handover In test mode with the monitoring center on the line. Do not accept 'it's all set' without seeing each signal register.
- Do the free measures first Locks, frames, lighting and sightlines address the entry methods the research actually documents, and they cost almost nothing.
- Arm the system in the daytime Around 60 percent of residential burglaries occur during daylight hours in unoccupied homes. Night-only arming misses the main window.
- Photograph valuables now A photo inventory with model numbers, stored in the cloud, is what makes a theft claim straightforward.
All home security checklists
Home Security Pre-Project Checklist
Home Security Hiring Checklist
Home Security Maintenance Checklist
Home Security Safety Checklist
Where these figures come from
Sources last checked
- Fixr - Home Security System Cost · retrieved 2026-07-26
- ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing - Burglary of Single-Family Houses · retrieved 2026-07-26
- ASU Center for Problem-Oriented Policing - False Burglar Alarms · retrieved 2026-07-26
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