How Much Does An Alarm System Cost?

So how much does an alarm system cost? If you’ve ever seriously wondered about having an alarm system installed, that’s almost certainly going to have been your first and biggest question.

This was one of the first blogs that we ever posted on alarm systems, way back in 2021, and  I think it’s probably worth revisiting that subject today.

What goes into price?

Price is the most important factor for many, many people when they’re considering having a burglar alarm system installed. Obviously, I can’t give you a definitive price for a system for your home, there are so many different variables involved. What I can do is to give you an overview of what goes into making up a security system price.

Quality of system

The first factor is quality of system. There are basically two types of system. There are ones which you install yourself, which you can buy from a DIY superstore or an online merchant. Then there are professionally installed systems from companies such as ourselves.

If you’re working to a tight, then it may be worthwhile for you to get a DIY system. Ultimately, something is better than nothing.

DIY installations

DIY alarm systems tend to be cheaper and that’s because they tend to use older technology and they use lower quality components. Furthermore, of course you save on the installation cost, or the labour cost, if you like, of installing the system.

Of course, there are downsides to cheaper security systems. The problem that you tend to find with such systems is that they don’t last quite so long because of the lower quality components.

Another issue is that the superstores and the online merchants primary factor themselves is price. When they find something else on the market, which is cheaper to them, then they’ll drop out the system that you bought, replace it with this new system. You might find that replacing sensors on a DIY system becomes a bit problematic. There is one particular company that we know of who we actually started installing their systems a number of years ago, and  stopped again after about a year. They’re on their fourth different system type since, and they don’t support their previous systems.

Professional installations

With a professional quality system,  the technology is newer, components are of higher quality and you get a much greater chance of being able to replace sensors as they fail. Just as an aside, I’m not going to pretend that sensors won’t fail, because they most certainly will.

But here’s the difference. We started installing security systems around 15-20 years ago. The manufacturers have only discontinued the components for these systems within the last 3-4 years and the wholesalers’ stocks are starting to run out. Until now, we’ve been able to maintain these 15 year old systems without issue.

Size and functions of a system

The other major factor Affecting the price of an intruder alarm system is what you want your system to do, how extensive a system you need.

With a small two bedroom terraced house,  your requirements are a lot less than a five or six bedroom detached house in the countryside. So  the first thing to think about is how many different sensors and detectors you’re going to need.

Then consider what other facilities you want, For instance with a mid range system, you can have sensors with stills cameras built in so that when the alarm goes off, it takes a series of stills so that you can see if there’s someone in your house.

These days, you can also get systems which include proper CCTV in them and taking that to an even greater level, you can have a system, which not only integrates cameras, but it can also integrate door locks and things like thermostats and lighting and other electrical equipment.

What goes into price?

We wanted to give you an idea of basic price, if you were to have one of our alarm systems installed in Portsmouth, Southampton or the south Hampshire area. Please bear in mind that this blog was written in 2024, and of course prices will increase over time. However, at the moment the most basic system, with minimal components, are around £600. If you wanted to go for a mid range system with the stills cameras built in, then £800-£1,000 is a reasonable estimate. And if you wanted to go for the all-singing, all-dancing system, then for the alarm elements (and which you add more advanced facilities on later) work on around £1200-£1400, something like that.

What we have done recently is to build a pricing estimator, which you can find at www.amberley-security.co.uk/service/alarm-pricing

Answer a few simple questions, and our AI-powered estimator will serve you up a rough guide price. Following on from that, contact us, and we can confirm an accurate price for your perfect system.