Alarm system etc for older relative

Dave85 · 11 Nov 2019 at 10:37

Hi,

Looking for recommendations and feedback on my current plan. My grandma is in her late 70s still very independent and a "okay" with technology in the sense that she has had touch screen phones for years and uses a pc but is not great with apps etc.

The situation is She lives up a dark lane and used to have the streetlight outside her house that would light up the door and garden but the council has switched it to some new led light and it lights up nothing now. I have gone and installed a solar pir light but want to get some upgrades for her as she is starting to feel a bit more vulnerable.

Current doorbell is proper old school tech from around 10 years ago a Byron SX 303 and it does the job except munching 6AA lithium batterys every 6 months.

Were thinking of getting a Ring doorbell along with the Ring alarm system and a front and rear ring camera. It seems pricey but just wondering if anyone had other recommendations. Simplisafe was another but the pro monitoring is £20 a month.

Current doorbell for a laugh https://imgur.com/a/EugruYz

Psycho Sonny · 11 Nov 2019 at 14:51

Dave85 said:
Hi,

Looking for recommendations and feedback on my current plan. My grandma is in her late 70s still very independent and a "okay" with technology in the sense that she has had touch screen phones for years and uses a pc but is not great with apps etc.

The situation is She lives up a dark lane and used to have the streetlight outside her house that would light up the door and garden but the council has switched it to some new led light and it lights up nothing now. I have gone and installed a solar pir light but want to get some upgrades for her as she is starting to feel a bit more vulnerable.

Current doorbell is proper old school tech from around 10 years ago a Byron SX 303 and it does the job except munching 6AA lithium batterys every 6 months.

Were thinking of getting a Ring doorbell along with the Ring alarm system and a front and rear ring camera. It seems pricey but just wondering if anyone had other recommendations. Simplisafe was another but the pro monitoring is £20 a month.

Current doorbell for a laugh https://imgur.com/a/EugruYz

didn't know ring did alarms.

for an older person probably best to use Ring then it is all in one app. Even if it costs a bit more initially ease of use needs to be factored in.

Nest Hello is the better doorbell camera though. Then you could get a Yale Smart Alarm which works off it's own app. I don't really see the need for a front or rear camera tbh. Also solar powered PIR must be pretty rubbish in winter when there is no sun.

Dave85 · 11 Nov 2019 at 19:27

I totally agree about the nest as i swapped my ring pro for a nest and never looked back. I suspect if I get the ring doorbell I would need only 1 camera for the rear with the alarm as well. Even if she simply uses alexa to let her know someones at the door and never opens the app at least I would have access to the camera etc as administering it. The solar lights work a treat even in winter as dont have much of a power draw and even ambient light is enough to charge them plus most have a built in lithium battery's. Was good to think about the camera so thanks as I would have stuck a camera in front and then realised the doorbell is a camera ha.

Semple · 12 Nov 2019 at 07:34

I started a thread about the ring alarm to see what other peoples thoughts were on it.

I'm still unsure which system to go for, the ring pricing certainly seems much better than simplisafe, although simplisafe seems to have more options in terms of sensors etc.

Dave85 · 12 Nov 2019 at 12:39

I see you can get the Ring alarm on Costco for £220 so quite a discount and not sure it will go cheaper on Black friday deals. Managed to get her a ring doorbell 2 and echo 5" for £160 so that's a start along with a stick up battery cam for the back garden for £72. I think best bet now is to get the alarm and the £8 a month covers all devices with the recording so seems quite the bargain

Psycho Sonny · 12 Nov 2019 at 16:33

Dave85 said:
I see you can get the Ring alarm on Costco for £220 so quite a discount and not sure it will go cheaper on Black friday deals. Managed to get her a ring doorbell 2 and echo 5" for £160 so that's a start along with a stick up battery cam for the back garden for £72. I think best bet now is to get the alarm and the £8 a month covers all devices with the recording so seems quite the bargain

What does the ring alarm do? I just bought yale smart sync. Has no monthly costs. Will send an email, text and push notification to my phone as well as siren go off.

Semple · 12 Nov 2019 at 22:23

Psycho Sonny said:
What does the ring alarm do? I just bought yale smart sync. Has no monthly costs. Will send an email, text and push notification to my phone as well as siren go off.

The alarm itself works just like yale/simplisafe, but the subscription works just like for the ring doorbell and allows the recorded video to be sent to the cloud. They also claim to have assisted monitoring, but from some of the comments I've read, this isn't working in the UK.

Quartz · 12 Nov 2019 at 23:03

My mother is older and she now wears a personal alarm which calls me when activated. Given the lack of light outside her house and the consequences of a slip, you might also suggest that.

SimonR · 13 Nov 2019 at 11:44

You may want a look at a Pyronix Enforcer alarm with a keyfob. Easy enough to set / unset / partset. You could then be added as a user and get notifications of any alarm activity. If she kept the remote with her, she could activate panic mode if she fell or something untoward happened which would give you an instant notification. You can also integrate it with Pyronix (Hik) cameras to view front door etc - again which you could monitor.