Question:
Someone please help me. I have tirelessly searched for a simple solution to my home fire worries, and have yet to find something which I feel should be a huge market. I live in a 2500 square foot house. This is not huge, but large enough that if a smoke alarm went off in one of my two young sons' bedrooms, despite us all sleeping with our doors wide open, I am a heavy enough sleeper that I would not awaken. This terrifies me. Even moreso, since the day I took my wife upstairs at 1:00 AM, into the boys' bedroom. I said, watch this, as I held the smoke alarm test button setting it off, turned on the lights and yelled at the top of my lungs repeatedly, "BOYS, FIRE, GET UP, GET UP NOW, LET's GO!!!!" (I yell very loud).. The reaction I got from the boys amounted to a soft "grumph". Chips off the old block. Mind you, we have versed our sons in fire safety and protocol, and they know what the alarm sounds like. They are simply not capable of waking up even to save their own lives. This puts the responsibilty of saving their lives squarely on my shoulders, which I happily accept, if only someone would sell me a smoke alarm system, which ties to a central, loud siren. That's all I need. I would be happy to incur the expense of monitoring, and all the other cash cows of the security companies. Fine. Great. Just give me a damn central alarm in my house, so I can save my children! I could care less if you even call the fire department, you can't save my family from downtown!

Answer: If your a DIYer be sure to closey investigate (primarily if you buy online) any of the alarm sellers. You wouldnt want to buy from someone whose sideline is understanding your alarm system for the purpose of exploiting it later by knowing your codes or maintenance access numbers. They could call up your alarm and do any number of things to disable it or render it ineffective without your knowledge..ever. Be wary of those who do not have a brick and mortar store. When I was shopping and using the website some online dealers advertised a ASA certification with a picture of a ASA eblem shown on their website. It gives a good first impression but when you look into it you find out that it was nothing more then some....guy.... creating a website to supposedly post complaints, with no entrys of complaints or followthru. It was analagous to someone flashing a police badge that turns out to be fake. The ASA moniker is a badge without any accreditation and purely there is mislead and potentially scam. Some of the free advice you get is not because of someones unselfish need to make the world a better place to live. Most are giving you advice on the hope of getting a sale or...."other" information. Listen but dont act on the advice until you can confirm or gain some trust in the source by researching them. Sometimes you can learn a lot about sellers by plugging in email into a Google search of past news postings. This is a very unregulated online business, and especially risky for something as important as your home security.