oberkc said:
The larger concern is how secure you believe you need to be. In my mind, reliance on power (generator or grid) seems like a pretty obvious vulnerability. I assume some security systems would be harder to disable.
As the builder pointed out, when I brought up secure sliding glass door locks with him & the glass contractor: I want big windows and sliding glass doors EVERYwhere. If I make it too hard to open a locked [anything], and someone really wants in, they're just going to break a pane of glass.
So we're not really focused on security the way most people think of it, it seems. Not with the automation system, or anything like a traditional security system. They're not going to help much, not with a house this open. For "security" for the house, we're going a different way than mostly electronic or automated. We're trying to secure the perimeter (fully fenced, thorny hedges, plus the restricted-access gate, driveway alerts, cameras, etc). We're trying to make it hard to see the house from the road, especially to tell if someone is home or not. We're trying to make it so we can check up on the house--visually and by checking sensors--if we do happen to be absent. And, well, put shatter sensors EVERYwhere. At least they'll do something
The important things with respect to doors, windows, locks, etc is not keeping people out of our buildings, because it can't be done. Not that we have much worth stealing; all our money is going into the building/property itself. (Heh. We don't really buy expensive or valuable stuff. We still have the thrift store couch we bought when we got married. ...I was able-bodied, then. How old IS this thing?) Our prized possessions are of the living, breathing sort.
What we're worried about is, say, a stranger coming up to the house on a day when I'm home but in very bad shape. We're worried about the animals accidentally getting loose. We're worried about the animals getting into things they shouldn't, like the feed room (overeating can kill livestock) or areas with poisonous plants. We're worried about keeping an eye on accident-prone animals when their primary caretaker sometimes can't get up to check on them regularly.
My worse nightmares involve the animals. I have nightmares about them getting off the property and hit by a car. I have nightmares about them being trapped in a building while it burns, or floods, or falls down. (I'm in FL. We have hurricanes. These are realistic worries.[*]) I fret about forgetting to close an important gate and letting the livestock into something that can kill them. We've been known to make two or three trips back out to the pasture to make ABSOLUTELY certain we closed a particular gate or door.
I worry about the animals doing something stupid, like trying to jump a fence and missing, and getting hung up...and losing a leg, which equates to "death" for large livestock. We've had that happen, and were just lucky enough to already be standing RIGHT THERE. Once you know one of your animals--valuable, perhaps, but also a beloved pet--is only alive because you happened to be standing fifty feet away when she hung herself on a fence... How do you ever leave the farm again? How do you ever let them out of your sight again?
So you see, that's what we want in a "security" system. We want peace of mind about the living creatures, not about the stuff. We want to know that we did, in fact, close the important doors. We want to know that the animals are, in fact, safely where we left them. We want to be able to let them out, as much as is reasonable, if something happens to the building they are in. (Motorized dog door, perhaps.) And, well, we want to be able to keep people out, and not let people know if I happen to be having a bad day. On our current, not-fully-fenced farm, I've had nervous-making encounters with con men (only trying to scam money, at least) and semi-creepy delivery drivers who knew I was often home alone and sometimes mostly incapacitated.
Aaaaand if the power fails and we can't check on door sensors, smoke alarms, video feeds, well. Then we're back to doing it manually or worrying our heads off. Which doesn't actually hurt anything, and is what we do already. It would just make us feel one heck of a lot better to have these sensors and mechanisms in place; it *might* help prevent a household-scale tragedy.
I'm back in can't-think-straight-ramble-mode. Sorry. I'll stop
[*] Aw, crap. Every time we do storm prep, I am going to have to try to protect ALL those panes of glass. What have I
done?