A review of the Simplisafe Wireless Home security system

When you grow a family of your own, create your own home, it’s only natural to want to protect it. I’ve collaborated with Simplisafe to share my review of their Wireless Home Security system Essentials Kit.

We have always wanted to invest in a home security kit, but I’ll be honest…all of that drilling required to place wires through walls etc? Seriously put it me off. Because, drilling holes in walls and so forth, is a pretty big job and way out of my comfort zone when it comes to DIY.

However, once I heard of a Wireless home security system, my ears pricked up like a meerkat. No having to drill holes through walls and an easy installation guide immediately caught my interest. I’m talking about the Simplisafe Essentials Kit. 

Firstly, who is Simplisafe?

The Simplisafe brand has been around in the US for a while and has only recently been available to buy here in the UK. The idea for Simplisafe was founded in 2006 by {then} Harvard Business School students, Chad & Eleanor Laurens.

They heard the news that several friends in the Cambridge area experienced break-ins and they couldn’t find any security companies to help those who rented properties. So, they got to work and launched Simplisafe in 2009 with the help of funding from Angel Investors. 

In the Simplisafe Wireless Home Security system Essentials kit you get:

– 1 x Base Unit

– 1 x Simplicam

– 3 x Entry sensors

– 1 x Motion sensor

–  1 x Wireless Keypad

–  2 x Simplisafe protected window decals

–  1 x Simplisafe Garden stake Yard sign {How very American!}

This is the most popular home security kit from Simplisafe and it’s easy to see why. It has everything you could possibly need and so easy to set up, too. You basically plug in your base unit and Simplicam, download the app, add your entry and motion sensors, connect your keypad and voila. It took me about 20 mins to place all of my sensors and to set up my essentials kit in total. 

So let’s talk about what each product in the essential kit actually does!

Setting up your Smart Home Wireless Security system

Firstly, this is a smart system and everything can be set up via the app. When you have connected everything there will be a learning mode for a few days. This is basically there to help you get used to the system without making any accidental alerts to the police!

Part of the set-up requires you to set up some secondary contacts and a safeword. This safeword enables you to prevent your system from calling the police from being called. 

Setting up your pin for disarming and arming your home security system is done via the keypad, rather than the app. But again, still really easy to do. 

And ta-da your home security system is ready to protect you & your home. 

So what does the base unit do?

The base unit {which is a hub and an alarm in one}, if someone does break into your home, acts as a monitoring system. The Simplisafe monitoring centre gets notified and then your base unit will set off a loud 95BF internal siren.

Now, saying that, if you’d like your Simplisafe to actually call the emergency services for you {while you’re property is mid-burglary} this does include a £19.99 monthly subscription. Which, I understand could put some people off. But, £19.99 a month for the safety of your home? It’s a no brainer. 

I also like how you can amend aspects of the base unit via the app, such as the volume of the door chime {when entry sensors are doing their thing!}. You can also amend the volume of the voice prompts, siren, it’s exit and entry delays as well as the siren duration. 

As for it looks? I’m all for it. It’s maybe the prettiest alarm unit I have ever seen. Burglars would never even think it was an alarm unit because it looks like a glade air freshener a little bit! It uses micro-USB for power via the mains and also has a back-up battery which lasts for 24hrs. 

Wireless Keypad

The wireless keypad has a sleek appearance & I love having it by our front door, which is where you are recommended to place it. The keypad is also a ‘touch-to-wake’ process, so it only lights up when you need to see it. It also lights up when the sun goes down, requires no mains power – just somewhere for you to put it. 

There are three buttons on your keypad: Home, Away & Off. You are only required to enter your pin when disarming the system i.e. when you come home etc. 

The wireless keypad requires 4xAA batteries and after reading lots of reviews online, are estimated to last around 1 year. But the device will inform you of low battery life with a blinking light, so you’ll be informed before they fully run out to replace them. 

Simplisafe Motion Sensors

Anytime I have been in a house that has motion sensors {I’m thinking of my Sister-in-Law here!}, they’d go off if you got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. A true nightmare, right? And we also have a cat, so I’m thinking the cat would be setting it off at every given opportunity. So having one in my own home was never in the front of my mind.

The Simplisafe motion sensors are precisely-engineered to detect the heat signature of humans, not pets. Obviously, these motion sensors will only set off the alarm if you’re out and a human is detected walking through your home. Not when your home and need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night! 

Entry sensors

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t even heard of entry sensors before but now that I have them? I literally wouldn’t be without them. We have ours placed on our windows and our front door. They are little life savers and practically invisible against our white PVC framing.

We do have a little one who likes to open doors without our permission eg. if the door knocks and we don’t hear it, she’s the first one there. Or if she wants to run out to see someone – kids eh!

But the base unit will beep every time a window or door is opened, informing us. A really handy feature, I have to say. One I certainly could not be without, now that we have it. It’s a real piece of mind. It’s also nice to know that the batteries for all sensors last around 3-5yrs. 

The Simplicam

Ok, using an indoor security camera may be a little creepy to some, but I think it provides real peace of mind.

It only comes in black, runs from your mains and is a Wi-Fi Security Camera. This is required for the monitoring centre for visual verification {to send to the authorities} if there is an intruder in your home. It also has a 120° field of view and has night vision abilities, too. 

You are notified via the app when motion is detected and you’re also able to check via the app the live feature. Any of our motion detections, when we’re not home have been the cat slinking through from the hallway. But it’s nice to know how effective the camera’s detection motion actually is. 

I used it quite a bit when we were on our recent family holiday. It was nice to be able to check-in on the house and make sure everything looked as it should. Also being able to have a peek during the evening with the night vision was a pretty great peace of mind too. 

If you do have an intruder, the company {for privacy purposes} can only view the 15mins of footage from the moment your alarm is triggered. In my opinion, that’s still enough time to capture their face{s} and enough evidence to hand over to the police. 

They are really great quality for a basic security camera, it does everything you need it to do {and more} and costs just £49 per Simplicam.

Ours is currently placed in our living room, looking over the room and has a view of the hallway and front door. So it’s in a great position. But I think having another one facing the front door would be a great move, too. I will get that sorted very soon. 

Overall thoughts?

After testing this Simplisafe Wireless Security System over the last month, I cannot fault it. It has run beautifully. It was easy to install, one of the most affordable security systems {that I have found} and offers real peace of mind. You have zero contracts to tie you into anything but then if you want 24/7 monitoring etc then you will have to look into the Pro or Pro Premium subscription options. 

The Pro option gives you 24/7 monitoring and will give you a call if/when your sensor is triggered. This is to confirm that your alarm is legit or false. A handy tool if it has accidentally been triggered. However, if you do not answer, it will go through your secondary contacts until someone answers. However, if no one does? They will just cancel the alarm. 

The Pro subscription also enables a cellular connection if, for some reason, your broadband isn’t available, too. Think power outages or a worker has cut a wire he shouldn’t have! It happens more than you’d think! The Pro subscription option will cost you £12.99 per month. 

However, it’s only when you sign up to Pro Premium that you get the police dispatch add-on. The police will only be dispatched if the security team can access your camera feed to verify that an intruder is in fact, in your home. If your camera doesn’t show anything, then you will be called to inform you of the alarm. You also get a collection of other great add-ons too, so check it out if you’re curious. The Pro Premium subscription costs £19.99 per month. 

As a whole, I love the Simplisafe Essentials kit Home security system. It makes us feel more secure in our home and I love that it protects our home, even when we’re not in it. All at a great cost, too! The Simplisafe Essentials Home Security Kit will cost you £308.94. However, you can build your own home security kit if that’s was an option you’d prefer!

Do you have a home security system? Or is it something you’re keen to look into? 

If you enjoyed this post, then you might enjoy our Making memories in Castlerock post on the blog. 

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me in return for an honest review. All thoughts, photos and opinions are my own