Installing a home security system is something that can easily be accomplished in a weekend if you know what you're doing and have the right tools. The interesting thing that most people don't understand is, knowing what you're doing is a simple matter, and the right tools amount to a cordless drill and a screwdriver. Sure, there are some corner cases that will take a little more DIY knowledge or would be easier if you had a certain, specialized tool, but I've yet to run across the house that I couldn't install a security system in with just the basics and a little hard work, because I know the single most important rule of home security installation: only use wireless.

It's the only way to go if you're installing your own home security system unless you're working with a house that's yet to be insulated and finished. If that's the case you can certainly run all the wiring you need with a lot less effort, but you'll still need a larger compliment of tools, and the wire isn't free. Also, running wire gets old quick and it takes a lot more time than placing a wireless sensor in place and synching it with the bse station.

There's really only two basic components to a solid, well designed homed security system: entry sensors and the base station. The entry sensors are small, electronic devices that sense when a door or a window is not shut. They send a signal to the base station that responds in the manner by which it was programmed. That will range from nothing, so sounding an audible alarm, to calling a monitoring service and having a security specialist come to your house to make sure everything is safe and sound.

The door and window sensors don't need to be installed on every entrance to you're house, so apply a little common sense. A second story window with no trees around it is probably not a likely point of entry for a thief. Same thing for a 12 inch by 4 inch basement window. However, all ground-accessible windows and exterior doors are likely targets and should be secured with a sensor. You certainly want to know when someone opens a door or window that you're not expecting.

If you think about it from the framework that you want to be notified when someone opens a door or window that you would want to be aware of, the exercise becomes somewhat trivial and can be taken care of with a little thought and planning.