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Home security sensors (of the contact and infrared, motion-detecting varieties) and wireless security cameras are easy enough to install that you could really learn everything you could need to known in a couple of hours of web-surfing. Installing a home security system has ceased to be the monstrous hassle it was just a few years ago, when the technology had recently emerged and was hard for anyone without a good understanding of electronics to work with. With everything simplified down to the point that you can install systems without ever needing to know anything beyond the contents of the product instruction manuals, getting a good home security system is not something to be put off indefinitely, as just another bullet on that lists of things you never get to. For anyone that's seriously interested in the safety of their family, their possessions and, indeed, themselves, getting a good home security system should qualify as a top-level priority.

Even if you're only about as good with a computer as the average 11-year-old, odds are you'll be able to set up your own, personal wireless security camera system. Simple motion detection software can be downloaded off the internet (check out http://bit.ly/T8KF6), ensuring that your cameras only record when there's actually something going on in front of them. Concealing a wireless security camera in a desktop ornament, like a paperweight, teddy bear or clock, is as simple as removing the intended housing's components and drilling a couple of holes (one for the lens of the camera, and another for the feeder cable to power the device). Wireless webcams, it seems, are getting smaller with every passing day, even as the quality of the footage they're capable of producing increases to dramatic, even superhuman levels.

It's also possible to have the device activated by various kinds of home security sensors. Infrared sensors activate when an object of sufficient heat moves across their detection field. Contact sensors, by contrast, are activated by the opening of a window or door, an action which either opens or closes the circuit made by the two installed sensor pads, which in turn sends a signal to the central home security system hub to which the sensors are wired. Another type of home security sensor utilizes UWB (ultra-wideband) radar. For the purposes of motion detection, these sensors function by 'staring' over a fixed range and sensing any change in the average time taken for the signals the device emits to be returned.

This technology has been around for a fair span of time - indeed, UWB sensors are most likely the sensors that activate your porch light when someone walks across the driveway. In the case of PIR home security sensors, the technology has actually evolved to the point that some sensors are 'pet immune'. They utilize a lens or mirror designed to vertically stretch the image of areas closer to the sensors. The result of this is that cats and dogs produce significantly smaller 'bogies' than humans, and thus don't activate the alarm. It's possible to purchase wireless security cameras programmed so as to function in a similar manner.

When you decide to install a home security system, your first thoughts should be regarding your doors, windows and skylights. You'll want contact sensors on all of these, along with burglar bars if need be, and cameras set to see anyone entering or leaving via these 'choke points'. If you can't afford to cover all your entrances with home security sensors, focus not on your front door, but rather on those possible entrances that are shielded from public eyes - those located where someone could conceal their activities while breaking in. These are, of course, far more likely entry points for intruders.

Now, perhaps the most important factor in rendering a home security system effective is good monitoring. Most home security companies, along the lines of Chubb and ADT, will be willing to install your wireless security cameras and home security sensors for you, and provide you with a fully integrated, professionally tweaked home security system from the word go - provided, of course, that you plan to sign a home security contract with them. Despite the fee every month, such backup will really provide the ultimate in peace of mind short of having your own bodyguard. If you'd prefer to be independent in terms of the monitoring of your system, then be sure to install a loud siren to activate if your perimeter is breached, and, to further discourage intruders, a sign proclaiming your membership with ADT or some other security company. You might even want to rig your system so that your computer calls the police with a looped, pre-recorded message requesting their assistance (though there is, of course, no way of knowing how the police will respond to such a call).