[shitloadofbooks]

I had 2 (stolen) cars pull up out the front of my house and 6 teenagers swarm my house (whilst several stayed in the cars) in Brisbane, Australia.

I was notified by the motion alarm in my driveway and then my front door and was able to hit the Siren button and scare them off.

Without that, I would have had 6 "armed" intruders inside my house with myself+partner+4 year old.

The camera system prevented the crime being far more serious than it would have been (both cars+valuables stolen and maybe a stabbing or 3).

[magicalhippo]

We just got new windows in our home, replacing aging double-pane glass with newer, much better insulating triple-pane glass. However there was an option to get added sound insulation and my SO is sensitive to noise, we added that.

I was also considering the safety glass option, given that we had a porch door with "all" glass (just a small wooden frame). I'm a distracted and clumsy at times so I was worried about running through the glass in the door. After talking to the window manufacturer, I learned that I didn't need the safety glass option since the extra sound insulation meant the construction was laminated, hence acted much like a laminated safety glass.

Haven't tried to break them yet, but after helping getting them mounted (about 50kg for a 1x1m window, heavy!) it seems to me it'll take some effort to get through them. Proper anti-burglary glass is likely much better, but wouldn't surprise me if a group of teens would struggle.

Anyway, wasn't my primary consideration but I sleep slightly better at night compared to the old windows which could easily have been shattered with a simple rock, including the porch door.

edit: Also sleeping much better due to the sound insulation. The triple-pane does most of the damping I imagine, but between them it was a vast difference. I had three ~10 yo boys running around screaming (or playing as they'd say) 10m from my wall, and once I closed the new window to my room I could barely hear them. Not at all like the old windows.

edit 2: We also got the option for IR blocking, it adds just the slightest blue tint but cuts 60% of the IR. Made a massive difference in keeping especially the living room cool during summer.

[treyfitty]

You’re a salesman’s dream. You bought into all these features that are incrementally dubious in value, but magnitudes higher in price.

[magicalhippo]

The three-pane glass and IR filter were definitely not of dubious value.

The windows have a U value that's significant lower than what the old would be due to the three-pane glass. The lack of cold flowing compared to the old windows was very noticeable as we got them mounted during the winter, so had an almost direct comparison. This winter we had a week below -25C and even then it was hardly any noticeable "cold shower".

The IR filter was incredibly noticeable when opening the porch door on a bright and sunny day when outside temps were roughly same as inside temps, holding one hand behind the main window and one in the door opening in direct sunlight. The difference in radiant heat from the sun on each hand was striking. It was also very noticeable on the living room floor during summer if the porch door was left open for a while, standing with one foot on a patch lit by the window and the other on a patch lit by direct sunlight. Though it wasn't unexpected given the blackbody radiation from the sun[1].

The additional sound proofing I'll agree on though. It wasn't that significant on paper, IIRC listed as 5-6 dB reduction, maybe less.

But we had waited and bought them during a 50% off campaign which included the extra options, so we went for it as it didn't add that much after the 50% reduction and my SO is really affected by noise.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunlight#Composition_and_power

[ametrau]

You’d be surprised, good windows add so much qualitatively but also quantitatively (reduced heating and cooling). It’s hard to imagine it but it’s real. I’ve been experienced it first hand.

[hcfman]

Super cool! I have a proactive security system as well and can also set off alarms. I've set this up for other people, but it seems that people tend to stop with setting up the detection system and I've yet to see someone I know take it to the response stage.

Inspiring, thanks for sharing!

[mixmastamyk]

Woah are things out of control down there? Sounds like GTA Los Angeles.