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Suggest the possibility of DIY home security systems a decade ago, and most people would probably have thought of Kevin McAllister's booby-trapped course of swinging paint-tins and electrified doorknobs in Home Alone. Indeed, visual, auto-detection and information technology was, at the time, something only lettered professionals could really muck around with (and was, even then, notoriously glitchy and unreliable).

But right now, we're in an age where hardware crashes are rarer things. Computers are tougher, and are used as control hubs for countless robotic technologies, of which detection, recording and media-storage are some of the least logistically challenging. Setting up a DIY home security system is really not something to be intimidated by - home security camera systems can be constructed from the simple webcams people use to chat online, and, for a little more money, infrared security cameras can conquer issues of lighting and motion detection in the gloomier parts of your home.

Remember, though, that more than half of all burglaries in North America happen due to negligence, when a window or door is left standing open, and the alarm system left off. Thus, before you get too technical and fancy building home security camera systems, concentrate on your low-tech barriers against intruders. Make sure you have sturdy locks, burglar bars over your windows, and that you and your whole family are habitually obsessed with keeping doors and windows locked even should you just be stepping out to visit your neighbors. Remember that you, as the caretaker of your DIY home security system, remain its most critical element.

On from this, you'll want to install contact sensors on all your windows and doors. Contact sensors are simply two pads which, when in contact, complete an electrical circuit. If that circuit is broken by, say, the opening of the window, a switch will trip in the contacts, causing them to signal to their central hub (which, in the case of a DIY home security system, would probably be your personal computer). Contacts can be purchased for less than ten dollars at most hardware stores.

If the idea of having a full-blown home security camera system is part of your consumerist dream, one neat trick you might want to keep in mind is setting up your contacts so that they activate your security cameras, putting them into recording mode the instant that the switch gets tripped. Aside from the vanity, there's truly little reason to purchase a camera more sophisticated than simple webcams to ensure that you DIY home security system covers all the various parts of your home. These are commonly sold in computer and department stores for as little as $20 (though they get powerful enough to be priced in the thousands).

The purchase of an infrared security camera, on the other hand will almost indubitably leave your wallet substantially lighter. Their benefit over night-vision cameras lies in their ability to present detailed, high-quality images regardless of lighting conditions. Infrared cameras do this by recording the black body radiation of objects, something living creatures display a lot more of than inanimate objects do. The inclusion of infrared security cameras will not only eliminate your need for smoke sensors (as they double as fire detectors) but will bring your home security camera system firmly into the 21st century, as it renders it immune from changes in lighting and atmospheric conditions.