It was bound to happen… my college-age child is moving out of the residence hall and into off-campus housing with a few friends. As a parent this comes with a whole new set of concerns, especially the safety of the students and their “stuff”. How can a parent help keep their child safe in off-campus rental housing, without camping outside the house?
Obviously, we would not want to make any permanent additions to the house since it will only be rented for a year or two (maybe more… no shame) and college landlords are not typically known for their generosity. There are plenty of advertisements for installed security systems from various companies, but they are all hardwired and require a long-term commitment for monitoring to function.
Until we found the eufy security system that checks all the boxes… it is easy to install and can be connected without wiring into the house’s electricity, plus the outside monitoring is completely optional so it can be cancelled when the kids leave. We started with the eufy Security 5-Piece Home Alarm Kit (affiliate link) that includes a keypad, motion sensor (with 100° of coverage at up to 30 feet), two entry sensors (for windows and doors) and the base unit that ties it all together over a wireless connection.
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We added a few extra entry sensors because the house has lots of windows. We had a conversation with my child and the roommates and decided that cameras inside the house just wasn’t a good idea so security of the exterior and points of entry was paramount.
We replaced the existing motion-activated floodlight at the rear of the house with the eufy Security Floodlight Camera E340 (affiliate link). It connects the base unit inside the house with a 360° camera that can track of people and can auto-patrol on a schedule.
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The house has a great wrap-around porch facing the street, but unfortunately no lighting until we added two of the eufy Security Solar Wall Light Cam S120 units (affiliate link). They are sleek and modern in appearance and require only 2 hours of sunlight to power the 300-lumen light for more than a full day. The built-in camera will more than cover the patio and anyone approaching the house when the kids are away.
Image Credit: eufy Security
The last piece of the system that we are considering is the eufy Smart Drop S300 (affiliate link) because we have become very used to the security of the residence hall when sending packages or ordering supplies online. Package theft from off-campus housing is a well-known problem and the large Smart Drop box (25”H x 18.3”L x 17.7”W) will be bolted to the porch and allow delivery couriers to securely deliver packages using a code number.
Image Credit: eufy Security
If the landlord was more interested and/or willing, the eufy security family also includes smart locks and smart doorbells with their own cameras that could be installed.
The security system is designed for local storage of all videos that keeps all the data within the house – meaning no additional cost for the student budget. That storage is accessible through the eufy Security app where alerts will also be sent if something triggers a camera. We have decided to add the optional monitoring services (starting at only $50 per year) that will protect the house when the kids are away, especially concerning for school holidays.
I intend to give my child and her roommates complete control of the system… they are all over 18 years-old and they are striking out on their own. Contributing this system to provide a bit more security for these young adults makes this parent a more comfortable with my child out there in the big, bad world.
Disclosure: Eufy Security sent a sample of these items for evaluation, but had no input into this review.
