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Excaliber wrote:

Venus Pax wrote:Within the last few weeks, we have had two separate people (separate occasions) ring our doorbell AT NIGHT wanting to sell us something. Mars opened the door and talked to the first one; I talked to the second one through the door without opening it.

I really don't like solicitors anyway. I've considered a "no soliciting" sign, as well as a door mat that says "We gave at the office, we know God, and we love our vaccuum cleaner," but I hear that just eggs them on, and I don't want to discourage my neighbor kids from selling school/church fundraiser items, nor do I want to discourage the Girl Scouts.

Do many of you here have this problem where you live? If so, what do you do about it?

My solution is a wireless intercom set.

I answer the door from either of two master stations, neither of which is in view of the door. Unless the visitor is someone I want to talk to, I make clear that we don't have any business together and they leave.

Advantages:

1. No opportunity for a push-in home invasion.
2. The visitor does not get to visually size up any occupant to determine if he/she looks like a good target risk or not
3. If it's early morning or late evening, I don't have to get dressed to answer the door
4. It's very unsettling to bad guys. They figure (correctly) that if the occupants thought things through enough to put in an intercom and use it, an intrusion attempt is likely to be met with more unwelcome surprises.
5. The intercom conversation is confirmation that someone is home, so a burglar looking for an empty house will keep on looking.
6. My most used intercom station is just outside my safe room which I could very quickly secure and then set up a welcoming party for a determined intruder if necessary.

Drawbacks:

1. You need to test it periodically to make sure it's working properly and the batteries are still good (they last about a year).

Cost: Around a hundred bucks for one outside and one inside station. More stations can be purchased at additional cost. The master station can be either a tabletop model (about the size of a clock radio w/cd player) or as a flush mount unit that requires a wall cutout.

History: My current setup has been in use for about a year and a half. It works like a charm!