Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This product, the "Door/Window Entry Alarm with Magnetic Sensor, Pack of 2" is touted as being inexpensive alarms to "detect entry protecting home or office". While that's true, that's not why I use these; as noted above, we've found these very useful for letting us know when our little ones try to leave the house. My wife and I were originally given a few sets of "First Alarm" magnetic sensors as a baby gift. At about age 2-3, our children could reach the locks on our doors and could open the doors by themselves, not a good thing when you're trying to keep them safe. As we discovered, if you mount the sensors at about chin level, the children can't reach the alarm, so you can hear if they're trying to go outside to play without you. After several years, our "First Alarm" sensors wore out, and I found that I could no longer purchase them. However, these sensors are literally identical in every way, except they don't have a "First Alarm" sticker on them. (I suspect they are the same, just not branded as a "First Alarm" product anymore.) Below are my thoughts on these alarms. The alarm consists of two parts ... the sensor part, which has three settings (alarm, off, and chime), and a magnet part. Both have sticky tape on back, which you use to secure the two parts onto your door or window. The sticky tape is very sticky and will stay on your door/window for a long time (well over a year), although not forever. When mounting the two parts, you need to ensure that both parts are side-by-side, and that the gap between them is around 1/8th of an inch or so. Each sensor comes with three button batteries (all are needed), and they also last a long time, assuming moderate daily use. While you can replace the batteries, it's almost as cheap to buy a new unit. In my experience, the batteries and the sticky stuff on the back usually wear out at roughly the same time. When set to "chime", the sensor basically gives one two-tone ring, and serves to let you know your door has been opened. The "alarm" setting rings continuously until either the door/window is shut, or you change the setting to "off". The product description claims that at 3 feet distance, the alarm is 90 decibels loud, which "sounds" about right. Heh heh. If you want to use these as a poor-man's alarm system, depending on the size and layout of your house, they should be loud enough to quickly wake you up from an upstairs bedroom, but may not if you're a heavy sleeper. Overall, these would work well as a poor man's alarm system to let you know if someone is entering your house, but they work even better to let you know when a child is trying to go out. Five stars.