So less than $10 a year, probably less than the cost of a video camera system, and certainly less than the cost of a decent bike or your insurance deductible when it is stolen.

I don't leave my garage open. If I'm mowing the lawn, mower comes out, door goes down while I'm working.

It's just giving people a chance to look over your stuff and decide what they like.

And it doesn't matter if it's a gated neighborhood, all those maids, gardeners and pool cleaners are scoping out the whole place and letting their buddies back in the hood know who has good stuff to steal.

Garage door openers typically only last 10 years. Count yourself lucky.

You might have good need for a security camera but wear and tear on the garage doors and openers is definitely not one.

Someone mentioned 10 years life span for the opener of steady use - which in itself is a trivial expense, maybe a couple hundred bucks to replace including labor.

However, my experience it's actually 2X or 3X that amount of time, making the issue totally crazy to think about. Both of the houses I've owned have had at least 15 years and the current one, almost 30 years of use without failure (one garage door spring replaced, no problems with the 28 year old openers!)

Wear and tear? That's just just silly thinking. Just open and close the doors whenever you need to.

We bought a set of security cameras for our condo complex after having some problems with people driving into the garage door (seriously, they drove into the door when it was going down) and ended up getting a couple more sets to set up in other parts of the building. They're ok, but you're going to have to spend more than we did ($400 for a set of 4 cameras and a dvr iirc) if you want to be able to identify someone. It's not that easy to identify people we know with our set, closing the garage door would be a lot easier and more effective.

Some insurance companies specifically exclude bicycles from theft coverage or, if they are covered, will only cover the current market value not including any upgrades or accessories. If you do file a claim for theft, your premiums will likely go up for several years. Even at $10/mo for five years that's $600 + your deductible out of pocket. Unless your bike is worth significantly more than your deductible plus the increased premiums, it isn't worth filing a claim.

Good point. I've probably been lucky. I did have an opener that went out after ~10 years. It was on a double wide wooden door and the output countershaft bushings/bearings wore out. It turned out I was able to get a replacement assembly with the output sprocket/shaft/bearings for ~$35. That door was pretty heavy and went through more cycles being operated for two vehicles. The one that lasted 16 years was on a much lighter single-wide steel door. I'm sure it's more related to the weight and number of cycles than years.

Edit: Just realized the the play on words in my last sentence above, "number of cycles". In this case the number of cycles is the number of open/close operations of the door. Number of bicycles would relate to the value of operating the door to reduce the probability of theft.

I lived for over ten years in a house with an open carport and I kept my bike in it. Further, no one even knew where the keys to the front door were; so W just didn't bother locking it. I never had a problem with theft I spoke to the couple who bough the house form me one day, they also commented on how safe the community was. Not a gated community; in fact it was right next to a major highway.

I agree with those who say that a camera will probably do next to nothing. The only hope is that if its taken, that the thief be a neighborhood kid. I agree with tpeople who say use reasonable caution; however, I disagree with people who live their lives as if they are under siege.

More than 10 years ago I had my mountain bike stolen out of the back of the garage while my wife was tending the yard. Now I keep both my bike and trike locked up with cables. At least it will keep kids from stealing them. And of course now I keep the garage door down at all times. However I wouldnt mind having a camera in place too.

Lock the bike and close the door. All a camera does is give you some pictures to give to the police. It doesn't help recover the stolen stuff. Been there done that. We use multiple game cameras on our property, some for game some accidently for security. Got nice color pictures of a couple of miscreants trying to steal my wife's old Dodge truck. Cops know who they are, been in and out of the court system for years. Another time we got great pictures of one of our trailers loaded with stuff stolen out of our barn... never got any of it back. They did ID the person, but didn't bother to charge him as he had been arrested on other charges with a higher sentence.

Aaron

Yes indeed. The wife is the problem. Change her behavior and the garage door will be closed. Buying a camera would only enable her behavior.

fify

you'd be wasting your money on security cameras. It's hard to identify faces on those security cameras unless they're expensive ones. The police have actual threats to the community that will certainly take priority over a stolen bike. Let's pretend your bike gets stolen and the police actually do identify the thieves. Let's pretend they apprehended said thieves. By the time that happens that bike is long gone. Sold on Craigslist or stripped apart and sold separately

The back-up for missing items is called "insurance". I am big into security and have security cameras myself... several. One camera is a waste of time and money. The best security is a closed door! Period.