A safer, more comfortable apartment – without breaking into walls, whether you own it or rent it
A finished apartment calls for a different approach than a building site: there is no free cable route, the entrance may involve shared property, and in a rented flat only reversible solutions are an option. That’s why in apartments we work with wireless devices that are stuck on or fixed with two screws, which together form a single system – alarm, water leak detection, smart lock and heating control – and most of which can go with you when you move. We think separately about the person who lives in the apartment – and about the person who rents it out.
Sound familiar?
- You’ve just repainted and nobody wants to chase the walls – but you’d like an alarm.
- You live in a prefab concrete block and were told that “wireless won’t work here”.
- You rent, the landlord won’t allow drilling, but your own safety is your business.
- You let out your apartment and don’t know when the tenants changed, whether water is leaking or whether the heating is on in winter.
- The dishwasher has flooded once already, and the neighbour downstairs still brings it up.
- Several apps, several remotes, and nobody knows what belongs to what.
Solutions
An apartment alarm without chasing walls or running cables
The problem Finished flooring, painted walls, concrete panel walls – running cables is expensive and unsightly. A boxed alarm bought from a webshop typically doesn’t meet what your insurance terms expect of an alarm system. And without an installer’s handover and documentation, it’s hard to prove anything after a loss.
How do we solve it? We install a wireless alarm built from MABISZ-recommended devices (MABISZ is the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies), matched to your insurance terms, typically in half a day to one working day: opening detectors go on the front door and balcony door, motion detectors in the hallways – in a pet-friendly version if needed. In prefab concrete blocks we measure the radio coverage during the site survey and position the detectors accordingly. Night and home modes: you sleep, but the entrance is protected. You get notifications on your phone and, if you wish, the system can also be connected to alarm monitoring.
What you get Protection without chasing walls, ready in half a day to one working day, with insurance compliance documented – and it can be removed when you move.
Smart lock and intercom: no keys, no key copies
The problem Keys get lost, family members and the cleaner each need a key – and you no longer know how many copies exist. The building’s intercom is old, and you can’t see who’s ringing.
How do we solve it? We fit a smart lock to the inside of the door; it opens from your phone, and with an outdoor keypad also with a code or fingerprint. The cleaner gets a time-limited code, and the lock logs every opening. We typically replace the cylinder with one that has an emergency function and keep the old one – your key still works. Where the intercom allows it, we route the doorbell to your phone: you can see who’s at the gate and let the courier in even when you’re not at home.
What you get No more handing over keys or changing locks; you know who has been in; and in a rented flat the front door can be restored to its original state, because we keep the original cylinder.
Water leak protection: from the washing machine to the ceiling of the neighbour below
The problem In an apartment, water damage is one of the most common and most expensive types of loss: washing machine, dishwasher, water heater, bathroom – and the ceiling of the neighbour below is your responsibility.
How do we solve it? We put a water sensor under every risky point. If water appears, you get an instant notification; if the apartment’s main stopcock is suitable, a motorised shut-off valve closes it automatically. Add a flow meter, and in away mode the system can shut off the water even if consumption merely looks suspicious.
What you get Damage is typically stopped while the amount of water is still small; you can show your insurer documented protection; and you can go on holiday without worrying about it.
Heating and air conditioning that follow who’s at home
The problem District heating or the gas boiler heats the same way all day, even when nobody is at home; in summer the air conditioning keeps running with the window open.
How do we solve it? We fit smart radiator valves room by room and add control to your existing boiler or air conditioning, with presence and open-window detection: when you leave, it switches to economy; if a window is open, it stops; before you get home, it switches back to comfort. A valve head can be swapped in minutes, without chasing walls.
What you get Lower utility bills (with district heating, provided there is individual metering or a heat cost allocator and an adjustable valve) without coming home to a cold apartment; and heating you adjust from your phone rather than with knobs.
As a tenant: what’s yours and what you take with you
The problem The landlord won’t allow drilling, but you don’t want to live knowing that anyone could walk in and that a leaking washing machine is putting your deposit at risk.
How do we solve it? We only use reversible devices: stick-on sensors, a smart lock fitted to the inside of the door (we keep the old cylinder), a hub that plugs into a socket. We help you word the request for the landlord’s consent in a single sentence. When you move, we take the system down and set it up again in your new apartment – your investment goes with you.
What you get Your own security in someone else’s apartment, without putting your deposit at risk – and a system you can keep using in your next rented flat.
As a landlord: know what’s happening in your apartment – while respecting the tenant’s privacy
The problem Once you’ve let out the apartment, you have no visibility: you don’t know whether the heating is on in winter, whether the bathroom is leaking, or who passed the key on when the tenants changed.
How do we solve it? Without cameras, with the tenant’s consent: water sensors and a motorised shut-off valve (your damage, your responsibility), temperature monitoring against frost damage, and a smart lock, so when tenants change you change a code, not the lock. The tenant uses it for their own comfort – heating control, smart lock – while you only see the technical condition, not their daily life.
What you get Water and frost damage protection for your own apartment; tenant changeovers without copying keys; and a system the tenant is happy to use too, because it makes life easier for them as well.
One app instead of many
The problem Heating in one app, the alarm in another, light bulbs in a third – and if one manufacturer’s server goes down, the apartment stops working.
How do we solve it? A local hub that can take in your existing devices too and runs the automations even without internet. The leaving routine is a single button press: it arms the alarm, switches to economy, turns things off and flags any window left open.
What you get One interface that works even when the internet is down – and that the whole family finds easy to use.
Why MindzenSmart?
- A registered security company and a smart home builder in one. MindzenSmart (Mindzen Direct Kft.) is a security company registered with the Hungarian authorities. In an apartment, the alarm and the smart home can be linked: when the alarm is armed, the heating switches to economy.
- Experience with prefab blocks and apartment buildings. We measure radio coverage rather than guess it, and we clarify any issues involving shared property in advance.
- Reversible and portable. In a rented flat we only install devices that can be removed – and when you move, we can reinstall the system for you if you ask.
Frequently asked questions
Is an alarm really possible without breaking into walls?
Yes. The wireless detectors are stuck on or fixed with two screws, and the control panel goes on the wall, out of sight, powered from a single point. Insurance terms typically don’t look at the cable, but at whether the system meets the stated requirements and whether it was in operation at the moment of the loss. During the site survey we review the terms of your policy and put the system together to match, using MABISZ-recommended devices – with insurance compliance documented.
Does a wireless alarm work in a prefab concrete apartment?
Yes, if the detectors are positioned to match the radio coverage – reinforced concrete walls weaken the signal but don’t block it. We measure this during the site survey and add a repeater if needed.
Is it worth making an old, “dumb” heating system smart?
Yes – you gain two separate things. The first is comfort: in most older systems a single thermostat controls everything, so one room is fine while the others are too warm or too cold – with zoning and a smart valve head on each radiator, every room gets its own temperature. The second is savings, and for that you don’t need a modulating boiler: even with an on/off boiler you can save by controlling when and where heat is called for. The schedule adapts to your actual daily routine, switches to economy when you’re away, starts according to the warm-up time, adjusts based on the outdoor temperature and the forecast, and stops when a window is open. To be honest: this doesn’t improve the boiler’s efficiency – you simply heat less and more intelligently. Radiator valve heads are also a good choice in a rented property, because they can be fitted without tools and taken with you when you move.
Can I install a smart lock and an alarm in a rented flat?
Yes, with reversible devices: the smart lock goes on the inside of the door, we keep the old cylinder, and the key still works; the sensors are stuck on. It’s worth asking for the landlord’s consent in writing – we provide sample wording for this.
As a landlord, can I monitor the apartment I rent out?
Its technical condition – water, temperature, power – yes, with the tenant’s knowledge and recorded in the tenancy agreement. The tenant sees the lock’s log; you only manage code changes. Cameras and microphones cannot and should not be placed in the tenant’s home; water and frost damage protection is complete without them.
What can I take with me when I move?
The sensors, the hub, the smart lock and the valve heads can all be moved, and even the settings can be kept.
What happens if the internet goes down?
The alarm, the smart lock and the heating control keep working locally; only remote access and app notifications pause until the connection is restored. With SIM-based signal transmission, the alarm still reaches you. The system tells you when the internet has dropped out.
