Some of the ideas I presented were a bit over the top but there are a bunch that can be done fairly inexpensively.
For example reed switches are pretty inexpensive right around $1-3 a piece.
The dual power circuit can be nixed for most people. I would still recomend the UPS but you could use that to provide power to other emergency services in the house... such as a TV for sorm warnings.
Scratch my whole access pannel idea... that was way over the top. Just an idea I hit upon that I thought would be interesting...