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Originally Posted by Mstaples
...As I see it, if I go for that room first and it is empty, then I have lucked out and I should take the territory, going into the room for cover... then think about clearing the living room. But if it isn't empty... then what?...
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Have you ever had any actual training in clearing buildings? Have you ever done any Force-on-Force training? Most of us who have had some such training have concluded that solo clearing is a very bad idea unless absolutely necessary, e. g., to get family members to safety.
[1] If you go looking, and there is indeed a BG there, you will be at an extreme tactical disadvantage. You can easily be ambushed or flanked. You may also have given a BG access to family members to use as hostages. Or there maybe more than one BG, one of whom can get to your family while you're occupied with the other one.
[2] When (whether you called them or they were called by a neighbor who may have also seen or heard something) the police respond, they don't know who you are. You are just someone with a weapon.
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Originally Posted by Mstaples
...I do have a wife and her room is on the other side of the living room. If there are bad guys in the house, they would be between me and her....
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And that creates a very difficult tactical problem for you. You might consider designating a safe room accessible to both of you or using her room as the safe room. In general usually recommended home defense procedures are:
[1] You arm yourself. You investigate as best you can from a place of safety in house with your family. You wait and quietly listen. Does the sound repeat? Can you begin to identify it? Can you positively identify it as something innocuous? If the sound is clearly from outside, you look out nearby windows.
[2] If you can't identify the sound and believe there is a danger, you assure that your family and any known visitors are all together and with you in a place of safety. You call the police. You maintain telephone contact with the police. And you wait.
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Originally Posted by Mstaples
...The only thing that makes sense to me is to shoot dead anyone I don't know in that room...
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Please understand that the law allows us to use lethal force as necessary to stop a potentially lethal threat. Stopping the threat effectively might result in his death, but if it does not, "shooting him dead" becomes murder.