Alarm Component positions

[Snagglepuss]

Hello I'm new on here after finding it googling.

I'm looking to install my own alarm system I do not want to debates about the pros and cons of a DIY alarm system vs a professional installation please. I've already made the decision to do it myself.

My starting point was a plan of my house and this is my first go with the positions:
blue circles door contacts
Red PIRs
Green boxes control and a keypad.



I would really appreciate any comments suggestions or constructive criticism.

Many Thanks

Ian

 

[alan333]

We bought a house with a Honeywell Galaxy alarm fitted, which had previously been on a contract. We only had a user code, not the engineer code, so we had no serious control over it. Since then I've changed the control panel, changed some sensors to pet friendly ones, added an exterior siren/strobe, and changed the keypad to one with key-fobs. Along the way I picked up quite a bit about alarms. They're not rocket science to fit if you have a decent understanding of what you're doing, so I'd say give it a go if you're confident enough.

As far as I can remember you're better to have something "covering" the keypad, so consider fitting a PIR above your front door facing diagonally towards your cloakroom sink. If you decide to fit it in the corner above your suggested keypad placement, make sure it won't be activated when a large letter comes thru the door. I believe the same applies to covering the control panel, but it's probably hidden in your under stairs cupboard, and access to that would be controlled by your family room PIR.

You don't mention how you intend to run cables (assuming you're not going wireless), but it might be easier to run cables to one point for more than one sensor. ie the common wall between the sitting room, study, and dining room could have all three sensors, each facing outwards. This would probably be the same wall as the one splitting the two rear upstairs bedrooms, so by moving the upstairs sensor a bit you could maybe incorporate the same wiring. You could maybe also combine the family room, utility, and garage (changing the garage to a PIR obviously) in the same fashion. Maybe also the same between the downstairs bedroom (if you're having anything there) and the living room.

Maybe have the keypad on the left wall before the stairs, hidden behind the pillar. Would maybe save digging behind jackets etc for it, and could be swiped as you pass instead of the (albeit small) deviation.

I also wanted full control of my alarm and, in the event of an alarm, wanted to be able to see what sensor had triggered and reset it remotely. There's a cheap self monitoring service which gives you full access to the panel over the internet/smartphone, but AFAIK it's dedicated to the Galaxy range of panels. We have this service and it works great. Google selfmon for more info, well worth the quid per month.

Bear in mind I'm not an alarm expert, merely a competent DIYer, but some of the above may be of help.

 

[socdesign]

Personally, I would place a sensor in the bottom hall and add protection to the kitchen and utility if they are at the back of the house - you want to detect as soon as possible. It currently looks like you only detect when an intruder gets to the family room.

If possible, a door contact on the main exit/entry door is a good idea too.

The PIR at the bottom of the hall ensures that when you come down stairs in the morning, you get an entry timer reminder to go to the keypad and disarm the system. When you hear alarms going off every morning, it's usually because the system has been designed without this.

 

[Snagglepuss]

Many Thanks for the replies i've a revised the ground floor layout after your comments and some reading yesterday, not sure if i've gone over the top!?

a couple of comments:
Ive had to revise the hall layout there was no pillar well not down to the floor its high level across the hall ceiling (Original outside wall of the house i think)
Also the top floor fits over the living room, family room and hall only! The ground floor has single floor extensions all around the house (This is why I'm not to worried about most of the wiring as the extensions has pitched roofs and I have access to all this roof space, the only bit I can't get into at the moment is above the front of the living, room hall and right at the front of the garage so I might cut an access hatch in the garage)

Here is the new plan


What do you think?
Can you have 4 keypads as all those points are entry points to the house?
Do keypads have buzzers so you can hear an entry point has been triggered?
Thanks
Ian

 

[alan333]

Remember the control panel can be anywhere, so might be eaiser in the garage? (We don't need access to ours much anyway)

If you moved the sitting room sensor to the other side of the window would it also cover the side exit door a bit?

Still nothing in the kitchen?

Move the PIR in the garage to the top right corner to save cutting access hatch? My OH has nothing but trouble from a roller shutter sensor at her work (maybe just mis-use tho), so maybe do away with that one and have the PIR only? And do you use the garage as a first entry point often enough to need a keypad there?

If I counted correctly you've 13 downstairs zones and 1 upstairs = 14 total. Our Galaxy 2-12 has 12 zones and can have up to 4 wired keypads. I think we can increase our zones to 20 (with an add-on maybe?), and you can also get a different version with 44 zones. You can get keypads with "proxtag" readers, these are keyfobs which can be used for setting/unsetting. Very handy if your hands are full of shopping etc. You can also have different codes for different users, so you could tell whether your cleaner was actually in your house for the full 2 hrs, or if a child was coming home from school early and nipping out again etc. The access settings can be different for users too, so a basic user can't change codes/settings etc. Ours also has "night set" and "part set". You could, for example, arm all your system except the upstairs sensor when you're in bed. Or use "part set" to cover only the doors when you're looking after the neighbour's dog for the weekend. If you want the self monitoring remember the control panel will need internet connection.

We have an internal "speaker/horn" fitted beside the front door PIR, which sounds in the event of an alarm, thus alerting anyone inside the house. This same speaker can be programmed to "chime" (more a loud buzz buzz buzz tho) when any zone has been opened, so could be programmed to alert you if any door (or any sensor for that matter) has been opened. Might not be such a good idea if someone comes in late etc tho, although you could always disable that particular door chime. Our keypads also have a volume control, so it beeps when setting/unsetting, or can be quiet on "night" or "part" set if you want. We can also use different settings on "night", "part", or "full" set ie on night set you might want an alarm condition to only sound from the internal speaker, but on full set you'd like it to wake the whole street.

 

[Snagglepuss]

Thanks for your help Alan333

I do plan on entering through the garage that's why I had a automatic roller shutter fitted I just click the fob and drive in I've moved the keypad to the RHS so I can access it through the drivers window.

New plan


Thinking about it the wiring would be much easier if the control panel was in the garage I'll move that on the next plan

 

[alan333]

Would you have enough time for the roller door to open, then to partly drive in, before the entry timer timed out? You could set it to a lengthy time I suppose, but then a burglar could be away with the family jewels before the alarm went off.

Although my knowledge on this is limited, maybe you could wire it somehow such that by operating your garage door remote, it would disarm the alarm? But then maybe so could a burglar I suppose.

Alternatively, in the installation manual it mentions keyfobs (as well as the proxtags I mentioned earlier), maybe they would work better for some/all of your entry points?

If you're interested in the same alarm we have it might be worthwhile downloading an installation manual and see what peripherals would work for you. I've also read that some people have incorporated some extra home automation things like lights coming on etc, via their panel too, but I think it was the 44 zone one. Maybe you could have a keyfob for the alarm, and by using an output from the alarm control panel, it also opens the garage door. You'll need to do your own research here tho, I haven't "dug so deep" into it, but if you're gonna do it...might as well spend a few extra quid and have it do what you need it to?

Edit...the proxtags are small "touch against the keypad" fobs, and keyfobs are more like a car remote control.

 

[Snagglepuss]

Some real food for thought there alan333 many thanks for all your advice I would be interested in downloading an installation manual for either the panel you have or the 44 as I haven't started looking at actual kit yet and it would probably help with my planning.
Do you know where I could download it from?
Thanks again
Ian

 

[joe-90]

That setup is a wiring disaster. Better off getting someone in.

 

[socdesign]

I wouldn't add so many keypads. Just keep a simple entry route. Have the main internal one and perhaps another for the garage. You can even setup the garage as a separate group with its own timed entry sensor and keypad.

 

[alan333]

I would be interested in downloading an installation manual for either the panel you have or the 44
Do you know where I could download it from?

Here's a link. You'll also get info from Honeywell's site.

http://www.strathand.com/cdata/24498/docs/1758647_2.pdf

Don't get me wrong, there'll be a few "head scratching" moments (as joe-90 suggests) when trying to commission the system, especially if you are adding extra features, but I'm not a pro and I'd do it all if it was the system that suited me.

BTW the Galaxy is a well respected bit of kit, also widely used in small commercial sites. It can be an "insurance category B (or whatever category it is called)" rated system, but I believe it needs to be professionally installed for this. Some (maybe all?) have an in-built "dialler" but it's geared towards "phoning" an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) like ADT etc, and entails getting a contract (it's a long story but it involves ARC "handshakes" and stuff). Either way almost every alarm person with any knowledge knows at least the basics about it, so can work on the system if necessary.

Again I stress tho, I'm just a home user with a bit of savvy, so don't necessarily be swayed towards a system like ours if it doesn't fulfil your needs.

 

[Snagglepuss]

That setup is a wiring disaster. Better off getting someone in.

Care to elaborate, I'm only planning at the moment and welcome all advice and comments on improvement.
Thanks
Ian

 

[socdesign]

The wiring all depends on the house. We cannot see from the plans, but it may be that the perimeter of the ground floor is easily accessible from the first floor. If that's the case, then accessing the locations is fine. If not, then getting wires in neatly without ripping the upper floors apart is very difficult.

Next, you want to get as many sensors back to back as possible. That way, all of your cables come up at the same points and makes the install much easier/neater.

Pointing sensors inwards away from windows and direct sunlight is fine - although many sensors these days have excellent filtering to avoid false alarms due to this.

 

[unclebob1]

Would the keypad next to the door be viewable from outside? its next to the window.

Also in the dining room - is that a french/patio door?
If so, any chance of getting a contact of some description on there? flush fit contacts possibly on both panels if sliding or single on the closing leaf if french?
Its the one external door that doesn't have some form of indication to show its open/closed, while most likely the point of entry for someone looking to break in... (in my opinion) given its at the rear?

 

[Snagglepuss]

Thanks socdesign,
Some good tips there, if I could have some pointing at windows then that would help with positioning I didn't know you could get away with that, everything i had read said don't have pirs pointing at windows!

So far my plan has been put together really without much if any thought about the installation.

As for the house design as you said the whole perimeter of the house (except for one corner) is single story with a pitched roof and I currently have access to this, apart from the bit at the front of the living room hall and garage but I'm tempted to cut access at the front of the garage.

Here is a revised plan with some thought to the physical installation.


Bedroom PIR, Side Door contact and Keypad 2 now all together

Sitting room and study PIRs together

Dining room, Kitchen PIRs plus added patio door contact together

Family Room, Utility and Garage PIRs together

Living room, Hall PIR and Hall door contact together

Unclebob1 - Keypad1 can't be seen through front door window as its frosted and patterned.
at the rear it is a patio and so I've added a door contact there thanks

socdeisgn,
Your comment about not having so many keypads with out a keypad does that mean we cannot enter the house at that point first??

Just want to thank everyone I feel like i'm making some real progress now

EDIT not on the current plan but the control box will be in the garage now!