Brand new Texecom install for an amateur on a renovation

[vimto2000]

Hello all,

I've been lurking for a while now trying to read up as much as possible with peoples faults and fixes.

I still have a few questions while planning my new alarm install.

The kit I am looking to get is this one:

Texecom Capture Ricochet 64-W Wireless Kit 86 - Wired Keypad (KIT-1086)

It comes with:

1x Texecom Premier Elite Ricochet 64-W (GEW-0001)
1x Texecom Premier Elite LCDLP Wired Keypad (DBD-0168)
1x Texecom Premier Elite Proximity Tags - Pack of 5 (CDB-0001)
3x Texecom Ricochet Capture P15-W Wireless PIR (GDA-0001)
1x Texecom Premier Elite Ricochet Micro Contact-W Wireless Door Contact - White (GHA-0001)

So that means as it stands I can have 4 wired and 32 wireless.

Things I think need wired:

1 x keypad
2 x bell box
4 x smoke alarms

Wireless:

3 x Micro Door contacts
11 x Micro Shock Contacts

Smart comms

So my questions:

Do bell boxes and keypads class as wired zones?

What core wire should I get? I believe to be safe it is best to get 8 core just in case, is that correct?

I will have 4 bay windows on the front of the house and so far have account for 1 micro shock contact on these? Is that silly?! The bays will have 2 side openers, should I have the micro contacts on these as well?

Should all windows with openings have both shock and contact sensors:

ie the Texecom Premier Elite Ricochet Impaq SC‑W Wireless Vibration Sensor With Contact

I will also have a seperate garage to add to this, assuming I will wire them in just for connectivity or will the wireless ricochet be ok..the garage is about 10m away from the house and will have at least 4 wireless sensors on the side of the house the garage is closest to.

What I'd like to do as well is have two options for arming, one when we or kids are home alone (when they are old enough) so the perimeter of the house is armed, and option two is when we have left the house and the PIR's are armed as well so we get a confirmed entry not just a perimeter alarm.

Are there any flaws to this plan? Would you suggest doing something else?

Budget is tight due to excess costs during our house renovation but don't really want to cut back on alarm. Currently got a blank canvas to lay wires! I was tempted to wire everything but the wireless sensors look so much better.

Thanks in advance

I can show floor plans if needed?

 

[pcaouolte]

1. Wired bells and keypads don't use up zones. The wired keypad will contain 2 extra wired zones that you can use if you want to so that will give you a total of 6 wired zones available.
2. 8 core will be fine.
3. Much cheaper to put one PIR in a room than shocks and contacts on windows but the advantage of shocks is that they can activate before the intruder gets inside. You don't normally need contacts on windows unless you want a warning that they have been left open when you go out.
4. Ricochet will probably be ok over 10m but wired is always best if you can get wires in. Aim to only use wireless when it is totally impractical to use wired. Every wireless sensor has a battery which is going to need changing every couple of years and wireless sensors are about three times the price of wired. Wireless sensors can suffer from jamming from other wireless devices with flat batteries which can be a problem to trace.
5. Rather than spending a fortune putting sensors all over the place you might be better, and cheaper, to get a local alarm company to quote for a system that suits your needs and level of risk.
6. In practice very few people set an alarm when they are at home except for setting the downstairs when they go to bed.

 

[secureiam]

Shock sensors need to have the sensitivity set.

can’t comment on how many are needed for each window as it depends on the sensitivity set and when tested can it reach the rest of the possible access points. (You can test and add more if required).

some windows and doors rattle and some are so well fitted the vibration doesn’t travel far.

if the property is well hidden from public view (often the rear garden) then you may want to protect those windows more so than the front.

the advantage of wireless is you can add later without needing to worry about running wires, but as pointed out hard wired first always.

Smokes can be hard wired or wireless, the ricochet smokes have built in sounder there hard wired ones don’t, that said better having mains operated with battery back up and wiring to the panel to activate a zone, been covered on here a few times.


With the kit 1086 you can have:

2 zones wired to the keypad (hardwired only)
4 zones wired directly to the panel.
32 zones wireless out of the box.

The 64W can have

4 keypads (hardwired up to 8 zones)
4 zones on panel
32 wireless on panel
Add 32 zones hard wired or wireless with appropriate expander.

Total 76 zones. 1-4, 9-40, 41-72, 73-80

 

[vimto2000]

Thanks for the quick response

I would like to do use wired where possible however the shock sensors do look a lot better in the wireless version.
I do like the idea of the kids being able to set the alarm when in the house, for their safety and as well our peace of mind when they are bit older.

SecureIAm, thanks for that information.

We are a corner property so access to the rear will be fairly easy and still quite hidden from the street..so I think the rear definitely needs a bit more protection.
I do prefer the smoke alarms to be hardwired as a preference.

As a pro installer, would you mind your clients adding new wireless sensors an alarm system that you fitted and configured?

 

[secureiam]

An installer can't accept liability for a system where customers have access to the engineers code.

It is something you and an installer would have to agree to and most wont of those that will, anything wrong will be chargeable and not covered under any warranty regardless of who did what as it will be argued it was left working as you the customer fiddled with something intentionally or otherwise and hence why it's not working.

 

[vimto2000]

After some helpful comments on here and some really helpful feedback from SecureIam in person, what I want vs what I can do are two totally different things. I have now appointed SecureIam to take on my project and will decide to find other places I can save money on my renovation.

Can't recommend him enough