New alarm system - Pro and DIY

[sh4d0w]

Hi all,

I am hoping from some help and inspiration.

OK, so Missus and I have been in our house 2 years now and would really like to upgrade our alarm system, it is about 20 years old and is a Vertias 8 panel at the front door with only 2 PIRs in the hall and lounge and a crappy old contact on the front door and garage door.

I have had several people our who have told me all sorts of conflicting information; EG's

1) One guy said dont touch RISCO as they are too hard to program and support but 2 installers recommended them

2) Dont need PIR in garden room and a curtain pir will work - the cats occupy the room at night and can easily jump in window

3) Pet friendly PIR's / Dual Techs are a waste of time and go of a height from the floor, i said so a burglar just needs to crawl? he said yea i guess, BUT

3A) Others have said they go off weight and body mass and will be fine for my 3 cats??

4) I need only window shock sensors on my garden room and no PIR - one chap suggested two but the span is 5Mtrs of glass split by 1 Frame - 1 french door 2 1200mm frames - i think ill need more??

5) I want to remote manage and get alerted to my alarm, all said i can do XY &Z but i think i only really need an IP Mod and hook the alarm up to my internet and get it on my phone, one guy said to use GSM and one said deffo have a monitored system and then the rest said it was fine to do as i want

i have been advised by two chaps to go with the Risco LightSys 2 - one was heavily made up of wireless kit and the other only using wireless on my windows to avoid cables etc.

i have also been advised by the chap who said to avoid Risco to go with a Texecom Premier 24 Elite Control Panel and Proximity LCD Remote Keypad

SO, i now want to look the option of doing it myself as i will be running all the additional cables myself as i cant trust others to make a nice enough job and i know where access under the floor is etc.

Can anyone please help me with,

A) Should i buy the system and fit it myself - i worry that if i make a mistake ill have nobody to ask for help

B) What system should i go for and look at? We want - Remote access via APP a reliable system, can adopt cables and wireless - rooms we want to cover
Dining Room - PIR
Entrance hall way - Door Contact and PIR
Lounge - Pet Friendly PIR - cats dont often come in here but just want the option to hav them in there
Garden room (conny) - Dual Tech PIR as its the cats room, will be in at night and out in day (unless ones being lazy) AND wireless shock sensors / contact & shock for frenchies
Kitchen - PIR and a Shock
Downstairs loo - nothing needed
Utility - Nothing needed
Garage - Dual Tech PIR and a Garage door contact

Landing - PIR
Master bed - Window shocks as conny roof leads up
En-suite - Window shocks as conny roof leads up
and possibly a panic button?

All views / criticism welcome.

Cheers

 

[motorbiking]

I installed my own alarm about 15 years ago. I just bought an optima multi zone control panel Google Tlc electrical for prices. We used conventional PIR and door sensors on all the rooms we'd shut pets out of and had a zone where pets where allowed and just dropped it from the alarm zone.

I'm in the process of upgrading, but now I think security is more about Internet CCTV than burglar alarms.

 

[sh4d0w]

Thanks for reply - i have CCTV at home aswell - i just want some audible security too.

 

[secureiam]

Installers recommend what they like to install.
There are pros and cons for every single system out there but each installer will have their own preference.
Each manufacturer has more than 1 panel (Orisec not released there panel/s yet so don't know however had heard encouraging thinks from my discussions with them).

Pet sensors primarily work on height, anything below height X (approx. 1 to 1.5m) depending on install and actual petwise sensor used, some manufacturers also state a weight limit guidance ie, the bigger than animal the less chance of the pet being ignored.

If you ae looking for hybrid panels and apps, I would say Premier Elite is a great hybrid panel although there wireless pet sensors have been subject to criticism by installer recently. Risco light Sys2 another hybrid panel and I find there app easier to use and more reliable than Texecom's hands down. However Risco wireless shock and door contacts only come as 1 way devices and ideally you should use two way devices.

That leaves various other true wireless and some hybrid panels around but I haven't used their apps so am unable to comment on their reliability. Currently liability does not infere anything about future reliability.

1. communications with the panel should be mutli session capable, as single sessions like the Texecom panels at present in my opinion create issues. Mutlisession, youcant send a message out of the panel when your connected to it. This can be done on Texecom however you would need two ip devices to achieve this rather than one.(gets expensive). Risco does allow multisessions bring the cost down and educes potential issues.

2. Petwise detectors, are no good if the the pet is large or can get up high whilst infront of the detector, main areas top of units, kitchens, curtains etc.

3.Alarm systems allow integration of their cameras and video cameras to be used with there apps and storage is usually on there cloud and is stored for a limited period, it is alos possible to record these on an NVR seperatley subject to compatability.

There currently in my opinion is no one solution fits all, it would be more about budget and what you want the system to do. Then check it off against whats been offered.

I have customers with apps that use them all the time and others hardly ever, as this arena is relatively new some manufacturers have systems available that are not reliable and a second back system should be considered like SMS using a gsm module.

@motorbiking a very sensible suggestion, you need to ensure you have adequate cover, PIR's will cover a large area, door contacts and shocks cover small limited areas in comparison.

Large windows may require more than 1 shock especially if the are solid, however of recent times I have seen windows being damaged on the edge and being removed without using much force and this kind of break-in may not trigger the alarm.

Having door contacts on internal doors isn't always pretty but should activate if a door is opened and the burglar is moving around the house.

Not sure that covers everything but it should give a good idea.

 

[secureiam]

Placement of PIR's is paramount, especially petwise sensors.

I have been to no end of installs by others and they have a petwise sensor facing the stairs bottom up, the cat comes down the stairs hits the detection above 1.5M and the alarm is triggered. Been to a few where the PIR is facing the stairs sideways on, but as the stair case has open sections the PIR is activated.

I would go round your home seeing whats above 1m and 1.5m to work out what couldbe taken and where the cats could end up.

I know my cat has her favourite spots through out the house and I have not petwise sensors, she sets off one sensor in the house which was installed prior to her joining us and that faces the stairs, since added another pir again not petwise and she doesn't activate it but is all about placement.

 

[sh4d0w]

thanks guys, Big help.

the cats will be in the one room during the night so its there that i should worry about and to be fair the window cil is there best bet and is only 600 high.

It also sounds like Risco is the way for me to go then, ticks all of my boxes and does what we need for sure!

 

[monsterink]

Pyronix Enforer i did it myself, and bought all the bits at trade price from ADI Global. 2 way wireless hybrid panel. Check it out.

 

[secureiam]

ADI policy is not to sell to non trade, although I suspect many of their branches do if it suites them.

Was it trade prices and could you have got it cheaper elsewhere?

 

[monsterink]

my local ADI global branch offer a cash account (like most). I think price wise they were very competitive and warranty and returns were easy too.

You could either go the ebay route or map security. (http://map-security.com/) otherwise.