Pre-Wiring for future alarm

[RichA]

We are having our house rewired and I am considering putting in place the wiring for an alarm.

Please can you conform what wiring is typically required for:
(i) a wired system? i.e. wires from where-to-where?
(ii) a wireless system? i.e. just power to main b=ox?

I envisage the system would (in the future) have the following components:
Keypad, main box, 2 door sensors, 3 PIRs.

Should I cover all rooms? And upstairs? Or just main points of entry & central links rooms?

Thanks.

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

A sketch plan of the house would be a useful start. The professionals on here will be able to give you a good idea and they will most likely say go for wired.

I have PIRs in the ground floor rooms, one on the landing, and one in the hall for night set to trip the timer before I go into other rooms. Contacts on the front and rear doors.

Cables would be to each detector, RKP, possible extension speaker, external sounder(s), PA buttons?

Do you have any flat roofs or easy access to the first floor?

 

[secureiam]

To be fair, it depends on the room as to what PIR's you should use and where you can realistically place them.

Most PIR will cover at least 12M away from the detector most house are nowhere near that size.

To best cover a room, the PIR's should be located away from mains power, away from drafts, radiators and direct sunlight.

Wireless PIR's same applies plus away from large metal objects. Must of this is covered in the PIR's manual.

You need to think about how someone breaking in may enter the room and ensure that those areas are covered as a prioity, but a PIR in a standard room in a corner will cover most of the room.

Petwise sensors are not something I recommend as they are designed to eliminate anything below a certain height, and if you animal ever gets above that height the alarm will be activated and an intruder below that height may avoid detection. Some Petsensors discriminate better than others.

Always Hard wire first and wireless second.

Depending on the alarm panel they may have a built in wireless expander or a remote one, ideally I would recommend a separate keypad or arming station for some systems that have a panel with a built in keypad. The panel should ideally not be easily accessible on the entry route, although it is fairly common for panels with built in keypads to be just inside the doorway.

 

[AndyPRK]

6 core cable
Make Sure pirs don’t point to windows.
Only 1 pir upstairs on landing

 

[RichA]

Thanks. I have included a floor plan below. Based upon the comments, I could do as follows:

Main box, keypad, external sounder/box
Sensors: Front door, side door
PIRs: Kitchen, snug, sitting, hall, 1F landing

What wiring is required for this?
6 core: from main box (in a cupboard) to keypad, sounder, sensors & PIRs
Power: fused spur to main main box? (No dedicated power required for Keypad, Sounder, detectors?)

What would be the best locations for PIRs? Corner opposite door?

Do I need a keypad by back door, or can I go through kitchen to use the keypad in hall?

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

Just my thoughts on sensors - cover all rooms for the sake of a few pounds. The snug detector could be place on the right hand corner, but like all things without seeing the room there could be some changes to these. I placed a detector facing a window due to the curtains blocking the view in the ideal position. Not ideal but the best compromise

Internal extension speaker may be needed near the exit / entry door. A second keypad could be placed next to the utility door with a contact on the door but keep the kitchen on full guard

 

[sparkymarka]

Plus don't forget a comms link to the panel ... e.g. Cat 5 to router

 

[RichA]

Just my thoughts on sensors - cover all rooms for the sake of a few pounds. The snug detector could be place on the right hand corner, but like all things without seeing the room there could be some changes to these. I placed a detector facing a window due to the curtains blocking the view in the ideal position. Not ideal but the best compromise

Internal extension speaker may be needed near the exit / entry door. A second keypad could be placed next to the utility door with a contact on the door but keep the kitchen on full guard

Great. Thank you. What would the second keypad add?

What is full guard? Is that where if it is triggered it goes straight to alarm, rather than the deactivation count down?

 

[Deryck Tintagel]

You mentioned having a second keypad by the utility door which is OK if you use that as an access route. Without it you would have the utility door on timed, kitchen and hall on walk-through zones before you get to the keypad which would need quite a long delay. So, have a keypad by the door and that triggers a short (20 second timer) before the alarm is triggered.

Guard = immediate alarm
Walk through / intermediate / access = no action taken whilst the entry / exit timer is running, but will cause an immediate alarm otherwise

 

[motorbiking]

I’d look to install wired network if you can. It’s probably no more that £150 of cable and sockets, but means you have the option to wire cctv, smart tvs, computers, storage etc.

Your looking for each room to come back to a central point (radial). for the PIR/bell wire it’s similar to a ring main

 

[sparkymarka]

I’d look to install wired network if you can. It’s probably no more that £150 of cable and sockets, but means you have the option to wire cctv, smart tvs, computers, storage etc.

Your looking for each room to come back to a central point (radial). for the PIR/bell wire it’s similar to a ring main

For the pir/ bell ring main ? What ? You don't wire alarm like a ring main !

 

[motorbiking]

You can daisy chain them within the same zone.

 

[secureiam]

If you are doing an install the best option is one device one zone.

I only ever use 8 core cable as my starting point and other than the bell box for most systems you only ever need 4 cores. (EOL)

When it comes what devices where, it depends on if you want to be notified when someone attempts to breakin or after they have broken in.

You don't want sensor to be covered by a door when its opened, you don't want them to be in direct sunlight so avoid facing windows especially if they are south facing.

Aesthetically speaking, you can opt for your PIR's to be behind you when you are watching TV for example.

 

[sparkymarka]

You can daisy chain them within the same zone.

You don't if you have any sense!
More joints more to go wrong and harder to find an issue with

 

[RichA]

The first fix install is starting next week; my builder has priced for 5 zones/PIRs.

- Do the attached seem sensible?
- Should I also add the upstairs landing?
- Are any of these unnecessary / could be swapped out?

Thanks,
Rich