Professional alarm installation advice & prices...

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Hello gents,

Apologies if this topic has been done to death but I'm looking for a little guidance. So please, those in the know share your opinion.

Just moved into a house and am starting to focus my attention on the electrics. There is an alarm system installed by a local company that has long since gone bust. Cracked open the control panel to find a back-up battery dated 1994! The battery, along with the mains have been disconnected and the plastics surrounding the fuse and AC are sooty blackened. No joy from reconnecting to mains although I did try. So the alarm system in kaput. The current set-up is strange; there's just one PIR located on the landing, an awful lot of wiring going to to almost every downstairs window frame for shock sensors, along with two panic buttons and a bell box. I reasoned that given the amount of existing wiring from the old system, a new installation wouldn't be too dear and less labour intensive for the installer. The two alarm people I've had round tell me that nobody bothers with hard-wired systems any more and that wireless is the way forward. Is this necessarily the case? I'll tell you what I've been offered:

RISCO GT600 CONTROL PANEL (with dialler) AND WIRELESS RECEIVER
KEYPAD (I assume Risco)
RISCO NOVA WIRED EXTERNAL SOUNDER
INTERNAL SOUNDER
5X RADIO PIRs
1X RADIO DOOR CONTACT (for garden shed)

I didn't ask but I assume the existing old door contact set on my front door, the shock sensors, and panic buttons won't be used. I am aware that Risco stuff is pretty top-notch and considered better than the rest. The alarm installer commented on how he has one of the lowest rates of false alarms in the UK. The quote for the above, all in, exceeded £800.

Any comments appreciated. Are wireless systems to be relied on? What should I be paying, realistically, for a 6 zone system?

Thanks for your time.
 
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Get quotes from NSI/NACOSS or SSIAB registered companies. Check their maintenance and callout charges as well as the installation cost. Check the bell boxes of your neighbours and ask for recommendations. Read the recent posts about radio system versus wired (especially as you have cables in already).

I'd go with wired every time 'cos I don't like paying for batteries!! (and several other reasons too...)
 
Hi,

Yes the company is approved by the above bodies and I'm happy with the standard if equipment he has proposed. I'm just looking for a general consensus of the price and the whole wireless thing (judging by previous posts, people's opinions appear very mixed).
 
A wireless system will require more maintinance (specifically routine battery replacement in sensors) and if the bellbox is not wired is likely to have a short alarm time (though your installer did propose using a wired bellbox). A wireless system also locks you into one model line of sensors. Finally a wireless system is likely to be less reliable.

The big question is how much less reliable and that is a very difficult question to answer and probablly depends a lot on the particular system and the environment it is operating in.

You can also get hybrid panels that can use both wired and wireless sensors. These may be a good compromise if you have a system where you want to add some new sensor locations while keeping the number of batteries you need to replace low.
 
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Thanks for the feedback. Would you believe I'm struggling to find an installer who's willing to entertain the idea of a wired system!

Does anybody have experience of 'Prime' (was ESP) wireless systems as proposed by my second installer?
 

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