Texecom premier elite - kit list check

[jpowell79]

Hi all, I'm looking to install a Texecom premier elite system as I hear a lot of good things about them, and it seems like a lot of pro installers use them which is a big thumbs up in my opinion. Before I share my kit list, a couple of things worth pointing out.

Firstly, I'm reasonably competent when it comes to DIY, so no real concerns with the fitting. I also work in IT, so am also confident that I'll be able to get the thing working (although I might have to refer to the odd YouTube tutorial video as I go along!)

We live in an end terrace, and I've already installed a pair of HikVision ColorVu cameras to the house (one down the side of house alleyway, and one facing the garden) but this will be independent of the alarm system, and is really there to act as an additional deterrent.

We have two cats.... from what I've been reading, no PIR sensor is completely reliable (even the DT's) when it comes to pets, so I've decided to go for a whole bunch of door and window Impaq SC-W detectors (not sure if this is a good idea)

I don't need smoke alarms as we have nest protect ones.

I'd like the external sounder to be mains-powered but wireless connectivity - It will be very easy to access the upstairs lighting circuit from the loft, but not to run a cable downstairs into the hallway, so ideally wireless.

Purely for aesthetics, I really like the look of the FMK/SMK Polished Chrome keypad, which will be wall mounted in the hallway.... the downstairs hallway ceiling is currently down (other work going one in the house), so at the moment it would be easy to power from the downstairs ring.

the plan then is to have the control unit under the stairs next to the consumer unit, (will be fairly straightforward to power the control unit from here) so was thinking of getting the Premier Elite 24 for that.

One issue I do have is that I'd like to be able to control the alarm from my phone on an App, so I'd like to get the Texecom Connect SmartCom box, but the problem is that my broadband router is in the hallway, and if my Premier Elite 24 is under the cupboard stairs, theres no real obvious way to get an ethernet cable to it...... so the plan was to fit that under the stairs as well, and connect the cable into a "powerline" plug that i'd put in the socket under the stairs (currently used to charge the cordless vacuum) with another powerline plug in the socket powering the router, and then the cable can run via the two home plugs.

Will this work?

So in terms of my overall "shopping list", this is what I was planning to order.

1x Premier Elite 24
1x Yucel backup battery
1x USB-COM program cable
1x FMK/SMK Polished Chrome keypad
1x Connect SmartCom Box
1x pair of TP-Connect powerline home plugs
12x Impaq SC-W detectors (3 for front door, back door, patio door, and the rest for the windows)
1x Premier Elite Odyssey E3-W external sounder


Will this work as I expect, or am I missing something?

Is there a better option than all these Impaq SC-W boxes (not cheap!) that would do a better job? As I say, I considered PIR's but the thought of the alarm going off in the middle of the night because one of the cats is up to something puts me off them!

Also is the battery life decent on the Impaq's?

thanks

 

[secureiam]

Firstly hardwire first, wireless last.

Pet wise / friendly has its issues.

So you could opt for capture sensors which have the option to function normally o'r as oet wise.

The biggest issue with petwise sensors us what's included and what i'r is excluded.

If going down perimeter protection then acw does shock and contact built in and allows you to add devices too.

We would recommend cats are out at night and restricted to rooms due the day.

So have in the kitchen say and omit the pir but have perimeter protection.

Our cats are problematic as they climb and jump up, so limiting there access seems more sensible. But a non petwise sensor is likely to be fine if the cat is walking along the floor and isn't large.

 

[pcaouolte]

Will this work?

No.

The wireless sounder is battery powered, not mains powered. It is possible to adapt it to run from the mains but this would void the warranty.
The keypad doesn't require mains power, it requires a 12v connection to the panel in the under stairs cupboard.
The Premier Elite 24 doesn't have any wireless connection ability without an add-on wireless receiver, consider a Premier Elite 64-W instead.

The good news is that the SmartCom can have a WiFi connection to your router if you wish so you may not need the powerline plugs.

If your front door and front windows are right next to the road you may get false alarms on the SC-W from passing traffic.

 

[secureiam]

That's some traffic never had an issue to be fair

 

[jpowell79]

No.

The wireless sounder is battery powered, not mains powered. It is possible to adapt it to run from the mains but this would void the warranty.
The keypad doesn't require mains power, it requires a 12v connection to the panel in the under stairs cupboard.
The Premier Elite 24 doesn't have any wireless connection ability without an add-on wireless receiver, consider a Premier Elite 64-W instead.

The good news is that the SmartCom can have a WiFi connection to your router if you wish so you may not need the powerline plugs.

If your front door and front windows are right next to the road you may get false alarms on the SC-W from passing traffic.

thanks, really appreciate the response. Hmm in that case perhaps I’d be better off finding a different location to mount the Elite 64-W then instead of under the stairs, which is one of the few places in the house where getting “new” cables to it will be a PITA.

I guess I could mount the 64-W in the loft, as that would give me easy access to cable up the external sounder and could even get a cable down to the keypad in the hallway with a bit of work…. But would I have issues with wireless connectivity to the impaq units on the ground floor if I did this?

I don’t think having the impaq’s on the front doors and windows will be an issue as we have a driveway so the road is at least 12ft from the front of the house

 

[jpowell79]

Firstly hardwire first, wireless last.

Pet wise / friendly has its issues.

So you could opt for capture sensors which have the option to function normally o'r as oet wise.

The biggest issue with petwise sensors us what's included and what i'r is excluded.

If going down perimeter protection then acw does shock and contact built in and allows you to add devices too.

We would recommend cats are out at night and restricted to rooms due the day.

So have in the kitchen say and omit the pir but have perimeter protection.

Our cats are problematic as they climb and jump up, so limiting there access seems more sensible. But a non petwise sensor is likely to be fine if the cat is walking along the floor and isn't large.

thanks for the response.... considering our cats are getting into their later years (both 8yo) it's surprising how manic they can be when they have their "funny half hours", usually at night. The girl cat is also a bit of a nutter..... randomly attacks the far bigger boy cat out of the blue for no apparent reason!

My other half wouldn't have them locked outside, they just come and go as they please through the back-door cat flap. Generally speaking they tend to stay downstairs at night time, but they will be constantly going through the kitchen, through the hallway and into the living room, so a lot of coverage that could potentially trigger false alarms.

 

[sparkymarka]

Pet tolerant pirs …..have had them 10 years last house and 8 in current house …never had a false alarm ( 2 cats ) why ?
A ….only fit optex Rx40pt or Bosch pet
B …. Correct siting no items where the cat can get within a meter if the pir
C …. Never fit facing stairs , detectors fitted in this area make sure they are off in pet setting ( part set )
It’s all about planing the location of these detectors

 

[jpowell79]

Another thing that occurred to me is that I sometimes have trouble sleeping so occasionally I will go downstairs to watch some TV in the living room for an hour or maybe grab a drink from the kitchen. Knowing me, I'll forget to disarm the PIR's!

Don't suppose there's a clever way of automatically disarming downstairs PIR's if a PIR placed at the top of the stairs detects someone? I.e. someone is going downstairs so it must be someone from inside the house. ? I'm guessing not because how would it know to re-arm the downstairs PIR's when you go back upstairs?

Perhaps PIR's are not a good fit for our house.

 

[jpowell79]

Have just ordered the following:

1x TEXECOM PREMIER ELITE SATIN CHROME SMK KEYPAD DBD-0129
1x TEXECOM RICOCHET PREMIER ELITE 64-W CONTROL PANEL GEW-0001
1x TEXECOM CONNECT SMARTCOM ETHERNET & WIFI COMMUNICATOR | CEL-0001
6x TEXECOM RICOCHET IMPAQ SC-W VIBER ACCELEROMETER TECHNOLOGY WIRELESS SHOCK AND CONTACT WHITE | GJA-0001
100m 8 CORE BURGLAR ALARM CABLE
2x TEXECOM PREMIER ELITE ODYSSEY 1 EXTERNAL SOUNDER FCA-0120
1x YUASA YUCEL 7-12V BACK UP BATTERY FOR ALARM CONTROL PANELS | V142401

decided it was worth having an external sounder at front and back seeing as I'm going to mount the 64-w in the loft.

Hopefully the richochet wireless signal reaches down to the ground floor doors and windows....if not, I guess I could just purchase a couple more IMPAQ SC-W's for the upstairs windows (to spread the richochet signal) and only arm them if we are all out or go on holiday, as we often leave the upstairs windows open in the summer months.

 

[secureiam]

So now you have half your windows covered and no pir's, this means that access can be gained to the whole proprrty without triggering the alarm, although it would require knowledge of the sensors.

second floor entry is common as its unprotected and windows left open.

Agree all devices are about planning. however in general cats wont set off a normal pir unless they can get to an elevated position and you don't have to worry about short arsed intruders or those that crawl across the floor being undetected.

Having two hardwired sounders means you will have to take power for one from elsewhere on the panel, say the aux power since your not having hardwired detectors, or dumb down the volume of the sounders by changing its settings.

 

[jpowell79]

I think I’ll order a few more Impaq’s for the alley way upstairs window and the back bedroom and bathroom windows and just disable the magnet contact part unless we’re away. (Can this be done on the Impaq’s? disable the magnet, but keep shock protection enabled? If not the whole device would be disabled unless we’re away)

I think it would take a very brave or desperate burglar to fancy trying to get in an upstairs window in which a ladder would be required, when we’re home with a car on the drive, visible external sounders, cctv cameras and pir lights at the side and back of the house.

We live in an average sized end terrace on an average street. It’s not like we have a luxury 6-bed detached mansion with a high “reward to risk” potential.

They would surely just look for an easier target.

I’ve always thought that if someone is really that determined, they will get in your house one way or another, but hopefully this will make them think twice and go elsewhere.

 

[jpowell79]

Is there any potential for concern running the second sounder from aux? I’m struggling to think of anything else I could upgrade in the future to need the aux power for anything else, but maybe there’s something I’m not thinking of?

 

[secureiam]

open window easy access.

the SC-W you can select which bits work, but you cant change them at the panel.

the panel is limited power, the 64W has 0.9A for the bell fuse 2 odyssey bell boxes in alarm will draw more than 0.9A, if you took power for one bell via the dc+- terminals then you would be advised to put a inline fuse to protect the circuit as from memory its not protected.

for simplicity use the aux power for 1 bell, if you need it later you can look at your options then.

 

[secureiam]

seen them enter an empty house through a small toilet window second floor that was left open slightly, forced fully open, probably kids as they made a bit of a mess, but nothing to steal. nowadays residential properties are protected by law from squatters unlike commercial premises.

as you live in a terraced house whats the access like to the rest of the block via the loft?

 

[jpowell79]

No concerns with the loft. It’s been boarded out as we had the combi boiler fitted up there, but we don’t have any skylights or anything, so apart from lifting roof tiles or smashing a hole through the brick wall separating us from next door, there’s no access apart from up the ladder from the upstairs passageway.