alarm systems which barely sip energy?

[tmbrown97]

BSR's comment reminds me of something that hit the news a few weeks back about a house that was burglarized and cleaned out WITH a security alarm.  It was a big deal that they announced that in order to bypass an alarm all you need to do is cut the phone line and/or the power.  Apparently that wasn't well understood before, but now that it was all over the news, all the crooks should know about it.  That's where the battery backups and cellular uplink come in handy, along with all the tamper notifications BSR mentioned and have come up here over the years (decoy wires, etc).
 
I'd love to see the math on this - i really odn't think we're talking about 4 hours - I'd suspect the M1 can run off batteries for at least 12 on a moderate installation... but it's been years since I've paid close enough attention to the specs, and of course there are some pretty vast variables.  
 
If this were something you wanted to protect against however, there are certainly ways you can protect yourself.  For starters, take a page from the WISP/SCADA industries where they have no mains power - you could run a battery or two into a separate charge controller and disable the M1's internal one (if possible; if not you can run the M1 completely off the battery/charge circuit and bypass its own AC supply) - and on the separate charge controller add an AC and a solar charger.  A pretty small panel on the roof would charge up the batteries and keep it running indefinitely.  This is something I'd do if building my dream house and doing all the wiring; not that it would be hard even in this house.

 

[NeverDie]

I'd love to see the math on this - i really odn't think we're talking about 4 hours - I'd suspect the M1 can run off batteries for at least 12 on a moderate installation... but it's been years since I've paid close enough attention to the specs, and of course there are some pretty vast variables.  

 
If the "typical" M1 is built to minimally meet only minimum UL Burg requirements, then maybe 4 hours is all that's baked in.  What follows was excerpted from http://www.elkproducts.com/m1g_ul_listing.html :
 
MINIMUM SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS FOR UL INSTALLATIONS
 
Household Burglary (UL 1023), Household Fire (UL 985), Digital Alarm Communicator (UL 1635) Listed Installations
   • Household Burg requires 4 hours of standby power. Limit combined continuous current draw from terminals +SAUX,
     +VAUX, +VKP, and connector J16 to 1 Amp max. and use one (1) 8 Ah battery.
   • Household Fire/Home Health Care requires 24 hours of standby power. Limit combined continuous current draw from
     terminals +SAUX, +VAUX, +VKP, and connector J16 to 500 mA and use two (2) 8 Ah batteries in parallel.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Excellent point.  The more clues the better.  However, until someone acts on that information to undo the sabotage, your house is only monitored until the backup batteries are exhausted.  If a thief tripped the main breaker and then padlocked the panel, all you have is an inference, not a smoking gun, that something is rotten in Denmark.  Would the police even visit if all you have to report is a tamper alarm and a power failure?  And if they do visit, they won't be able to see or deduce much, so off they go until the next alarm.  Except there won't be a next alarm, because in ~4 hours (and most likely a lot less) from the time of sabotage, the alarm panel will have burned through its backup power and will be dead.  At that point, until someone undoes the sabotage,  your house is essentially defenseless.  Am I right?  Or is that not what would happen?

This is why you also monitor your house main power with a zone as well.  IE, you get an immediate alarm that someone entered the panel AND your house power is off (so you know its not a false alarm)!

 

[Desert_AIP]

Omni Pro docs state ~24 hours backup operation from a pair of 7AH batteries.
I suspect that's without expansion zones.
 
My breaker panel is inside the garage. 
Someone would have to remove the meter to kill the power from outside.
 
Some interesting ideas in this thread.

 

[NeverDie]

In that case, the best thing that you can do is to notify your home security company that you will be leaving for a vacation. In that way, if your alarm goes off, they can do something to ensure the safety of your home.

 
Perhaps I'm either jaded or my expectations for the monitoring company are too low.  What might they do to ensure the safety of the home, aside from possibly notifying me while I'm on vacation that they detected the circuit panel opening and a subsequent power failure (i.e. transfer the problem to me and hope I can troubleshoot from long distance)?  Yes, if wired with sensors as BSR suggests and tampering is detected, they can telephone the cops even if they can't reach me.  However, if the sabotage was quick (as it could be in the example scenario I described), the bad guys won't be around when the cops show up, and no visible break-in will have yet occurred.  The cops would see no evidence of a problem, and so I imagine they will eventually conclude "False Alarm" and drive off.
 
To recap the scenario: The  bad guys have a two step plan: 1. sabotage (turn-off) the electric power to the house, and 2. return to do the actual break-in at a later time, after typical battery backup power is exhausted (the alarm system is dead) and the possibility of cops being summoned is no longer part of the equation.  By then it's game over.  So, if the monitoring company were to do something to ensure the safety of the house, it would have to be before then.  To force the issue, let's assume they can't reach me (it's a vacation after all).  What would they do?

 

[pete_c]

expectations for the monitoring company are too low

 
Personally something is better than nothing these days. 

 

[ano]

This is why you also monitor your house main power with a zone as well.  IE, you get an immediate alarm that someone entered the panel AND your house power is off (so you know its not a false alarm)!

What if the monitor failed, do you have a monitor to monitor the other monitor for failure? :wacko:

 

[Automate]

Your home security company does not have to be the same company as your alarm monitoring company,.
 
If you are that worried about it, pay a high end security company to check on your house while you are on vacation.  You give them a key to the place before you go out of town.  They will come and check on the house at whatever frequency you are willing to pay for.  If you get a power failure alarm they come and check on your home.  If they find the power has been turned off they call the cops and notify them there has been a break-in. The security person can turn the power back on and maybe at this point you pay them extra to keep closer tabs on the house for a while to see if the burglars return.
 
In my option it's more important to protect people than things.  Make sure you have good insurance and anything with sentimental value / irreplaceable is not in the house. 

 

[RAL]

+1

 

[video321]

I was part of Hurricane Sandy - luckily inland enough to not have any damage.
Anyway... my M1 was without power for ~18 hrs. before I got connected to a generator. I have (2) 8Ah batteries in parallel and standby draw is somewhere ~450 mAh.
Once external power was connected, and knowing how many generators were being stolen, I set a few simple rules to alert me whenever AC was lost again after a few seconds and to sound the alarm. At that point I would be running outside to protect what was mine!

 

[Desert_AIP]

I can confirm as of last night that an Omni Pro II with 48 zones and an expansion enclosure and wireless receiver can run at least 13 hours with a pair of 8AH batteries in the main enclosure and another in the expansion enclosure.
 

 

[NeverDie]

It doesn't sound like there are any off-the-shelf systems that only sip power, as no one has yet mentioned one.
 
The security company suggestion is a good one (thanks for posting it).  What's the going rate for that type of service?  I guess it boils down to either that, solar panels on the roof, or roll-my-own alarm system.

 

[tmbrown97]

I'd find a way to supply enough battery before I'd try to roll my own alarm; your insurance won't recognize your own alarm system but they shouldn't freak out over being overly cautious of your power supply.  It's not hard to add a little panel.