An Elk system on a budget?

[tmbrown97]

Yeah, when I first got the house I wired all the Cat5 and cable - but did nothing for the alarm because I hadn't yet settled on the Elk or learned enough about what was required - I could've saved that $500 charge if I'd done it when we did the rest of the wiring (which was before the walls were painted or the drywall repairs were done).

 

[jlehnert]

once I recover from the shock of paying for this house

You mean the shock eventually ends? It doesn't keep going on forever?

 

[TLCNORM]

I've installed a few ademco vista 20se's and they seem rock solid. Not sure how they price out nowadays.

 

[sic0048]

once I recover from the shock of paying for this house

You mean the shock eventually ends? It doesn't keep going on forever?

Well it ends in 30 years for most of us. 15 yrs if you are lucky

 

[mjara]

I've installed a few ademco vista 20se's and they seem rock solid. Not sure how they price out nowadays.

I took a quick look at the Ademco Vista 20 series, and I didn't see any home automation capabilities. They mention "upload/download via IP", but that doesn't mean much to me. (If I could point it to a machine on my network and have it upload state, that would be nice... probably too much to ask though.

 

[hucker]

To keep your budget in check keep your eyes open on ebay and here. I bought all of my alarm/fire alarm stuff right here and on ebay. I'd estimate at 40% of retail maybe less. As I recall the little stuff added up, mag sensors, wire, EOL relays, tools... I am using a CADDX system NE8. It is rock solid. You see CADDX stuff all of the time on ebay. Elk stuff doesn't come up very often as it is still pretty new.

 

[Lagerhead]

As I recall the little stuff added up, mag sensors, wire, EOL relays, tools...

For me, the big surprise was wire and cable. Probably 15% of the total installation cost. And I had a good number of legacy sensors already in place.

 

[CollinR]

I've installed a few ademco vista 20se's and they seem rock solid. Not sure how they price out nowadays.

I took a quick look at the Ademco Vista 20 series, and I didn't see any home automation capabilities. They mention "upload/download via IP", but that doesn't mean much to me. (If I could point it to a machine on my network and have it upload state, that would be nice... probably too much to ask though.

They are talking about the installer uploading/downloading the programming.

The Vista ICM is how you would connect to it via ethernet locally, total connect from Alarmnet is a hosted solution providing the same.


Really though bang:buck the M1EZ8 eats it's lunch, I use them just because thats what I already know and support.

 

[mjara]

My indecisiveness (and lack of response to my informational requests from some Elk vendors) has brought me back to reconsider a GE Concord 4. The Concord undoubtedly has less hardware capability than the Elk. But the Concord will get me basic alarm functionality at a much lower price, especially on eBay. I can then get the RS232 module for the Concord, something like an Asus Eee Box for $300 (or $100 if I'm *really* lucky on eBay), and HomeSeer (or some fancy coding in HomeZix to save some more bucks), and I have (started) a home automation system as good as the Elk for the same or less cost.

Comments?

 

[Digger]

My indecisiveness (and lack of response to my informational requests from some Elk vendors) has brought me back to reconsider a GE Concord 4. The Concord undoubtedly has less hardware capability than the Elk. But the Concord will get me basic alarm functionality at a much lower price, especially on eBay. I can then get the RS232 module for the Concord, something like an Asus Eee Box for $300 (or $100 if I'm *really* lucky on eBay), and HomeSeer (or some fancy coding in HomeZix to save some more bucks), and I have (started) a home automation system as good as the Elk for the same or less cost.

Comments?

I am an ELK reseller. If you have questions PM me and I will gladly answer them no matter whom you buy from. I think many of the resellers are burried lately (I have been I know). It should be letting up this week so you may hear back from them or you can ask again to get more than one opinion.


The GE Concord 4 is a good system but it is not really as flexible as the ELK (that is my opinion not a fact). I think there are several very happy GE users on here who can chime in. HAI is also very good but a little more expensive depending on what you want to do. The Ademco and Napco panels are great for regular security but not as popular for automation and have some limitations.

 

[mjara]

I am an ELK reseller. If you have questions PM me and I will gladly answer them no matter whom you buy from. I think many of the resellers are burried lately (I have been I know). It should be letting up this week so you may hear back from them or you can ask again to get more than one opinion.

Thanks for the offer, Digger, I really appreciate it. I won't take up your time quite yet though, because I'm still window shopping for Concord modules and sensors. If I decide it's not going to meet my needs, I'll take you up on that Elk quote.