basic setup required

18/4 Fire Grade is mostly for Smoke detectors
you can use 22/2 or 22/4 Alarm grade for sensors depending on the sensor
I would then use 16/2 or 14/2 for speakers

Also all the sensors go to the M1 not the keypad
 
toymaster458 said:
18/4 Fire Grade is mostly for Smoke detectors
you can use 22/2 or 22/4 Alarm grade for sensors depending on the sensor
I would then use 16/2 or 14/2 for speakers

Also all the sensors go to the M1 not the keypad
I guess, the new drawing is correct? Is it?

security-wiring2.gif
 
directionally accurate.

What does EOL mean
End of Line resistor. There's an entry somewhere here on it, basically it's a resistor that you put inside your sensors to indicate that it's the last one on the circuit. It's nothing you need to worry about until you actually get the equipment. First thing you need to do is determine what you want to do and where.

I believe one of your questions was "how many 22/4 wires do I run to each room". The answer is...depends on the # and types of sensors you have. For example, in my rooms i have (and this isn't in EACH room):

1) smoke detector [needs an 18/4 run to that location]
2) motion detector [i ran 18/4 as I bought 1000' of it, 22/4 works too]
3) window contact sensors [22/2 - no power]
4) Heat [22/2 - no power needed]
5) CO [Haven't even opened up box yet, but i'd imagine it is 4-wire so in my case i ran 18/4 as i had a ton of it. I'm only doing 1 per floor]
6) Door contact sensors [22/2 - no power needed]
7) 2 Keypads, one in back of house, one in front of house. [ CAT5 ]

California requires smokes in almost every room, so i have motion & smoke everywhere. I have heat in the kitchen & laundry, and as the window sensors were priced by the dozen and were only ~$25, i bought a 12-pack. I have 15-18 windows, but i won't do every single one of them.

So to personalize this help for your situation - what do you want to put in each room? That'll tell you how many wires to run.
 
That is sweet! That helps a lot. I will do the wire drawing tonight based from toymaster's changes to my house layout he sent to me the other day.

So, I'm assuming that all we are talking about here are all low voltage?

Can I buy a 18/4 fire rated wire from home depot/lowes? Is the wire color coded?

Thanks again! :)
 
v1rtu0s1ty said:
So, I'm assuming that all we are talking about here are all low voltage?

Can I buy a 18/4 fire rated wire from home depot/lowes? Is the wire color coded?
Yes, all low voltage.

fire wire is red. It was not available at my HD/Lowes, but AO has it.

Is 18 gauge really required for smoke alarms? Is that a code thing or a technical thing? Without a built in sounder, it just doesn't seem like they would draw that much power and that 22/4 would be sufficient (and a lot cheaper).
 
WayneW said:
v1rtu0s1ty said:
So, I'm assuming that all we are talking about here are all low voltage?

Can I buy a 18/4 fire rated wire from home depot/lowes? Is the wire color coded?
Yes, all low voltage.

fire wire is red. It was not available at my HD/Lowes, but AO has it.

Is 18 gauge really required for smoke alarms? Is that a code thing or a technical thing? Without a built in sounder, it just doesn't seem like they would draw that much power and that 22/4 would be sufficient (and a lot cheaper).
Ok. But I still would go for 18 gauge. Better follow the PROs. :)
I want to do it right at the first time. And assuming I make some changes in the future, I don't have to rip it out the wrong wire and install an 18 gauge wire.

So, where can I buy a 18/4, 22/4, 22/2 locally? Any ideas guys?

Can you please send me a close jpeg screenshot of a 18/4 wire? :(

Thanks! The forum is amazing!
 
Ok guys, I just finished with the drawing. However, it's just my first floor. Can you please check out my wiring? I have placed legends too top right corner for the wiring.

Main_Floor.gif


Any help would be grealy appreciated. Thanks toymaster for the guidance! You are awesome.

Thanks,

Neil
 
You did a really nice job!!!

If it was me I would have 2 heat sensors in a garage that size. Its close but I think most heat detectors are good for 15' x 15'. Also where is the furnace/boiler located?

Be careful that your motions are not pointed to windows or sliding glass doors which MIGHT cause a false alarm.

Flood sensor under kitchen sink? ( I find it handy)

If you have any walk in closets you might want to put a door contact on them for lighting control in the future.

Do you want to pull Cat 5 for future camera's?
 
v1rtu0s1ty

Much better looking print then you sent me!

Looking at it better lets move the Family Room Glass Break to the Left side so it can cover any glass on the back door as well.

As Digger mentioned lets move the Motion may get a false Alarm on the window and I am not sure of the distance in the Living room so to be safe the Motion could be moved to the upper left corner of the diningroom. Also on the Garage with the price of heat detectors moving it over and adding another is such a great idea, I wish I though of it.

In the Laundry room move the Keypad to the other side of the door so you do not need to close the door to turn off the alarm.
 
You may want to add a second (or even a third) strobe along the back side of the house, in case backyard or side neighbors hear a siren and look outside to see where it is coming from.
 
I have found from talking with other Alarm Installers that most neighbors do not pay attention to sirens anymore but get pissed that they are going off. What is normally done around here now is the outside siren goes off for less time then the inside and then keep the strobe on untill the alarm is disarmed. That way when you get home you will know if the alarm was tripped and easier for the police/fire to find at night.
 
Are you going to have a WaterCop (or just an electric water valve for about $80), Sprinkler System, Intercom System, etc etc etc... boy can I spend other peoples money.

The possiblities are endless. The more prewiring you do the easier it will be later.
 
What he could also do is standard water sensors and a valve on the main. Then program the elk to shut off the main on water detection.
 
Ok guys, thank you very much for all the feedbacks. I'm happy that I'm learning. I was reading HOWTO that was given to me by the first reply to this thread. The HOWTO(http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=739) mentions that 4 wires should be used for glass break detectors. In my drawing, I only used 2 wires. Should I change it?

Also, the motion detector in my family room, should I also move it to the upper right corner so it doesn't point to the windows?

I'm really confused as to how a glass break detectors works and this confuses me on how I would wire it. The same HOWTO that I was reading was teaching how to install contacts for windows. How and where in the window should the glass break detectors be installed? How high too?

About the fire sprinklers, the village required the builder to install sprinklers in the community that we will be moving. So yes, there will be sprinkler.

What is watercop? I actually would like to stay in my budget. :D But I definitely would like to provision all the wirings before the drywall gets installed and that I install it properly too. :D hehehe

So guys, I really appreciate all your help! :p Continue pouring, hehehe

I will make another picture later with the modified changes. Toymaster, I traced the picture you sent to me using Photoshop. ;) Oh, I will do some measurements too.

Aight guys!
 
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