ELK Layout Help

[sbex55]

Hello. Newbie here. I have been retrofitting my home with wire in preparation for security and home automation. My top level goals are as follows:

- Home Security (doors, heat/water/co2/smoke/glass break and motion detectors, garage door opener)
- Home Automation (external lighting for security, some interior lighting)
- Thermostats Control (5 h/w zones + 1 a/c zone)
- House Audio (5 inside rooms, 2 exterior decks)
- Wireless control using android


I have selected Elk for my security solution. For the immediate future I plan to self-monitor.

Here is my current sensor plan:

Sensors / Wired To
10 Contacts (doors) / XIN
3 Keypads w/ internal speakers / DBH
5 Smokes / ?
6 Motions (2 indoor) / ?
5 Cameras (1 indoor) / ?
4 Heat/Temperature / ?
2 CO2 / ?
2 Water / ?
1 Door Bell detector / ?
1 Garage Door controller / Main Board
4 Glass Breaks / ?
3 Sirens (1 outdoor) / ?


Here is my current Elk component plan:

Components / Powered By
1 M1-Gold / Transformer
1 XEP / ?
1 DBH / ?
X1 IN / ?
3 KP2 (+SP12F) / ?
1 930 (doorbell detector) / ?


I would appreciate help in the following areas:

1 - approach on where to connect listed sensors

2 - approach to powering components (and related sensors) with growth for HA, Cameras, Home Audio

3 - approach to battery backup


I have many other questions but help in the above areas will hopefully clear up some of the fog and allow me to purchase my initial configuration. Thanks!

(edit - sorry ... having a hard time formatting the tables )

 

[sbex55]

I've read through the forum as well as the ELK website. I'm kind of on information overload so maybe specific questions would help better. At the moment, I'm looking to setup only the security portion (minus cameras) of my system.

My 'start-up' ELK product list is as follows:

M1-Gold Kit (main board, 1280 8a battery, transformer, etc)
M1XEP
M1DBH
M1XIN
M1XSP
M1KP2 (3)
SP12F
930

1 - Will the main board provide enough power for the rest of the system? If not, what else should I get?

2 - Will the 8a battery provide sufficient backup capability?

3 - Which sensors (listed above) should connect to the main board? I understand 2-wire smokes attach to Zone 16.

4 - If I only have a garage door controller can I attach this to the main board?


Thanks for the help!!

 

[tmbrown97]

Smokes, Doors, Windows, Glassbreaks, etc - all wire to the inputs. 16 zones onboard, upgradeable to 208 total using additional XIN's. The only things that have to be on the main board are 2-wire smokes, temperature sensors, and any analog sensing.

Thermostats - these will connect via an XSP serial port. Depending on the thermostat chosen, that depends on how many XSP's you need. Some like the RCS Communicating Zone Controllers only need 1 connection for the whole system (up to 8 thermostats); HAI I believe you can do 4 thermostats to a single XSP. Look at the manual for the XSP for more details. (hint: homecontrols.com has manuals listed on their product pages).

When it comes to evaluating the battery and current limits, you need to look up the specs on each device added and pay attention to the max draw. Of course, these are only best-estimates, and should be validated through actually testing the panel once installed. Determining the size of the battery depends on how long you want it to last and what's connected to it. For burglary I believe the standard is 8 hours; for fire it's 24.

If you're exceeding the power draw draw capabilities of the M1, you can incorporate an Elk P212S power supply - it'll connect to the M1's databus for supervision and provide an additional power supply and battery charger. When running sub panels, always make sure to size the sub panel to last longer than the main panel - having sub panels fall off due to low battery causes all sorts of havoc.

And for the garage door, piece of cake; either using one of the onboard voltage-only outputs connected to a relay, or possibly Output 3's full Form C relay if it's not being used for anything else (typically strobe or screamer piezo sirens).

 

[sbex55]

Thank you for the information. This is a big help.

I made my initial purchase yesterday from Automated Outlet. Tyler was very helpful and gave me a great bundle price! Can't wait to dive it!