M1 RS-485 Wiring

[Beeffajitas]

I'm getting ready to start installing my M1 and I'm getting a little confused by the RS-485/Home Run wiring.  Do I really need 18-20g conductor?  It looks like Home Depot carries 18-4 shielded cable.  But, the 22-4 is about half the cost.  My initial install will have a run from the basement to the attic, call it 50' max.  In the future, there may be a run to my detached garage, which would be 150'-ish.  Recommendations?  
 
 

 

[RAL]

I'm getting ready to start installing my M1 and I'm getting a little confused by the RS-485/Home Run wiring.  Do I really need 18-20g conductor?  It looks like Home Depot carries 18-4 shielded cable.  But, the 22-4 is about half the cost.  My initial install will have a run from the basement to the attic, call it 50' max.  In the future, there may be a run to my detached garage, which would be 150'-ish.  Recommendations?  

 
If you are going to home run the wiring for keypads, zone expanders or other Elk RS485 bus devices, you should use Cat5e cable. The extra conductors will allow you to create the proper daisy chain wiring that the RS485 bus requires.
 
If you home run only 4 conductor cable, then you will need to use an Elk M1DBHR retrofit hub to connect the devices.
 
22 gauge and 24 gauge wire is fine for most situations.  The only reason to use heavier gauge wire would be to avoid voltage drop on very long runs.