Planned Alarm System - Seeking Review and Comments

Ranman

Ranman

Member
I have been doing my homework and am planning to install a security system in my home. I also have aspirations for some light HA in the future. My house is a 2 story colonial, roughly 3000sqft. The home was not pre-wired in any way and is finished and painted. There is a basement with full access to the floor joists, etc.

I have access to the attic as well however there is no conduit providing easy multi floor wiring capabilities.

I have two 15lb cats that roam the house.

At some point I may add some wireless contacts to improve coverage, but I intend to do as much hard wiring / fishing as humanly possible.

Below is a list of the products I have chosen and am leaning toward purchasing. While I think I have the ELK portion of this locked down, I struggle with identifying good relaible products to utilize. GE, GRI, Honeywell, etc not to mention all of the options offered by each manufacturer.

If anyone would care to review the list below and provide comments/feedback on what I have chosen, I would love to hear your thoughts. If you think theres a better alternate product, please go ahead and make a suggestion. Thanks so much.

1 X M1GKS No Enclosure 2 X M1KP2 Keypad 3 X ELK-M1BBK2 Elk Back box for flush mounting M1KP2 4 X ELK SP-12F Speaker for M1KP2's and walls 1 X M1DBH Data bus hub 1 X M1XEP Elk Ethernet Port from Data Bus Expander/Interface 1 X ELK-RM Elk Remote Management Software 1 X ELK-SWS 1 X ADEMCO 748 DT Siren 1 X Ademco 955PST-WH Garage Entry 1 X Ademco 944TRE (Sliding Door 6 X Ademco PAL-T Front Door and Windows) 4 X Honeywell Intelisense DT7435 3 X Honeywell Intellisense FG1625RFM 1 X Genesis Cable 11041101 22/4 STR 1000FT
 
Get a SYS4 or whatever you need to get the KP's you want. It'll have almost everything you'll need hardware and enclosure-wise, unless you up it to a 28", but I'd still get the 14" to have (junction or to be used elsewhere).

I'd also stay with 3/4" recessed contacts for the doors, only use 3/8" where space is a premium or windows. I'd also ditch the Honewell GBD's and PIR's. I've had better luck with Bosch DS835I's or their newer blue-line versions (slightly larger physically) and Visonic G-techs. Mainly due to their "no-adjustments needed" 99% of the time out of the box. Your outdoor horn doesn't need a driver, so you only need an appropriate bullhorn or self-contained speaker.

You'll be pushing it for the wire as well. I'd look at C5E for your keypads, 18/2 for speakers/transformer, and then you'd be at a more appropriate amount with 1M of 22/4.
 
Looks like a good list... I'd probably follow DEL's advice on the sensors.

I ended up using the 14" can in the garage as an expansion panel - works great. I used a 28" in the last house which was fine... Then in this house I went overkill with a 50".

I really don't like using a siren on the Elk... Use a speaker instead. There are several reasons but simplest is it's easier to manage voltage draw among other things. That said, I augment interior sirens with GE Screamers - they're painfully loud with minimal current draw and they're cheap.
 
If you are serious about hardwiring most everything (that is the best...) you should look at installing a basement to attic conduit. Make it larger than you think you will ever need - they have a way of filling up quickly as you think of more things. It is possible to hardwire quite a bit but fishing the wires does take time and effort - there are other places that give info on that. Read up - planning can save a lot of frustration and effort during the fishing. Can you locate an upper wall directly over a lower wall for the conduit to attic? You will still need to cut some drywall. Where you will need to get back in later they make frameless covers that work great for cutouts. Get a long flex bit. A length of light chain is good for dropping down and hooking it from below to get through lower holes. A helper is almost essential at times.
 
Seems nobody's mentioned placement yet either - for the motions. The ideal place to mount them is so they don't face windows, but that often means mounting them on exterior walls which is way harder in a retrofit. I get around that with dual or quad-technology sensors that have far better false-alarm immunity. That said, even with 100lb pet immune sensors, your 15lb cats can still set off pet-immune sensors if they get into the right part of the sensor path. You'll want to position sensors and cat-toys so that the cats are never several feet off the ground in front of a sensor (a cat on a dresser or on a tall cat toy will still trigger it). Also pointed at stairs can cause problems.

Wiring isn't horrible either - I have a 4,000sq ft 2-story with no basement (on a slab) and still pulled off getting wires everywhere I needed them. In a couple places, I had to open double-gang holes and cover them with a blank as feed/drill points - and in the end they're barely noticeable. Some day I figure I'll patch them. My most difficult run was where I had to run down two exterior walls to reach my destination - so I pulled off the baseboard and then cut the drywall behind it - and routed around the room. Anything is doable; and drywall is actually quite cheap/easy to repair (often way faster than worrying about how to avoid damage).
 
video321 said:
Hey DEL-
What is the reason for this?
Click to expand...

For recessed contacts I use the following Honeywell (Ademco PN's) 944T, 944TRE, 944TSP, 947-75T and 955PST (pushbuttons) and as surface contatcts, PAL-T. Application dictates the specific choice but here's a generalization:

3/8" recessed on DH windows or spaces such as vinyl sliders where there's a tongue/groove the slider closes over (you'd have to see one to understand placement). EOLR's only placed at window if no other choice (such as all windows need a 3/8" contact). Difficult to remove without destroying the contact or damaging the wood.

3/4" recessed with 3/8" magnet: Wood jambed doors with either wood or steel clad doors with wood on locking side. This is so I can center the magnet on the wood section and not have to drill a large 3/4" hole in the door. Contact is sized for EOLR and room to work, as you'll need to use a single crimp cap on the resistor. Allows easier use of a 3/8" hole for working room/space for wire, resistor and cap. Also allows easier removal for access to resistor if needed (screwdriver under flange). A 3/4" hole in bare wood tends to split out/follow grain if too close to the bottom/top of the door over time.

3/4" w/ 3/4" magnet, same as above EXCEPT on hollow steel doors/steel clad with no exposed wood. Also on aluminum sliders.

Pushbutton contacts (or last case scenario, rollers) on the butt side of a door only, never on a slider. I prefer the ones I listed because of the size and spring of the pushbutton itself, less likely to hang up compared to say a GRI PBF100T.

3/4" allows for easier removal/access to the EOLR, which is going to be needed at some point. Surface with a cover, while not as "trim" as some, allows for EOLR placement at the contact itself.

I do not like contacts with built in EOLR's....special item, not easily found on a holiday before a long weekend, and also panel specific. Sooner or later the panel will be changed, and even the same manufacturer may use different resistors across their line/application. Creating resistor spiders to get a zone to set up is not the way to fly.

Motion locations have general "best practices" which should be followed no matter what, and with appropriate system design and number of devices, you can mask off trouble areas without negatively impacting coverage.
 
Thanks for the rundown, DEL.
I also used the 944TRE on my install, but I didn't use EOL which would explain your preference for 3/4".
 
Since I had spare cat5 wire from a box of 10kft, I just ran cat5 and used a spare pair to let me put the EOLR inside the panel and still have it really be "logically" at the sensor but easy to access in the panel. But to echo what someone else said, be sure everything is well-documented. I keep a reminder diagram stuck inside the panel door.
 
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