Replacing Existing Security System with Elk M1?
- Thread starter TheDeepRough
- Start date
TheDeepRough
New Member
Wow, you guys have given me a lot to think about. From what I can tell thus far, it is mostly as DEL has described. Big loop around the house. The good thing is, each room on the first floor seems to drop to the basement, then tapped in series with the next room. So, it should be relatively simple for me to pull all new wires to 'home', heck, I can even move home to the basement based on this. Right now the 'home' is in a firewood closet in the living room, which, not a huge fan of.
So, aside from having the windows already drilled out, and cable running to those contacts, looks like I am not going to re-use much from the existing install. Based on what you guys have been saying, seems like it will be more work to figure out what is going on with all of them, rather than simply getting new contacts, and pulling new wire to the basement.
So, I may start with simply getting an ISY-994i, M1 Gold and some new window sensors for the first floor. See how that goes
Is this kit from Smarthome enough to get me going on that front?
http://www.smarthome.com/128301D/INSTEON-Compatible-Elk-M1-Gold-Kit-and-ISY-994i-with-Dual-Band-INSTEON-Interface/p.aspx
So, aside from having the windows already drilled out, and cable running to those contacts, looks like I am not going to re-use much from the existing install. Based on what you guys have been saying, seems like it will be more work to figure out what is going on with all of them, rather than simply getting new contacts, and pulling new wire to the basement.
So, I may start with simply getting an ISY-994i, M1 Gold and some new window sensors for the first floor. See how that goes
Is this kit from Smarthome enough to get me going on that front?
http://www.smarthome.com/128301D/INSTEON-Compatible-Elk-M1-Gold-Kit-and-ISY-994i-with-Dual-Band-INSTEON-Interface/p.aspx
The only item I could add would be to verify before attempting to pull a contact....that there's slack in the wire (most likely zip-cord). A lot of guys tended to "drop" the wires and then staple them all back after everything was mounted or pulled the wires tight to make it look "pretty" without leaving slack at the contact, or even stapling the slack to the joists, so "disassembly" is needed before pulling a contact.
You've discovered what most people turn a blind eye to when performing takeovers....a lot of times how the house was "zoned" or wired originally was a function of how limited the original equipment was, so they wouldn't go through and home run rooms or doors, just wire as the crow flies. When swapping to newer or more capable equipment, wiring 6-8 zones to a panel capable of 1-200, it's foolish to at least not break up windows by room and doors separately. I don't know which is worse, a continous loop system or a system with a huge junction box with a rat's nest inside.
You've discovered what most people turn a blind eye to when performing takeovers....a lot of times how the house was "zoned" or wired originally was a function of how limited the original equipment was, so they wouldn't go through and home run rooms or doors, just wire as the crow flies. When swapping to newer or more capable equipment, wiring 6-8 zones to a panel capable of 1-200, it's foolish to at least not break up windows by room and doors separately. I don't know which is worse, a continous loop system or a system with a huge junction box with a rat's nest inside.
KenN
Member
So, I may start with simply getting an ISY-994i, M1 Gold and some new window sensors for the first floor. See how that goes
Is this kit from Smarthome enough to get me going on that front?
http://www.smarthome...nterface/p.aspx
That's exactly the kit that I started with, and it is definitely a good start. I also added a second keypad on my first order. After that, after several iterations planning and re-planning my zones, I quickly realized that a zone input expander was needed. Also, you need to plan your home network a bit to figure out how the XEP and the ISY will fit into the LAN and how to expose it to the internet (if you want to do so). I ended up adding a wifi bridge do do this.
And of course, the Insteon hardware included is just the controller and the module for powerline comms. Once you start building the Insteon network then you'll be replacing your dimmers, outlets, etc at a fantastic rate.
apostolakisl
Senior Member
You will want to get the Elk Module for ISY as well. This is a simple matter of paying for it and activating it once you get the ISY. It adds heaps of functionality to the system.
