Zone Planning

I've been looking for info on how to logically setup zones for a security system. I haven't been able to find much, so any help finding any existing would be appreciated.
 
Otherwise, here is what I'm thinking:
 
Entry Points will have their own zone. ~3 zones
-Front Door
-Back Door
-Garage Door
 
Each rooms' windows will be on it's own zone. ~9 zones
-Master
-Master bath
-Kitchen / Den
-Living Room
-Office
-Bedroom 1
-Bedroom 2
-Jack & Jill Bath
-Basement
 
Motions each on own zone. ~3 zones
-foyer by garage
-top of stairs
-basement stairs
 
Smokes each on own zone. ~3 zones
-foyer by garage
-top of stairs (covers 3 bedrooms)
-basement (unfinished)
 
O detectors each on own zone. ~3 zones
-foyer by garage
-top of stairs (covers 3 bedrooms)
-basement (unfinished)
 
 
[SIZE=14.399999618530273px]Does this make sense? Should I put smokes and COs in all bedrooms? If windows have shock and open sensors, can both types of sensors exist in the same zone?[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.399999618530273px]Thanks in advance,[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=14.399999618530273px]Brett[/SIZE]
 
I put every door, motion and smoke on a separate zone and all windows in a room on a zone, each room has it's own zone.
I'd wire the garage bay door(s) too.

You can wire glass breaks and window contacts in series on the same zone.

I believe code requires a smoke detector in every bed room.
 
Don't mix sensor types in a zone.  Grouping two windows in a room together is fine, but combining shock/contact sensors is not really OK.  Depending on the type of information you want, having every zone separate can be beneficial.  The cost of a zone expander is pretty inconsequential.
 
Desert_AIP said:
I put every door, motion and smoke on a separate zone and all windows in a room on a zone, each room has it's own zone.
I'd wire the garage bay door(s) too.

You can wire glass breaks and window contacts in series on the same zone.

I believe code requires a smoke detector in every bed room.
 
Excellent, thanks for the feedback. I can't find code on the smokes but from what I've read, it sounds like new code has one in every room but some seem to think outside each bedroom is fine.
 
 
Work2Play said:
Don't mix sensor types in a zone.  Grouping two windows in a room together is fine, but combining shock/contact sensors is not really OK.  Depending on the type of information you want, having every zone separate can be beneficial.  The cost of a zone expander is pretty inconsequential.
 
Thanks for the reply. You would recommend having a zone for 1 rooms window shocks and another zone for the contacts?
While the cost of a zone expander is inconsequential alone, the cost of the total package is hard to keep within budget. I'll have to make several sacrifices of convenience along the way I'm sure. After the intial install I'll be able to re-zone as needed in the future. Not ideal but I'll have to make due.
 
Work2Play, wondering why you shouldn't mix sensor types.

In my case I have the same area monitored, I hooked the relay output from the glass break in series with the other window contacts because there are some large non-opening windows that could be smashed.
 
Run wires now, if your walls are open. then you can install additional devices when you can.
 
COs are installed one on each floor where you have combustion devices. I think code makes you put them on all floors, but in our place, the top floor, there are no combustion devices. And since COs are tied to alarm, we will know when they go off.
 
You are supposed to put smokes on only one zone with Elk (there is some debate on this), but you can put additional thermals on dedicated zones. I put one in kitchen and one in furnace room. Smokes have to be reset, and there is an issue with having them on separate zones. Do a search if you want to read more.
 
Much of this is up to you, but personally, I think smokes should be on one zone, but if you use more zones fine, just make sure you monitor the power to the smoke alarms with a relay. 
 
I would definitely ALWAYS keep each motion detector separate. You may use those for home automation as well, so you have to know which one is triggering.  If you don't want to add more motion detectors now, at least wire for them. You can't have too many.
 
If you put a smoke alarm in the basement, make sure it meets the temp and humidity environment for the sensor. 
 
I'd also invest in some heat sensors for the attic, kitchen, by the water heater, etc.  They are good insurance.  I wouldn't have a problem with wiring all the windows in each room to one zone for that room, if you want to save zones. The advantage of separate zones is you can bypass a single window if you want to leave one open for some air.
 
Also, I don't know how big your house is, but it seems pretty light on smoke alarms and motion detectors.  At least think about wiring for more now, even if you don't connect them now. 
 
@ano The house size is 2400sqft but the layout is really open. Half the downstairs has really high ceilings and the other half is basically an office, and kitchen / den (no wall, just a breakfast bar separation). The upstairs has a ~8x8 landing at the top of the stairs which opens into 3 bedrooms. The basement is unfinished. The back door opens directly into the den/kitchen area and the front door opens almost directly into the living room. The garage door is by the office. I have the motions setup to the main pathways in the house should the perimeters not be alarmed.
 
I personally don't like to see mixed zone types - especially when one is powered and one is not; plus they would have different reaction types.  Also a CO might weight them differently when reviewing the events; a momentary (1 second or so) trigger may carry a different weight than a window that gets opened for several seconds or left open.    I'm not a Central Office so I don't know their protocols - maybe DEL can chime in when he sees this thread.  For the $100 of a XIN I know I'd personally want to know what "really happened" when my alarm is triggered; I don't want to have to trace down whether the wind caused my window to rattle or if something triggered the specific acoustic signature that's required to trigger a glassbreak.
 
Also with glassbreaks other considerations may come in with how they're set up; for instance, they may trigger easier from keys or broken cups so around a kitchen you wouldn't necessarily want them always armed or even listening except during night/away modes - but say you have a basement that you don't go into too often - you can have them trigger an alarm even if the house isn't armed (forced entry while you're home) or someone smashing the front window when the house isn't armed... those types of scenarios.
 
Work2Play said:
Also with glassbreaks other considerations may come in with how they're set up; for instance, they may trigger easier from keys or broken cups so around a kitchen you wouldn't necessarily want them always armed or even listening except during night/away modes - but say you have a basement that you don't go into too often - you can have them trigger an alarm even if the house isn't armed (forced entry while you're home) or someone smashing the front window when the house isn't armed... those types of scenarios.
Ah!
Good points.
 
I'll need to noodle on that one.
 
brettahale said:
If you put smokes all on one zone, can you still tell which smoke set the alarm in action?
Generally yes. Most smoke sensors have a memory. Check the manual for the sensor. Usually the LED on the sensor will flash a certain way when it was that sensor that triggered the alarm. When the alarm is turned off then back on, the memory is cleared, so you have to check all the smoke alarms before you activate the alarm panel again to find the correct one, or the information will be permantly lost.
 
I try to put each sensor on its own zone so I have some granularity when creating automation rules, or so when I get a voice alert for a zone, I know exactly which sensor is being triggered.  The only thing I have grouped is where I have banks of windows.  For example, "Lower office windows" and "Rec Room Windows" are each banks of 3 sensors wired in series.  If my alarm goes off in the middle of the night because someone broke in, this lets me know what direction to start pointing the shotgun also.  :)
 
I've got 6 outside doors, and each one of those is on its own zone for the reasons listed above.  And also, some of them I want to set the alarm off instantly if they are opened when armed, and some I want a delay on.  When the alarm is armed, no one should be coming in my balcony door or my deck door.
 
brettahale said:
If you put smokes all on one zone, can you still tell which smoke set the alarm in action?
I thought this would be an issue as well when i was planning, but if you think about it, in a house, it is less of an issue. You can tell pretty quick where the issue is. It is not like an apartment building where the fire department needs to locate the fire quickly so they can act.
 
We have rental and separate garage. So it would be nice to have smokes zones (though smokes are not recommended in garage, but I have done it before).
 
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