Burglar Alarm (MERGED)

belfastgal

wacko911 wrote:

Go for a wired system. Brand is really up to you (and price), just make sure the system has 6-8 Zones, battery backed up and takes remote keypads (so you can hide the control panel away in the loft or somewhere out the the way, and just have a nice tidy keypad on display.

You should be looking at a movment (PIR) sensor in every ground floor perimeter room (these are about a £10 each if your going DIY and buy online).

A PIR on high traffic areas of each additional floor (Usually one upstairs) (This should be zoned to allow part set of the system at night - ie All ground floor sensors & Door sensors, but free movement upstairs - keeping you safe while you sleep- 50% of bulgaries happen while people are in bed)

A Door contact on each exterior door (Front, Back & Patio) (2 quid each) - Most people dont bother with these as they reckon the PIRs are so good they pick you up as soon as you open the door anyhow, but I disagree. Door contacts can be zoned which allows the system to be part set to secure all exterior doors while your in the house (Ie creeper burgalaries - after your car keys/Handbags etc)

And Usually 2 Keypads (One Upstairs (or bedroom) and One at entry point) (£30 quid each)

Bellbox - S/A type with strobe ~ 30-40 quid - These will go off even if you cut the wires running to them as they have thier own batteries

Internal Speaker near the exit point so you can hear the system setting correctly (£5)

Internal sounder (Very loud sound bomb, most alarms are pretty quiet internally with double glazed windows, these panic intruders because they think all hell must have broke loose) (£5)

Sealed lead acid Battery for control panel (£10-20)

Optional item - Remote dialler - Limited use unless you have someone close who can respond, they dial up to 4 number and playback a recorded message when alarm is triggered. One good use of these is the 'Silent Panic' & Duress Code' function on most panels. Take for example - someone breaks in or forces a family member to disarm the system, instead of entering the usual disarm code, they enter a secondary duress code, the alarm then appears to shutdown but is silently dialing the programmed number and letting your contacts know the duress code has been entered.

About 100M of 6 or 8 core alarm cable ~£20

And a whole day installing + Routing cables or pay someone £400

Can you tell me who would do all that , any company you could recommend? or pm me if you dont want to put on here.or do i just print all the above off and try and get somone from yellow pages to do it all.

wacko911

Never used but but my sister phoned round looking quotes one time, most were in the range £800-900, the cheapest was £460 installed for the following:

cbm security systems (bloke called Connor)
028 38334344
07776363235
Based in Portadown

For panel, bellbox, remote dialler and 6 Movement sensors with one keyapd quoted £460

Or try Yellow pages and get some quotes.

---lee---

Did this myself about 4 years ago all with parts ordered from screwfix direct (Tate alarms). Fully wired alarm with all wires concealed behind coving, in walls and in loft. PIR sensors in every room except upstairs (1 on landing). 3 remote panels. 1 at front door, 1 upstairs and 1 in the garage. Magnetic sensors on all doors (including garage) and windows. Vibration sensors on vulnerable French windows. 2 Independent alarm boxes, 1 at front, 1 at back. Everything running on mains with battery backup. Alarm boxes look good (which is probably the 2nd most important thing) with flashing green/red LEDs and nice bright strobe lights.

If you go for anything like this, I really recommend a remote panel in the garage – dead handy as you can get something (like a pram or whatever) out of the garage as your leaving the house and then set the alarm.

Really enjoyed doing this as a project, except for fitting the alarm boxes as I’m scared of heights! I will need to replace the backup batteries in the alarm boxes in a year and I’m not looking forward to that.

My tips on things to look for in a system are:

1. False alarms. All sensors etc should be positioned and planned to avoid false alarms. Nobody is going to take notice of an alarm which is always sounding.
2. Effective looking alarm boxes. If the box looks like a piece of tat, it’s not going to put anyone off and after all the main function of an alarm is as a deterrent.
3. Ease of use. It’s something that has to be used daily so it has to be easy to use for all the family – for example, allowing multiple PIN codes so that everyone can have their own easy to remember combination.

In four years, we have never had a false alarm and we use the system at least every day and sometimes 4/5 times a day. Unless you count the time I left my keys in the house and had to break a window

Total cost was around £300 and this included fitting a dedicated non-rcd protected electrical circuit.

wacko911

Great post lee, on useability, most system now have a simple set function, I got the ADE simple sets, basically a very small key fob and the system can be programmed for up to 8 keyfobs. To arm the system, just bring the fob close to the keypad, and to disarm do the same. No codes to remember or mis-type in a rush. Well worth the extra £30. 100% idiot proof and cuts down on false alarms from incorrectly setting the system.

Also handy to give to people who dont really have a clue (in-laws) and if your loose a fob it can be deprogrammed.

---lee---

wacko911 wrote:

No codes to remember or mis-type in a rush. Well worth the extra £30. 100% idiot proof and cuts down on false alarms from incorrectly setting the system.

Sounds good. Now what would be ideal, would be central locking for the house

Also handy to give to people who dont really have a clue (in-laws) and if your loose a fob it can be deprogrammed.

In our case, I don’t think it would be idiot proof enough

lapat

if it was me i would go for the texecom premer but there a little advanced to install
my next choice would be a texecom veritas8 or excel as the excel comes with led keypad which are £40+ on there own.text and speech dialer i feel are a must as i also have smoke alarms rigged to my alarm but thats personal option especially if you have good/nosy neighbours
texecom are really simple to wire up and all cable is colour coded so if you can read and follow instructions have a go yourself.plus texecom have a dedicated telephone support for diy installs
i buy all mine from https://www.brewtime.co.uk they are primary trade but do supply to the public with no problems and they are usually delivered within 48hrs
they have got a kit on for under £120 including vat here http://www.brewtime.co.uk/product-detail.asp?d=577 and you could add extras to this if required i.e more pir's door contacts
and they have an upgraded version with speech dialer for around £240 with lcd keypad which is the excel model which does include event log
please see next post for what i usually fit for a 4 bed house
john

lapat

4 bed house with garage
veritas excell with lcd keypad
extra keypad for top of stairs
4 pir's (1 l/room:1d/room:1kitchen:1top of stairs)
as many door contacts as required(i.e front back,patio,garage etc)
sounder bomb hall way and somewhere at the rear of the property(kitchen usually)
2 sounder boxes with strobe and flashing led's
2 x panic buttons 1 top stairs next to control panel and one at the front door(link them together) non latching type so the kids cant play with them
speech and text dialer(text + speech dialer about £2 more than normal speech dialer)
this kit costs around £300 with vat
dont forget if you select it all seperatley to get your cable/clips and battery back up

Helen_from_yorkshire

---lee--- wrote:

If you go for anything like this, I really recommend a remote panel in the garage – dead handy as you can get something (like a pram or whatever) out of the garage as your leaving the house and then set the alarm.

Wouldn't recommend leaving your house via an integral garage, though obviously much safer if alarmed. If your house has an integral garage and there is no extra security measures on garage door, this is an easy way for burglars to access property. Once in the garage the burglar could then work unseen, probably using all the tools you store in the garage to gain access to your home.

We have recently put some extra security measures in place on our garage door (if up and over door, drill thru runners and attach padlock so door can't be opened). This would also prevent anyone who happened to gain entry to your house from leaving by that route.

---lee---

Helen_from_yorkshire wrote:

Wouldn't recommend leaving your house via an integral garage, though obviously much safer if alarmed. If your house has an integral garage and there is no extra security measures on garage door, this is an easy way for burglars to access property.

Good job I don't have an integral garage then!

Once in the garage the burglar could then work unseen, probably using all the tools you store in the garage to gain access to your home.

The !!!!!! would have to fight his way through piles of kiddies toys and rubbish first. He would have to tidy it up first before he could find anything

We have recently put some extra security measures in place on our garage door (if up and over door, drill thru runners and attach padlock so door can't be opened). This would also prevent anyone who happened to gain entry to your house from leaving by that route.

All good points. I have toyed with the idea of putting a door from the house into the garage as it's alongside but I think the security and fire risks outweigh the small benefits in my case - not to mention the fact that it would put me within shouting distance of she who must be obeyed when in the garage (and the kids).

I might put a door in the back of it though to save having to go out of the front of the house and through the big garage door. I would have to tidy it up first though

Spindrift_2

I used RG Alarm Systems who are based in Cookstown. Tel 028 867 62268
Mobile : 07775 574 134 I think they would cover all of N.I. (i'm based in portadown)

Wired up my new house last March for £514.98;

1 Control Panel
1 Battery
1 Bell (also 1 dummy box)
7 PIR (still have one spare on control box)
2 Keypad

Also very good after sales support. Had problem with 1 faulty PIR on 2 occasions and they came out and fixed/replaced within 1/2 days on both occasions.

cheers