What system to DIY?

[m0t]

Currently renovating our house and the GF has requested an alarm be put in as she is worried about burglars.

Our house is a fairly standard semi and I was thinking I needed 4 PIRs and 2 door detectors.

In terms of wired vs wireless I am starting to go off wireless due to the added expense of the batteries.

I would at some stage like to be able to expand the system so I could check whether it had been armed remotely.

What sort of system should I be looking to get to cover all this?

I had my house rewired last year and as part of that I had to have 2 x smoke detectors and a heat detector installed. They are mains powered by wirelessly communicate with each other, is there any way these could be linked to an alarm as well?

 

[socdesign]

Galaxy G2-12 allows iPhone & Android based full remote control. At £35 for the panel, £35 for keypad and £49 for IP board, it's the cheapest of the decent brands that can offer this.

It's unlikely that your smoke alarms will have any clean switched outputs to connect with an alarm panel.

 

[sparkymarka]

Depending on the make of the smoke alarms,you may be able to get a relay base .

 

[m0t]

Galaxy G2-12 allows iPhone & Android based full remote control. At £35 for the panel, £35 for keypad and £49 for IP board, it's the cheapest of the decent brands that can offer this.

It's unlikely that your smoke alarms will have any clean switched outputs to connect with an alarm panel.

Any recommended suppliers?

 

[socdesign]

TBH, Ebay is your best bet. There are a few suppliers dedicated to selling new Galaxy kit.

I've bought loads of G2 panels from sourcesecurity and they've been excellent with delivery within a couple of days.

 

[m0t]

If we ignore the internet connectivity is there a better choice than the Honeywell?

There don't seem to be very many people selling these units, and the ebay sellers seem to insist on auctioning over a few days rather than just selling them.

 

[socdesign]

It's not really about better, but if you want basic, then you can get cheaper. You asked for remote, so that's why I said the Galaxy, as it can be expanded to give remote and also wireless with the addition of the RF portal.

Sparky Mark may step in here to give device on the low cost DIY panels. I only use Honeywell these days.

 

[m0t]

Its not necessarily that I want basic, I just want to be able to order one rather than having to mess around with auctions.

 

[socdesign]

I think securitywarehouse are the cheapest online e-tailer for security stuff. But if you're prepared to wait a few days on Ebay, then you'll save 50%. Also, contact the sellers on Ebay, they're certain to sell direct.

 

[m0t]

How hard is the Galaxy to set up?

 

[socdesign]

It's pretty easy. I'd say easier than some of the DIY panels

There are a couple of small gotchas with the telephone line volts that needs disabled and a DD243 setting that needs changed to allow keypad code unsetting, but most other settings are fairly straightforward.

There's always plenty of help here if you get stuck.

If you can get hold of the RSS software and a USB programming lead, then it makes it even easier. RSS has a graphical menu for all the settings which is very easy to use. RSS sometimes comes up on Ebay, but is very expensive to purchase directly from Honeywell.

 

[m0t]

Any recommendations about what PIRs/door contacts/bell box/ wires to use? Are they all fairly similar or does anything stand out as much better?

 

[socdesign]

Honeywell IS215TCE are nice small and reliable PIR's at around £10 a sensor. Lots of low cost sensors, so plenty to choose from. The Honeywell plastics don't tend to yellow over time.

Elmdene contacts are decent, but generic contacts are usually fine. With the Galaxy sometimes it's best to get contacts with the 1k/1k resistors internal as they're a tight squeeze.

The Texecom Odyssey 3 sounders are pretty good value for money. The 3E is the economy single piezo, but still quite loud.

 

[sapphal]

The Galaxy range is not an easy diy install. Honeywell won't give you support. There is a new free manual at diy-alarms.

 

[socdesign]

There are plenty on here to help with any Galaxy questions at any time of day. Probably better support than you'd get from Honeywell anyway.