My first House

[Guest superengineer]

Hi there

I hope some of you guys can help me. I am moving in to my first house at the end of the month with my wife and three kids. It is a three bed semi.

What i want to know is how much realisticly would i have to spend to get a alarm system. I can get it fitted for me by my brother in law who is an electrician.

I was thinking i need:

Ground Floor

two door contacts (front and back door)

two pirs (one for entrance hall and one for lounge/diner)

First Floor

two pirs (one for landing and one for master bedroom)

Also would it be better to buy one of the off the shelf retail packs like the Yale ones or buy components from somewhere? ! have a budget of up to £250 but dont want to spend all of it unless i have to.

Many thanks for your help in advance

Mark

[Brian c]

Mark,

If your Brother in Law is going to fit it free of charge, then £250 isn't too bad. He should be able to pick the parts you need from an electrical wholesaler. I would steer clear of the 'off the shelf' systems like yale, and opt for something like texecom.

[Brian c]

As Lurch says though, if he's never fitted an alarm or only the odd one, then he may struggle as it's a different ballgame from sparkying.

[ian.cant]

Also would it be better to buy one of the off the shelf retail packs like the Yale ones or buy components from somewhere?

Avoid DIY kits like the plaugue, only buy professional kit. Have a read of some of the subjects covered here, you will find great advice, but everyone has there own prefered equipment.

If your brother in law is a spark he should know where to spend your money but your unlikely to get much change, if any from your budget.

As for what rooms/doors you need to protect and how, its difficult to be sure without seeing your house but what your suggesting looks ok.

What about your kitchen?

[Guest superengineer]

thanks for your responses.

He did say to me he'd never fitted one before but he was going to investigate for me from the guys at work.

With regards to panels. How many devices can you fit per zone?

I would like to be able to have to alarm armed at night down stairs but not upstairs, i know that this is possible but not sure how to do it?

The more i look in to this the more b****y complicated it gets!

Many thanks once again

Mark

[ian.cant]

The more i look in to this the more b****y complicated it gets!

Thats why trainee's spend 3 years and more learning the trade as apprentices

With regards to panels. How many devices can you fit per zone?

Always fit 1 device per zone, although you can double up on contacts it can make fault finding a pain so avoid it at all costs.

I would like to be able to have to alarm armed at night down stairs but not upstairs

Yes you need a panel with part set facilities.

[Guest superengineer]

my kitchen is immediatly to the rhs of the front door at the front of the house. There is no external door from this room. I therefore thought that it would be best to have a door contact on the front door, a pir in that entrance way covering the entrance, stairs and kitchen and then an additional pir in the lounge at the back.

The pir thats in the entrance by the front door, would that have to not cover the front door area to enable the alarm to be disarmed when entering the property?

Many thanks yet again, your knowledge is very helpfull.

Mark

[Guest]

I think you'd be better off getting your BIL on here so he's not getting this third hand.

Anyway, your hall PIR can be set up so that it can be used in the hall, it's a pretty basic feature available on most alarms, you just need to know how to program it correctly.

I'd be inclined to have detection in all downstairs rooms as you still want protection for the windows. If you can't do it all in one hit then make sure you get cables in to the right places then add additional detectors later, but not too later!

[amateurandy]

I can get it fitted for me by my brother in law who is an electrician.

39650[/snapback]

I'd be interested in a few more professional comments on this, but here's my amateur DIY view:

1. The only bit that seemed relevant to what an electrician does normally was running the spur for the mains.

2. The rest of it was far more complex than I expected. But the wiring was NOT the difficulty.

3. A key skill seems to be hiding the cables. Your average "sparkie" has someone else to make good and decorate after him.

4. The most important skill is designing a system that will work effectively in your property.

I didn't have a choice, there was no way I could afford a professional installation, but if I could, I would!

If you really do want to have a DIY install you could as easily do it yourself; just get your brother in law to run the mains in :!:

[Guest superengineer]

I would have a go at doing it myself, however, i have no previous electrical knowledge or desire to electricute myself. As he deals with electrical things all day long he at least has a grounding to work with (no pun intended.)

Plus i am bigger than him and he knows what will happen if he mucks up my new house.

Mark