Advice On Suitable Control Panel Please

[Guest gratefulforanyadvice]

Hi,

I'd really appreciate any advice you can give. We currently have a pyronix alarm the old equivalent of the sterling 10 which has a mere 4 zones. The entire system was installed by a professional installer 10 years ago. In fairness it has never had any faults except a dud battery which we replaced ourselves. However it is up to its limit on devices and we want to protect more of the property.

We currently have 5 pirs and 2 sets of door contacts which protect the downstairs only, the downstairs loo has no protection at all and has a vunerable window and the hall is only protected by the door contacts. Our french window has no door contacts only the room pir to cover it.

We would like to expand the system but the board is full so we are thinking of getting a better panel. My first thought was to get a pyronix sterling 10 (as the current alarm has been reliable) but that only has 8 zones and we want to add at least two more pirs and another set of door contacts downstairs and alarm some of the upstairs as well. It would also be nice if we could alarm the garage on the same system.(currently we have a seperate diy alarm system in the garage which does not sound in the house) The garage has 2 sets of doors and a window downstairs and an upstairs loft with a window and small hayloft door so needs 1 or 2 pirs and 2 or 3 sets of door contacts.

We were also thinking of swapping some of the pirs for pet immune ones as currently the dog and cat are left in the unalarmed hall but we would like let the dog have more access when we are out to guard the property as he is no use locked in the hall if someone breaks into one of the rooms.

Before anyone suggests it, we are on a really tight budget and cannot afford to have an installer do the job. Also we're not really happy with the work of the last installer as the system has never been sufficient for the house, the wiring was very untidy and he told us there was room for extra devices when there isn't. (I realise that we were probably just unlucky and got a bad one and not all installers are the same)

We'd never considered messing with the alarm ourselves until a wire got damaged during some alterations and we replaced it ourselves. We realised how straightforward the panel seems to be and did a few more alterations / replacements to the system since so feel able to change the panel. Its just finding the right panel for the job which is the problem.

We regularly use a local electrical wholesalers who stock pyronix and a few other makes of alarms so are hoping we can get something from there. If anyone has any suitable suggestions it would be much appreciated. We really want one we can have extra keypads with as the layout of the house is weird and one panel just isn't enough but I assume most big enough systems will offer that.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give

[Paul P]

We would like to expand the system but the board is full so we are thinking of getting a better panel. My first thought was to get a pyronix sterling 10 (as the current alarm has been reliable) but that only has 8 zones and we want to add at least two more pirs and another set of door contacts downstairs and alarm some of the upstairs as well. It would also be nice if we could alarm the garage on the same system.(currently we have a seperate diy alarm system in the garage which does not sound in the house) The garage has 2 sets of doors and a window downstairs and an upstairs loft with a window and small hayloft door so needs 1 or 2 pirs and 2 or 3 sets of door contacts.

Personally I would not go for the Sterling 10 it is not the best of alarm panels.

We were also thinking of swapping some of the pirs for pet immune ones as currently the dog and cat are left in the unalarmed hall but we would like let the dog have more access when we are out to guard the property as he is no use locked in the hall if someone breaks into one of the rooms.

Pets are always best restricted to unalarmed parts of the hall, but if you must put detection in with the pets the only detector I could recommend is a Bosch DS820ita but must be set up exactly how the instructions describe. Also Note a pet friendly detector will not be as sensitive to intruders.

Before anyone suggests it, we are on a really tight budget and cannot afford to have an installer do the job. Also we're not really happy with the work of the last installer as the system has never been sufficient for the house, the wiring was very untidy and he told us there was room for extra devices when there isn't. (I realise that we were probably just unlucky and got a bad one and not all installers are the same)

OK wont suggest it then.

Its just finding the right panel for the job which is the problem.

We regularly use a local electrical wholesalers who stock pyronix and a few other makes of alarms so are hoping we can get something from there. If anyone has any suitable suggestions it would be much appreciated. We really want one we can have extra keypads with as the layout of the house is weird and one panel just isn't enough but I assume most big enough systems will offer that.

I would suggest a Texicom Panel available in excess of 48 zones, most electrical wholesalers stock them, it not a panel I have used but they have more respect than Pyronix on the forum. Yes all modern panels allow several keypads if required.

[breff]

Texecom Premier 48.

Up to 48 zones,

up to 4 keypads,

up to 4 8 zone expanders,

up to 4 seperate areas.

Not the easiest panel to program for a DIYer though.

[Guest gratefulforanyadvice]

Thanks Paul and breff for your replies. I've looked at the texecom 48 and extras online and will probably go for that. I particularly like the flush keypads they do as well. I assume I would need to use at least one expander initially and then add more when we alarm upstairs. Is it easier to install all the necessary expanders / zones at once or is it easy enough to add on later?

I've also taken note of the pet immune pir advice, perhaps I'll just alarm the vestibule of the hall leaving the core of the hall for the pets, trouble is no room for a dog bed in the hall really

I have wondered before about having window sensors in the kitchen instead of having a pir so the dog can go in there but they're old sliding sashes which can be rattly anyway so i guess that's not a good idea.

Just one more thing, I note that the texecom 48 has 4 areas, our current alarm doesn't have areas so not sure how that works but for instance if I wired the garage up as a seperate area would that mean I could have that alarmed all the time even when the alram is on day setting in the house? Also would I need to fit a keypad in the garage or is there another way it could be done so that we wouldn't have to go into the house to switch off the alarm put the car in the garage?

Thanks a lot you've been great!

[Guest]

if I wired the garage up as a seperate area would that mean I could have that alarmed all the time even when the alram is on day setting in the house? Also would I need to fit a keypad in the garage or is there another way it could be done so that we wouldn't have to go into the house to switch off the alarm put the car in the garage?

Thanks a lot you've been great!

You don't "wire" areas separately. You define the area of the circuit by programming.

Yes you can think areas as a separate system. panel is common for all the areas but they function independently if programmed so.

I strongly recommend a separate keypad to the garage. it is much more convenient to use like that.

some panels allow you to change the area the keypad is controlling. in that case you could also set/unset your house from the garage and vice versa.

[Guest]

The 24 doesn't have areas so wouldn't be up to the job, hence the recomendation of the 48 with its 4 areas.