Alarms

[Moonshine]

My sparkie is doing first fix and putting in cables for pir sensors, and to an alarm box externally.

 

I need to source and alarm system to install and looking for advice on decent systems.

 

At the moment its just sensors by do I want external door sensors too?

 

[PeterW]

Texecom Ricochet wireless - really good kit and easy to install. Can also be put onto a maintained contract if your insurance company wants it. 
 

I had an issue with a PSU board about 2 months after fitting and had one in my hand next day - after sales and their forum are really good for support.

 

Have a shop around for prices - they do a couple of different sensors for PIR and also their micro door sensors are tiny, and come in different colours !

[Blooda]

We have a Texecom, hybrid, with 8x wired sensors and a wireless expander giving 8 wireless ricochet sensors, for things like shocks, door sensors which as @peterw said are tiny and come in grey, white or brown.   We got our kit from Alert Electrical in Long Eaton who seemed to be the cheapest/nearest/had a real person to talk to [especially when I ordered slightly incompatible kit].

 

 

[PeterW]

Alert is who I get my stuff through - very knowledgeable and helpful 

[SiBee]

My alarm/security contractor only install wireless systems for domestic clients now. Easy install and decent systems are reliable.Echo what the two previous posters have said. I fitted a Visonic wireless system for my home as it ticked the most boxes for us.

what about cctv in the future or smart/cam door bells? Some are compatible with alarm systems.

[Moonshine]

7 hours ago, SiBee said:

 

what about cctv in the future or smart/cam door bells? Some are compatible with alarm systems.

 

Any idea which ones?

[joth]

As a counterpoint , we had texecom elite system professionally installed in 2021, and I find it antiquated and unreliable.

 

https://ajax.systems/ is a much more modern system, supports wired and wireless sensors and camera capture. Can be DIY or monitored install. Not used it myself but seen good reviews 

 

[Moonshine]

This looks like a good deal on the base kit, with additional sensors probably required

 

https://www.ehubdistribution.co.uk/product/texecom-64-zone-wireless-kit-with-sounder-inc-capture-kit-1002/

[SiBee]

My own cctv is HIKVISION which is really good and works well day and night with remote viewing. They also have a wireless alarm system which can be intergrated. I only learnt about the Hik alarm after installing the visonic.

All depends on budget but some of the lads have built their own home systems using “cheap as chips” stuff and their pictures and recordings are really good.

For our commercial sites we are having Hanwha cctv stuff installed which will integrate with our video access control and existing alarm. Not cheap but rail and government sites will no longer accept Hik (Chinese).

I am not an expect on this stuff by the way.

Do you have any local electrical wholesalers? I use Yesss electrical and they have their own specialist wh9 does quotes and recommendations. They are agents for HIKVISION and sell Visonic. Worth using their knowledge.

A big negative with Visonic is the lack of support. If your not a registered installer then they won’t assist.

I picked the Visonic because it tick the most boxes for me. The cctv was specified by my pros but installed DIY - not difficult.

Oh, batteries lasted three years. My system lets you know which battery and when it needs replacing including any remote fobs. Cheap enough so I just replace them all as a set.

My garage is detached and the wireless sensor is on its own partition so can be set/unset independent lay and communicates no problem.

Sorry if this is disjointed but doing a few things at once and this is on an ipad😄