Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - wireless or wired alarm system?

I am haiving an alarm installed an my new house under construction, I am leaning towards the wireless system. but am open to the wired system.

I am staying away from the window alarms and going with either glass breakage or motion detectors, we have no pets in the house, I think the motion detectors would be a better security measure........any ideas?

any ideas or opinions on the route to go, the cost is relatively the same.

thanks much for any advice

If you can have it hardwired, then by all means have it hardwired. With the home under construction, the alarm installer can "pre-wire" all devices. The best time to do this is right after the insulation goes in and before the sheetrock. The benefits to hardwiring now:

1.)Better reliability
2.)No goofy batteries
3.)Better aesthetics
4.)lower cost of devices


Tips:

*Have installer run wire anywhere you may want a keypad
*Have installer run spares to the attic
*Consider having buider run a couple PVC chases from basement to attic
*add extra cable, telco and networking jacks (it is SO easy to do it now and wire is cheap!):thinker:

You can always add a wireless receiver for convenience items, e.g. keyfobs, panics etc.

Wire the windows; at least the easily accessible ones. It is always better security to keep people out of the perimeter of your home, than to detect them _after_ they are already inside. Motions are the _most_ common source of false alarm trips. They are fine as a second line of protection, don't count on them for primary defense.

The $99 packages that were so common for awhile had a couple of door/window contacts and the rest of the "protection" was with motions. These sloppy installs are the reason that so many local governments are now instituting alarm permits, and escalating false alarm fines.

thanks much!

what is the reason to have spare alarm wire run to the attic?

I have put in two pvc runs from the basement to the attic "just in case" we need wire run later


would glass break sensors be better than window alarms? I have a lot of windows (14) and thought about using glass breaks to cover several windows at a time and use the motion as a back up in several places in the house

The spare wire is for things like additional attic mount sirens and to cover future add-ons. If the wire path is readily acessible from the attic to the panel home run location, then don't bother.

Again, put real contacts on your windows. Glass breaks are suited for large expanses of glass that someone could easily smash for the classic "smash and grab" trick. Sneak theives don't generally do noisy things like breaking glass.

Glass breaks are best suited for picture windows and patio doors.

thanks much!

how do you feel about adding a motion sensor as a second line of protection

One thing to watch with hard wired alarm systems - no window system is water tight, and most modern window unit are manufactured with a sill pan which collects the water which enters the window assembly and conducts it out the lower front edge of the assembly in a controlled manner:

http://www.trueviewwindows.com/assets/images/corner-w-weep-hole-6300.jpg

Fig 1 - The rectangular opening at lower right is a "weep" above a built-in sill pan, the pan catchers water which enters the window assembly, and the weeps conduct it to the outside.

What we find at at home and moisture intrusion inspections here in Chicago is that if you drill a hole through the bottom of a sill you will likely compromise the sill pan below, and as water drains out the bottom of the unit some of it will run into the wall cavity.

For this reason many window manufacturers' now prohibit such installations :wall: , and some even put the prohibition on a warning label on the window:

http://paragoninspects.com/images/moisture/windows/wall-alarm-hole-warning-label.jpg

Fig 2 - Typical manufacture's warning label.

And to those of us who do moisture intrusion inspections, this is not a theoretical problem:

http://paragoninspects.com/images/moisture/windows/wall-rotted-by-alarm-holes-.jpg

Fig 3 - Even the "small" amount of water entering a wall through sill holes can rot out structural members such as these studs.

To prevent this some alarm installers are using sensors which side mount above the sill, however this does not help if you still drill through the sill to run the wiring.

No duh! When all else fails, follow the manufacturer's instructions for your windows, and common sense...

You do have to choose the correct contacts and components for the application, of course. Modern energy efficient windows, especially the narrow framed vinyl windows are notoriously difficult to set with alarm contacts. Sometimes surface mount contacts are the smart solution...

The various contact makers like GRI, Tane, GE and the like have come up with solutions, but there is no "universal" solution.

I have 8 windows on the first floor, and 3 doors - I plan on puttng alarms on all the doors

I have heard of people not putting alarms on all the windows - is that wise to do, kind of like letting the burglar flip a coin and if he gets lucky and picks the right window he is in and no alarm

what do you think?

It's a judgment call kind of thing. You have to look at your environment.

Take a house on a corner lot without a lot of tall landscaping close to the house.

A thief is not generally going to try to crawl through a window on one of the sides of the house exposed to the street, so, if I was going to skip any windows, it would be those.

The big deterrence of an alarm is it's existence. Put on windows stickers that indicate that you _have_ an alarm system.

Let me ask you this: Where would you rather catch an intruder, outside on the grass or inside on the carpet, where they are more likely to commit more serious crimes? It is a small cost to contact every possible entry point to your home, especially if you do the work yourself. I have every window in my home contacted in my home, including the second story. Not just to keep intruders out, but to keep my young children from falling out of a second story window. You have to balance the budget, but you don't want to skimp on security.