Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - Alarm System for building on ranch

hello,

i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on an alarm system for a Buliding on our ranch, we live in town and the ranch is about 15 mins away. the building is about 30 x 80. there are 2 overhead garage doors. the front entry doors (where the keypad should go) are commercial double doors with glass in the top and bottom of the doors. with push handel type locks. (not sure what to call them) the other door on the side is also double door but with glass in the doop part of the door only. the back door is a single door with glass in the top only also. any suggestion would be greatfully appreciated. should the all the doors should have contacts on them with no delay except the front door by the keypad. i was thinking also 2 motions detectors. with no delay there are 3 windows on each side that are fairly large. thanks for your time,

Rich

The basic plan is good, but since you have so much large glass, acoustic glass breaks would be a pretty smart choice in addition to what you were thinking.

The basic plan is good, but since you have so much large glass, acoustic glass breaks would be a pretty smart choice in addition to what you were thinking.

thanks, any ideas on how many glass breaks a person should install?

Wall mounted off glass sensors can detect breakage at an average distance of 35 feet in all directions. There are on-glass sensors that are applied directly to glass. Wireless wall mounted is preferred and may be a better option for you. Don't forget that dead bolt locks are a good option. These take a key to open.

How To Make Sure Your Home Is Fully Secure From Break-ins by Steve Strong (http://www.articlecity.com/articles/home_improvement/article_3282.shtml)

Monitored systems are best because alarm is answered by security monitoring company which contacts both you and local authorities in the event of an alarm.

alright thanks. i think i will probably install 2 or 3 sensor. this will also help because all the windows and the door windows have had that protective film installed that helps prevent the glass from being broken very easily. giving the glass break sensors an instant alarm, then it can send a message to the monitoring station. (going to get it monitored) I do have a a couple more questions, should the garage overhead doors have sensors on them as well or is that abit overkill? they are locked from the inside always. and if i installed 2 or 3 interconected smoke detectors, is it possible to have these detectors monitored?

Thanks again for all your help!

My rule of thumb for overhead doors, is that I generally don't bother with doors that have power openers. There is no quick and easy way to force such doors. For a manual door, being that it sounds like an isolated location that someone could take their time, I would consider OHD contacts.

Yes, you can connect and monitor head & smoke detectors.

alright thanks everyone for the input. one more thing, what system would you recomend to install? DSC, ADEMCO/HONEYWELL?

Any of the major brands will do what you want.

Honeywell/Ademco is very flexible, and has a long track record, so there's a lot of knowlege and parts sources, but configuring more than basic functions can be rather daunting.

DSC has a very nice user interface with some very nice features like zone inputs built into the keypads, but a lot of DIY people report having trouble following DSCs programming instructions.

GE/Concord has a DIY friendly programming interface, and many of the panels are hybrids with wireless built in, but the configuration options tend to be a bit more limited beyond basics.

GE/Networx has a lot customization modules available, and can be programmed via any keypad model, but the installer information tends to be terse, at best, with some odd omissions.

You get the idea. The best thing to do is to go to the websites, look at the listed features, then websearch for the installer manuals, and go with the combination of features and instructions that you can work with.

thanks for all your help!! this forum is GREAT!!! i am leaning towards dsc i think, i am an IT adminstraitor and work for a school division. i am also incharge of getting anything technical installed in the schools and board offices. we have dsc systems in all the schools. i am also called out for alarms by the monitoring station, we have VERY LITTLE false alarms with these system. so i beleive dsc has the quality. but i will do some more research and see. if you had to pick a system, which would you pick? thanks again for everthing.

hi again,

i just received all my components. i decided to go with dsc. now one quick question, i have purchased the acurity glass break sensors. how well do these respond to breaking of glass and will they be asily set off by thunder or other noise that may be on the ranch. thanks for your time.

They work as well as any other. They are tuned to the range of frequencies particularly made by glass breaking. Thunder is unlikely to have an effect, unless dead close.