DIYbanter - View Single Post - Cost of wiring alarm system in new unfinished house

Dave Martindale

(Dave Martindale) writes:

Brinks, at least, will put in a fairly decent system if you're willing
to pay for the installation. We have a Brinks system with

- 4 monitored doors
- 8 monitored windows
- 2 hybrid (PIR/microwave) motion detectors
- smoke detector
- something else I've forgotten, making 16 total inputs
- 2 LCD control panels

Now I remember the forgotten zones: two windows in the kitchen. All of
the ground-level windows have reed switches, while most upper-floor
windows don't (because you'd need a ladder to get to them). But there's
a small rear deck with stairs down to ground level, putting the kitchen
windows within reach, so they have reed switches too.

So: 4 doors, 9 windows, 2 PIR, and a smoke detector.

By the way, the Brinks installer seemed pretty good. He installed an
8-zone input expander at no charge, probably because it made his job
easier (provides 16 separate inputs for 16 circuits so he doesn't have
to wire any switches in series) but it also gives switch-level
reporting of which switch is open. (The old system had only 6 zones,
so most zones contained multiple switches, though fortunately they all
had individual wires back to the alarm panel.

Dave