In article ,
wrote:
I was thinking of using sealed reed switches (which is what I used in
the previous house) - how do they get affected by damp?

They don't. Except perhaps the terminals if kept soaking wet. The switches
themselves are hermetically sealed.

I hate seeing such things.

So here, with sash windows, I drilled a hole in the sill to take the
switch part and a corresponding one in the window rail for the magnet.
Cable chased into the wall as and when the rooms were re-decorated. Same
sort of trick worked for the modern sliding PVC patio doors in the kitchen.

But this house has suspended wood floors and internal stud walls so
relatively easy to hide cables. A modern house with solid everything would
be a different matter.

Didn't bother with the top sash as I doubt many burglars would want to
crawl over the bottom one to get in.

--
*Your kid may be an honours student, but you're still an idiot.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.