"John Smith" wrote in message
om...
I am building a new house, and as an almost afterthought,
I want to install
prewiring for an alarm system. I am thinking of just
prewiring the system for
now, and purchase the system/subscription later. The
drywall is not up, so
this should be reasonably easy to do.

Hi John,

It is VERY wise to prewire for an alarm system. However,
due to the huge number of variations between systems, you
really should window-shop the residential alarm business and
target the installation for one or two of the available
systems to be precisely chosen at a later date.
Research should initially include, IMO, things such as:
-- Local codes, if any, regarding residential alarms.
-- Telco requirements/rules regarding residential alarms.
-- Install method: Open loop wiring closed loop wiring,
digital, RF (radio transmitters and receivers), eg the types
of systems available.
-- Personally, I prefer,and use, and RF system; no wiring
except ac to the main equipment box (with internal battery
backup operation).
-- Type/level of protection needed
-- Fire?
-- Burglary?
-- Remote Appliance Controls?
-- Listen-in features?
-- Flooding?
-- Freeezing?
-- Motion?
-- Alarm Monitoring Company to respond to alarms?
-- and so on thru glass breakage detectors, and many
more.
-- How many zones are required? I have 6 available, each
capable of 8 alarms. Not all used.

So, basically, you need to post more information if you
would like good answers, IMO. If you're ignorant of many of
these items, as most people are, then some online research
can help considerably.

On the other hand, if you are going to have this installed
for you, then I would get a couple of quotes from a couple
of installers of alarm systems. Probably more accurate.

Radio Shack is a good place to start research, believe it or
not. Try a Google search for "residential alarm systems"
(including the quotes) and you'll get a plethora of links
where you can learn a LOT, and get edumacated about alarm
systems.

If you wish to come back here, I'll be happy to answer
questions where I can, or at least maybe give you a source
where you can find answers.

Here are a couple of clarifications/corrections to some
incorrect information I saw posted to you:

CAT 5 (Category 5) wi
-- Is NOT stranded wire; it's solid, 24 gauge wire, 4
pairs, 8 conductors total, in a sheath a little larger than
the standard telephone wiring.
-- CAT 5 wire is NOT large: it fits easily thru a 1/4"
drilled hole.
-- There was a lot of talk about "4 wire" and while much of
the phone wiring is actually 4 wire, and only 2 of those are
used, keep in mind that they are in a 6 pin plug, not a 4
pin. It's called RJ-11.
-- There was talk about difficulty closing a window
becvause of wire size or somethbing like that: that would
not be a good insallation and isn't normal. Ignore it, IMO.

-- There is nothing that would require CAT 5 cabling, but,
that said, should you ever wish to network computers
together later on, you'd be mighty glad to have it already
in place. Maybe a separate issue there. There are RF
networks too, that avoid wiring between computers, but
they're not very good. Yet. Improving though.

Also note that alarm control units are usually placed in a
closet or out of
view.
== NO, the main alarm equipment BOX, which contains the
logic and computer controls, is usually located in a
separate closet! The "control panel" is usually located
convenient to the most used exit for convenience in
arm/disarm ing the system. There are often other
sub-control panels, smaller in size and function, located to
serve the garage, back door, wherever they are deemed
needed.

They need electrical outlets nearby and use large plug-in
transformers for the control unit, motion detectors, and
sometimes smoke
detectors. So you can have 3 large transformers to plug in
plus may == ONLY if three separate alarm systems were
installed, which wouldn't make much sense. These days there
is usually only one external power pack IFF it's a Class-2
system, and as often as not, in a quality system, there is
no external power pack; it's insecure to have external
power packs. The better systems are hard wired. Outlets
should be nearby, preferrably two duplex outlets, but ...
not for several alarm system components.

== There SHOULD be a dedicated breaker for the alarm ckt,
however.

HTH. Any questions as you get going, happy to try to help
or at least find a source for your answers.

Pop