Hello all
Hope you’re doing well. My first time on the forum. Finally bought a house after nearly two decades of dreaming. I know I’ll be on here often as I’m very security conscious. Happy to be here and hope to contribute to the community!
At the moment, I need your help trying to decide between 3 different wireless intruder alarm quotes.
The property is a London home, around 1,100 sqft with hallway, lounge, dining room and kitchen on ground floor. Upstairs there’s a landing and 3 bedrooms. No pets.
All 3 proposed systems are wireless and meet Grade 2 requirements (not an insurance requirement - just trying to future proof as I know insurers can be flaky. I actually asked for Grade 1 but all the providers state they’re quoting for a Grade 2 system).
The only wired components will probably be the alarm keypad, and I’d like the siren to be hardwired as I’m not keen on climbing up 2metres+ to change the battery. I also like it to be backlit which I don’t think you get with a wireless siren?
The alarms I’m considering are:
Pyronix. Not sure the model (Enforcer I think) nor the amount of zones supported but I expect at least 32 zones supported.
Texecom Premier Elite supporting 64 zones.
Banham - supporting 32 zones.
They all have the following in common:
Price wise they’re not far apart from each other.
Similar number of PIR sensors.
Similar call-out charges.
I’m not subscribing to a monitoring service (although I may in the future when the family grows).
Similar number of proposed wireless components. Two providers offers window contacts in the quote.
Differences:
The company offering one of the systems won’t install the spur for the alarm, so I need my electrician to sort that out first.
Questions:
Which one would you choose and why?
Does anyone have any experience with the features of these alarms that mitigate the risk of RF jamming of wireless components? So far I’ve understood that Texecom uses a ricochet mesh system as well as supervision that triggers the alarm if any “pulse” is lost.
Should I consider hardwiring instead of wireless? I don’t like the idea of replacing the batteries for all these components every 1-2 years, but not exactly looking forward to chasing and dust (although we do have suspended floors which might make things easier).
What’s your experience like of call-out charges for these wireless systems?
How often do you really need these companies to come out and service the alarm?
When it comes to moving door/window contacts e.g. if you’re getting a new window, so you do it yourself? One of the security companies said that I’d risk misconfiguring the system, and it’s safer if I call them out to recalibrate the system.
Is there a benefit to hardwiring the siren apart from the battery not needing replacing.
How often do you get your alarms serviced, and what does a “service” entail for you?
Thanks in advance, and sorry if this is not posted in the right sub topic.