23 minutes ago, Wburke said:

Would want to DIY it as I am "fairly" competent. Thanks for the suggestions, one alternative are there any wireless alarms which use solar panels to keep the siren charged without changing the battery or is it pointless? Thanks

Swerve solar powered, and for that matter anything in B&Q, they do have a wide range of goods some good and some rubbish but most of the electronic security they sell can be found on ebay for half the price (not that I would suggest you buy your security from ebay either. )

There are wireless systems that have bellboxes that just require power, so the wire only needs to be run to the nearest power source and not all the way back to the control panel. I am not sure which brands do this as I do not sell many of the smaller systems so I am less familiar, but I am sure someone will here know.  

 

 

 

 

Also, something no-one else has mentioned - I regularly fit wired alarms to decorated houses (as we all possibly do).

 

Since most of the sensors sit in the top corners of the rooms, access from above + clever use of back-to-back locations means a wired

alarm might not be out of the question anyway?

 

Why not post a plan / drawing of your house, OP?

often do the same, depends on access to upstairs really. much easier if they have carpet and proper floorboards, not laminate or weyrock

 

if its a bungalow even easier (unless they have boarded the loft)

2 hours ago, Wburke said:

Would want to DIY it as I am "fairly" competent. Thanks for the suggestions, one alternative are there any wireless alarms which use solar panels to keep the siren charged without changing the battery or is it pointless? Thanks

You could use this if you like for the bell 

 

https://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/catalog/cqr-wireless-external-sounder-complete-with-std-cp-interface-p-1423.html

Many wireless bells can be modified for power locally , but not worth the hassle unless you get bored like these lot on here

Buy cheap buy twice! Fitting cheap DIY systems from the limes of B&Q/Screwfix is an advertisement to the local crooks that you have **** security, why not just get a company in to quote for a monitored system therefore you can just have a wireless internal siren and a dummy on the outside but if it's from a reputable company it shows you care about securing your property, it may not cost as much as you think plus with a maintenance contract if there is any issues you have access to correctly trained engineers. Why not post your location here and see if any of the guys here could offer you a quote

My genuine and sincere advice on here as ever, is that you are better off buying a broken Yale bellbox off ebay

than a cheap and nasty alarm system.

 

Most crims will recognise the yellow peril and some will be put off by it. It is hard to tell a broken one from a working one.

 

You avoid all the hastles of the fact its a steaming pile by not actually having to use it or set it... And you can keep on

saving for a decent system, starting with the £100 you've just saved.

2 hours ago, datadiffusion said:

My genuine and sincere advice on here as ever, is that you are better off buying a broken Yale bellbox off ebay

than a cheap and nasty alarm system.

 

Most crims will recognise the yellow peril and some will be put off by it. It is hard to tell a broken one from a working one.

 

You avoid all the hastles of the fact its a steaming pile by not actually having to use it or set it... And you can keep on

saving for a decent system, starting with the £100 you've just saved.

Total nonsense 

 

Well ok apart from one thing don't buy a broken Yale bellbox off eBay

 

Better getting a used ADT box or even new off eBay 

Not nonsense at all.

 

Crappy alarm will waste £150-200 of your money, offer zero real protection other than potential bellbox deterrent and more likely to false alarm than real alarm causing neighbours to get pizzed off and ignore ahy alarm in future.

 

adt box will cost you minimum £70, will still just be a lump of plastic and no more recognised by billy the skaghead chancer than a Yale at £10.

 

Thats why its a rubbish choice, for sure, but I would 'recommend' a Yale dummy over a working 'response' any day of the week to anyone without the budget for a proper system. On here, that is, of course.

All depends on the risk of course, if you are known for dealing in used bank notes with random serial numbers you would need a proper alarm, if you only just have a pot to urinate in then the Yale bell box will do just fine. Anything in-between those two requires more or less kit.  

It never ceases to amaze me that people are must have the latest iphone regardless of cost but dont want to spend any money on protecting the contents of their home. The enquiries we get after the event, people have lost their irreplaceable jewellery left to them by their dear old granny, and their wide screen TV, and someone has left them a small brown package in the middle of there new lounge cream deep pile, for the sake of saving a few hundred £. I even had one customer that had to move because his missus refused to go back. The misery of a burglary versus the money it costs for a proper alarm, it just never makes sense to me.