Home Alarms

[ZXSpectrum]

I have been looking into home alarms as mine has died. Its easily getting on for about 17-18 years old so getting a new control board isnt going to happen. I dont really want to or have the ability to chase new wires for pirs/sensors/keypad etc so i have been looking at wireless.. Just stick up, plug in and away you go. The ones i have been looking at have been the yale ones at Costco. They also do Eufy and Ring, Does anyone have any experience with these? From reviews etc they seem straight forward to fit and setup as well as integrate with alexa stuff(I have a blink camera system).
Thanks

 

[iwrox]

Not sure about the Yale kits not had one of them in years, but im currently looking to do something similar. Been looking at Ajax.. its more on the expensive end of things but I figure something like an alarm you end up keeping for years and from what I read they are the best of the best with plenty of sensors to suit all applications.

 

[spile]

I would always go for wired. I converted an old Gardiner alarm to a smart one with remote controls and web interface.

 

[robj20]

Got rid of our old system and just use a mix of smart devices now, sensors and cameras.

 

[Tesla]

If you’ve an old system I’m assuming the wiring is already in place? I’d fit/have fitted a new hard wired system utilising this existing wiring. A Texecom Premier Elite system with SmartCom would result in a proper intruder alarm with app connectivity/notification.

 

[tamzzy]

Do people use old-school alarms nowadays? Id have thought with the proliferation of smart cams etc this would be a more convenient route (possibly cheaper too) to take

 

[cokecan]

There's an argument to be made that having an old-school alarm could be preferred from a reliability point of view in a world of IoT and smart devices, where it'll work consistently with little to no maintenance for year after year.

I think my preference however would be to simply have both that serve slightly different functions but provide overall security. A more traditional alarm system that has optional smart integrations (Texecom being my preferred setup) so it can work reliably with or without wifi, internet or HA etc but still offering me the smart integrations I want, and then smart cameras providing additional visual coverage and alerting beyond the entry/exits of my property.

Unsure if this is true or not but most home insurance providers ask if you have an alarm fitted. I haven't seen many that ask about cameras. My assumption is that your overall risk level is presumably lower if you have an alarm system which I'd hope equals cheaper premiums lol probably not but I think the theory is there

 

[Vestas]

Unsure if this is true or not but most home insurance providers ask if you have an alarm fitted

Professionally installed and regularly serviced. If not then they take no account of it.

 

[spile]

Do people use old-school alarms nowadays? Id have thought with the proliferation of smart cams etc this would be a more convenient route (possibly cheaper too) to take

Yes but only because I added smart tech to it. It’s solid so no need to change it.

 

[iwrox]

Those Konnected (and similar) panels seem another good way to re-use existing wiring but at the same time make the system smart, no experience with them but looks like a good way to upgrade an aged system. Anyone using them?

 

[ZXSpectrum]

Those Konnected (and similar) panels seem another good way to re-use existing wiring but at the same time make the system smart, no experience with them but looks like a good way to upgrade an aged system. Anyone using them?

That looks good. I will look into that. It would let me keep my wired PIRs, siren and everything else just replace the actual logic board.

 

[lewism]

Most kits have an app etc these days. I used to hate Yale with a passion but the kits cheap enough and works. That with ring cameras to check activations and you’re pretty much set these days.

The professional stuff from telecom/hkc/pyronix etc is also really good now too but a bit more technical than what most people need.

 

[aVdub]

We have AI camera's inside and out that will alert you if something occurs that shouldn't.
All doors and windows have senor's and will send an alert as above and sound an alarm.
Good locks on all doors (front has Smart lock)

All done by Tapo, Aqara and Reolink and hasn't cost the earth.

 

[iwrox]

The only thing to watch out for with these smart alarm systems is what happens when the company pulls support, my brother in law had a Hive alarm and they just decided to shut the back end down last year rendering a lot of it useless!

Oddly the sensors still work in app (I guess for other smart home purposes) but the keypads and sirens and the alarm app itself were all shelved.

 

[tamzzy]

I've gone full Chinese as I know they want to harvest data and won't shut things down
Have a full Tapo setup...

 

[spile]

The only thing to watch out for with these smart alarm systems is what happens when the company pulls support, my brother in law had a Hive alarm and they just decided to shut the back end down last

That is why I coded my own on a cheap ESP32 module. I did it as a lockdown project and updated it a few weeks ago. I get an email to a dedicated address if the alarm is triggered or someone sets or upsets it.

 

[iwrox]

That is why I coded my own on a cheap ESP32 module. I did it as a lockdown project and updated it a few weeks ago. I get an email to a dedicated address if the alarm is triggered or someone sets or upsets it.

I guess ultimately that is all the Konnected PCB is with a few extra bells and whistles but for a lot more money Nice one!

 

[spile]

I guess ultimately that is all the Konnected PCB is with a few extra bells and whistles but for a lot more money Nice one!

The esp32 and wireless remote cost me £6 each. A couple of quid for components. I published the original code on GitHub which I should update really.