Re: Ademco Vista 20P or Vista 50P system?

[JoeRaisin <joeraisin2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

4Technology wrote:
> On Nov 7, 9:11 am, JoeRaisin <joeraisin2...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> 4Technology wrote:
>>> We are looking to install a security system on our house. Our initial
>>> research reduded the possible systems to an Ademco 20p or an Ademco
>>> 50p. Given we have no experience with these systems personally, we are
>>> seeking advice from the professionals on this board. :-)
>>> We would like...
>>>   - 20 wired zones for doors and windows
>>>   - 4-6 zones for motion detection
>>>   - 4 keypads (one wireless/portable that can be carried within the
>>> house, if possible)
>>>   - 12 wireless zones for external building doors and windows
>>>   - 4 smoke/fire detectors
>>>   - 3 sirens (three unique locations on the house)
>>>   - internet connectivity
>>>   - x10 light/device control capability
>>>   - room for future wired and wireless expansion (for room addition)
>>> There are clearly other factors to consider; however, we are no pros
>>> and could have overlooked the critical point. :-(   Your advice and
>>> guidance is greatly appreciated.
>>> Thanks to all!
>> As others have stated, the 20P is what you are looking for.
>>
>> If your house is big enough for 3 sirens (watch out for power problems
>> there as well) it would seem to be too big for only 4 smoke detectors.
>>
>> Are you putting them inside all the bedrooms?
>
> Thanks to everyone for the rapid response. Wow!
>
> We have a 4500 sq. ft home + a 500 sq ft garage along with a 1500 sq
> ft out building. We have two existing smoke/fire detectors circuits in
> the home now, for a total of 20 detectors (at least one per room and
> two hallways have two each). All of the detectors are hard-wired with
> battery backup. We would like to simple add "monitored" detectors in a
> few of the primary areas; we may need to increase to 6.
>
> We would like to install a siren on each end of the home (external)
> and one near the soffit (hidden) of the out building. I imagine there
> are limitations on the length of the wire to feed the external sirens.
> We have 4 extra cat5e wires that are running from the house to the
> outbuilding at this time (approximately 100 feet of wire in length
> from central point we would like to install the alarm base).We do not
> have a lot of immediate neighbors, so the extra sirens may assist in
> getting noticed. :-)
>

The external sirens are not of much use (IMHO).  Unless you live in a
unique neighborhood - when was the last time you called the police
because you heard a car alarm going off?

Your response will come from your monitoring station.  I would stick
with internal siren(s) in the house.  The cat5 to the outbuilding
negates any need of wireless.  It could be used to run a relay board
(4204) or a combo zone expander/relay board (4229) and then you could do
hardwired zones (less expense, less maintenance, can take temperature
extremes better) in the outbuilding and use the relays to switch a power
supply driving a siren.

The same data bus that controls the expander also can connect to a
keypad out there.  With 12 zones in the outbuilding I would recommend
one 4229(8 zones w/ 4 relays) and a 4219 (just 8 more zones)

The 20P is a two partition panel (well - three if you count the 'common
lobby') so you could have the house and the outbuilding on separate
partitions that operate independently from each other.  An external
siren in the outbuilding would be useful in the even of a break in while
you were home.

By enabling and learning the "Go To" feature to switch back and forth
between partitions from any keypad I think you will be very happy with
the resulting system.

The programming is not that difficult and if you get stuck you shouldn't
have too much trouble getting help here in the form of step by step
instructions and if you ask right, there may even be a person or two who
might help you with with remote programming (though that is never a given).

To get the most bang for the buck in regards to X10 (in terms of ease of
use) I would also suggest at least one graphic keypad.

Good Luck!