I am building a new house that will be prewired for an alarm system. What system would you recommend. I don't want a monitored system, just a stand alone system with siren.

 

Hello again Jason, I guess you decided that since wiring up that motion was easy enough, why not go ahead and try a whole system???

Well, you've seen the inside of the panel, there's really not much to one - just follow some simple instructions and do a little programming - easy enough!

Personally, I like the ITI Concord Express - it's easy to install, easy to program (extremely easy compared to Ademco Vistas, DSC Power Series, CaddX NX systems, and pretty much any system I've ever worked on), and it's very easy to use too. Not only that, the Concord Express comes with 16 wireless zones built-in, so there's no adding wireless receivers later on (which run about $75-100 online - depending on who you buy from.)

If you want to give it a go with another system, I also highly recommend the Ademco Vista series and even the DSC Power series, but be prepared to do some extensive programming with these systems. It's not extremely difficult, but (especially for the untrained DIY'er) it can be daunting.

Take a look around Ebay for some good pricing, just be careful of who you buy from. A lot of online "retailers" are exactly that - just retailers - they actually know nothing about the products they sell. Do some research and you'll come up with a good system at a good price.

Of course, all of the above mentioned systems have the option of monitoring if you want, but they also can be connected to Voice Dialers for easy notification without being monitored.

Good luck!