My wife and I purchased our first home. I am looking for advice on purchasing an alarm system.

Details about the house:

1) The house is a 1950s brick ranch style home.

2) It is one story.

3) All of the windows are six over six, and only four of them are not painted shut.

4) The walls are plaster.

5) The front door is solid wood. The side door is six over six. The porch doors are french doors.

5) My father is an electronics and construction whiz, so he can help on the install.

I am looking to spend less than $500 right now, and I can add pieces as needed. Any advice on what system to get would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I love my Ademco system.

Look at the Ademco Vista 15P. Good system.

If you go with a Ademco, get the Ademco 6160 keypad. Without one of these, you will not be able to program.

I'm not sure if they even sell systems now without them, but something to look for.

 

I'm doing a Vista 20 install on my new home.

With an existing home, hardwiring sensors may be a real hassle, so you might consider going wireless to make things a lot easier on you.

I've avoided sensors on each window and instead have opted for separate IR motion sensors and glass break detectors to cover appropriate and/or susceptible areas. I did opt for switches on the doors themselves.

Most everything in my system has come from eBay purchases; I've aimed for paying no more than 1/2 of retail (w/shipping) and rarely have gone as high as 2/3 of retail, so costs have been what I consider reasonable.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions.