My new home will have all doors and windows secured with sensors. My security system comes with one motion sensor but I'm undecided as to where to have it installed.

Here's the layout of my house.
It's two stories with the upstairs having 3 bedrooms. There is no way to access the upstairs windows without a ladder so the window sensors upstairs are just added protection.

The downstairs has a small entry foyer with the livingroom to your right and the stairs to your left. Between them is a hallway that ends up with the garage door on your left and kitchen/dining room on your right. There are two french style patio doors (only one side opens) in the dining room leading to the back yard.
In the livingroom there is a door leading to the master bedroom which is the opposite wing from the garage.

Every room has a sensored window in the house so the motion detector is extra. I thought about mounting it in the garage but if we come home through the garage we may not have enough time (30 sec) to get from closing the garage to inside the house without having to rush. An added keypad is an option but right now our budget is zero'd out.

Any suggestions are welcome

 

You did not mention what type of windows you have. Are the double hung? If so, do you have switches in both lower or upper sashes?
If you have only one sash wired, an intruder could enter w/o setting the alarm. If this is the case, my vote would be to put the motion at the end of the hall way pointing toward the living room (assuming that is where you keep your toys). This will protect your house while you are away, but cannot be used while you're home.

I have a motion in the garage and have no problem getting to the key pad before the alarm goes off (though my keypad is at the garage entry and I have a ~40 sec delay). This motion is active both home or away. It guards you garage door, where most people do not install switches.

If you only have one keypad, (assume at the front door), how do you get through the garage entry door in time? Or, is the garage entry not wired? If you can scrounge the extra cash now, I think you will be glad you have a keypad in the garage in the future. We only use our front door keypad for the occasional visitor; however, we use the garage keypad several times a day as we come and go.

If you chose to add motions at some point in the future, there are wireless motions available that may be compatible with your system.... see www.smarthome.com


Steve

 

Hi,
In many cases when placing a motion sensor in your home we try to place the detector so that no matter how a bad guy was to gain entry, he would have to pass through the detector to get from the master bedroom to the living room or family room. This is because we know that the burglar wants to get to these rooms first. He knows that he will easily find things that he can sell sell for cash or trade for drugs. By placing the sensor this way, you should be able to create a good backup to your perimeter protection. It should be mentioned that in placing the detector be sure to follw the manufactures recomendations for reducing the possibilty of false alarms. Hope this helps

Randyvan1
Long time alarm guy