Extending an old system or scrap it all together?

KazDub

We have a wired system in our house, roughly 15 years old. We're looking to extend it to cover some additional doors and windows that have been added as parts of some home renovation. I'm getting conflicting information regarding what to do with the current system. Our original plan was to use that as a backbone to branch off and connect to the new zones. Our builder has wired the new parts and has cables in place, waiting to be connected to our existing system. However, I've been told by one person that 15 year old wires will still be in good nick and should be fine, there's no need to scrap them and go to a wireless system, just add on the new zones. Then from someone else I've heard the opposite: the wires could be in bits, just go wireless. It could take an engineer hours to trace a problem in an old wired system but only a few minutes at a panel to locate an issue with wireless.
I'm in the process of getting quotes, but am completely clueless when it comes to alarms. Should we write off the wired system or should we consider it perfectly viable and let the decision boil down to just cost between the two options?

KoolKid

If the original wiring is prewired when the house was built then it should be fine and it's unlikely to be in bits.
If it's all surface wiring then look at replacing with wireless.
If you are upgrading the panel you can combine wired and wireless quite easily.
Get a few people out to give you a quote and some advice.

KazDub

Yes, the original wiring is all from when the house was built and has been covered all that time by walls / plasterboard, etc. So, the notion that the wires could begin to deteriorate isn't really something that we should be overly concerned with then? We may well go with a a fully wireless solution or a hybrid of both, but I just want to make that decision fully informed.

fred funk }{

What koolkid said.

KoolKid

Wiring in a prewired house would not deteriorate in that way or in that short a time.
Sounds like a case of someone trying to sell you what they want to install.

KazDub

Thanks for replying, it's good to have that information. I know our sensors probably need replacing, as they tend to go off any time there's very cold weather, but at least we know that the wiring itself should be sound.

kub

Op if i may, I started in this business over 25 years ago, as a young fella back then my job was to wire new houses while they were being built, probably a few hundred of them at that.

Now i am a big boy and am fully grown.......

But on a serious note, I still look after some the alarms which were subsequently fitted in these houses. I have yet to have any issues with cables.

What you might be dealing with there is a guy who only has experience with Wireless systems because what he said is bull and secondly any service guy who takes hours to trace a wiring fault is sh1t at his job.

If i were you, stick with the wired stuff, if you are upgrading your control equipment go with a Hybrid panel.