Front door - shock or contact only?

spongerobinson

Hi all,

Just in the process of spec-ing system for new house. Am I right in thinking a shock sensor on front door would be a bad idea, considering the potential for false alarms (people knocking, kids playing football, etc)

Thanks in advance.

kub

Is this your own house or are you specifying a system like an engineer would?

Just if this is your own house, you are advised to get it professionally risk assessed in order to comply with the requirements of EN50131.

In reply to your query, I have been fitting Inertia shock sensors with contacts to Front doors for the last 26 or so years so no bother with that.

spongerobinson

Thanks kub. Own house, DIY install. Thought I'd read somewhere before about not putting shock on front door, but obviously not!

kub

spongerobinson wrote: »

Thanks kub. Own house, DIY install. Thought I'd read somewhere before about not putting shock on front door, but obviously not!

You are better off with one, if for example you have a heavy knocker or letter box, the sensitivity of the sensor can be reduced.

Also i would be fitting it to the frame rather than onto the actual door itself.

As you are at it, specify shocks and contacts to all of your downstairs windows and doors and also to any windows upstairs that have ground floor extensions beneath them.

Perhaps a few beams as well, 1 for your hallway, landing and master bedroom.

spongerobinson

kub wrote: »

You are better off with one, if for example you have a heavy knocker or letter box, the sensitivity of the sensor can be reduced.

Also i would be fitting it to the frame rather than onto the actual door itself.

As you are at it, specify shocks and contacts to all of your downstairs windows and doors and also to any windows upstairs that have ground floor extensions beneath them.

Perhaps a few beams as well, 1 for your hallway, landing and master bedroom.

Thanks for the advice. What you've said there is pretty much exactly what I had in mind.

Likely going for HKC as have had them previously, and am very comfortable with the way they work.

Will get gsm-q as well as I like text notifications, and not too bothered about having an app.

While I have you here, on the beams front I've been reading it's better not to face them towards windows where possible. So, in the entrance hallway, I'm thinking about PIR above front door in corner, rather then at end of hallway facing the front door. Or, does this really matter when using HKC quad pir?

Thanks again for the advice, it's really appreciated.

kub

Go with positioning the beam by the door, no harm in it taking in some of your stairs as well.

A quad is indeed more tolerant than a normal PIR but out of habit it is best to have it looking inward.

fred funk }{

We generally don't put shocks on a front door as we have had false alarms generated by people knocking or the postman/leaflet delivery person.

If there's plenty of glass in the door or surround then we will or if there's no pedestrian access to the house (electric gates) we will also.

spongerobinson

kub wrote: »

Go with positioning the beam by the door, no harm in it taking in some of your stairs as well.

A quad is indeed more tolerant than a normal PIR but out of habit it is best to have it looking inward.

Thanks Kub, makes perfect sense to take in some of the stairs too, so I'll go with that.

fred funk }{ wrote: »

We generally don't put shocks on a front door as we have had false alarms generated by people knocking or the postman/leaflet delivery person.

If there's plenty of glass in the door or surround then we will or if there's no pedestrian access to the house (electric gates) we will also.

Thanks Fred. Definitely read that somewhere before too, so I guess I might get the shock sensor anyway, and can disable it and just use the contact if it causes issues.