HKC wired installation

FrankTupelo

Hi All,

This is my first post on Boards!
First of all I would like to thank everyone, for any information/advice I gathered in the past few years reading Boards about different topics.

The home alarm is the topic on which I am now spending some time.
I was going to get the PhoneWatch alarm because I had noticed that it is very popular among our neighbours. Fortunately reading the feedback and experience shared here I got a better idea of what I really wanted and what I wanted to avoid

My house is in Dublin and based on what I learned so far I am now interested in a HKC hybrid wired alarm:
- with self monitoring, phone app, dual path communication GSM-WiFi
- without central station monitoring (so without third party/key holder)
- without being tied/locked to a particular installer
So that once installed I will have to only pay the yearly subscription fee for the GSM SIM card (60€), without any other contracts or ongoing fees.
This seems to be clear - however I still have some questions and hope you can help me.

Maintenance
Many installers propose their maintenance package, that is a yearly fee which:
- includes a routine visit to check that all sensors work fine
- entitles you to a discount for call out charges
My house is new and pre-wired, so hopefully for the first few years the wires and the sensors should be fine. For this reason I was thinking to avoid the subscription of the maintenance initially. Also as additional consideration, in our previous rented houses the HKC alarm even if old was never checked yearly - and we had no issues, it always worked fine.
What is your suggestion on the maintenance, based on your experience as installers/customers about problems occurred with new alarms?

Engineer lock/code
My understanding is that in most cases when the HKC panel is installed the engineer code is not provided, and I read your explanation why this happens (certification, responsibilities for settings, etc.) - anyway the conclusion I got is that this does not tie you to a specific installer and any good installer can change it for you if needed in the future.
In this case I am fine in not getting that code when the alarm will be installed.
Please let me know if I understood correctly.

GSM-WiFi
Regarding the dual path GSM-WIFI, I found the small UPS a very good suggestion for power cuts to back up broadband:)

5) Regarding concerns about power cuts: Small UPS are quite cheap. These could be used to back up broadband. Even if the UPS had a 10 minute autonomy this would be more sufficient time to contact an end user informing them of a power cut.

So in theory a separate UPS could be used also to back up the HKC panel/GSM module as additional security eventually, is this correct?

And as a separate thing, just to clarify, does this comment quoted below apply to HKC GSM-WiFi module too?
In other words, if the electricity goes down will the HKC GSM module reconnect automatically to my router or do I need to call an engineer to reconnect it?

Would you like to tell us more about GSM failure alerts in the middle of the night and when the electricity goes how the system has to be reconnected to the customers Wifi?

Keypad - correct user menu setup
In one of our previous rented houses entering directly the code on the keypad would get the system ready to fully arm - this was mentioned by some of you as a bad setup.
What should happen when entering the code, if the setup is done correctly?


Many thanks!

KoolKid

FrankTupelo wrote: »

Maintenance
Many installers propose their maintenance package, that is a yearly fee which:
- includes a routine visit to check that all sensors work fine
- entitles you to a discount for call out charges

Shop around here.Most maintenance contracts should cover your annual service & all other callouts + labour.

FrankTupelo wrote: »

My house is new and pre-wired, so hopefully for the first few years the wires and the sensors should be fine. For this reason I was thinking to avoid the subscription of the maintenance initially. Also as additional consideration, in our previous rented houses the HKC alarm even if old was never checked yearly - and we had no issues, it always worked fine.
What is your suggestion on the maintenance, based on your experience as installers/customers about problems occurred with new alarms?

Your first year will be covered by warranty anyway.
After that its up to you. However be careful what is required by your home insurance. If you are claiming conformance to EN50131 they will be expecting it to be serviced every year.
They won't ask for proof of this untill a claim arises.

FrankTupelo wrote: »

Engineer lock/code
My understanding is that in most cases when the HKC panel is installed the engineer code is not provided, and I read your explanation why this happens (certification, responsibilities for settings, etc.) - anyway the conclusion I got is that this does not tie you to a specific installer and any good installer can change it for you if needed in the future.
In this case I am fine in not getting that code when the alarm will be installed.
Please let me know if I understood correctly.

That is all correct.
If you are switching installer & the new installer can't reset the panel then look for one who knows what they are doing.

FrankTupelo wrote: »

GSM-WiFi
Regarding the dual path GSM-WIFI, I found the small UPS a very good suggestion for power cuts to back up broadband:)



So in theory a separate UPS could be used also to back up the HKC panel/GSM module as additional security eventually, is this correct?

The panel , GSM & Wifi card will be backed up by the panels back up battery anyway.
A UPS for your router if the power outage is local enough not to affect your broadband connection anyway.

FrankTupelo wrote: »

And as a separate thing, just to clarify, does this comment quoted below apply to HKC GSM-WiFi module too?
In other words, if the electricity goes down will the HKC GSM module reconnect automatically to my router or do I need to call an engineer to reconnect it?

All systems would switch back to your router providing none of your WiFi settings have changed.

I would have concerns however with the entire service being down & you not being notified. Looking at some other threads & from talking to installers there appears to be regular outages lately.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057899966
Unfortunatly HKCs subscription of €60 per annum only alerts you to loss of connectivity to site after 5 hours.
Most other similar apps would tell you in minutes.

FrankTupelo wrote: »

Keypad - correct user menu setup
In one of our previous rented houses entering directly the code on the keypad would get the system ready to fully arm - this was mentioned by some of you as a bad setup.
What should happen when entering the code, if the setup is done correctly?

No. You should be given access to the full user/manager menus.

FrankTupelo

Many thanks KoolKid for your clarifications and all the information provided.

Shop around here.Most maintenance contracts should cover your annual service & all other callouts + labour.

Good to know, I will shop around and evaluate better maintenance contracts.

Your first year will be covered by warranty anyway.
After that its up to you. However be careful what is required by your home insurance. If you are claiming conformance to EN50131 they will be expecting it to be serviced every year.
They won't ask for proof of this until a claim arises.

Good to know also about the proof requested in case of claims... fortunately we have an "automatic" workaround already in place
As suggested by one of our friends we requested the home insurance without alarm and had decided to keep it this way.
I know, we will not get the 10-15% discount - but for now that's fine.

I would have concerns however with the entire service being down & you not being notified. Looking at some other threads & from talking to installers there appears to be regular outages lately.

Yeah, I had read the thread about those outages. I hope Securecom will work on this.

Unfortunatly HKCs subscription of €60 per annum only alerts you to loss of connectivity to site after 5 hours.
Most other similar apps would tell you in minutes.

I am aware of the 5 hours, I had noticed this in other threads, and I also noticed that you are familiar with other solutions/apps.
Although HKC is my current intention, before committing the installation I will continue evaluating the other options

baby fish

sorry for jumping in here, I've a question and the answer might be useful to you too if you are installing an alarm...

Can anyone describe what domestic location best suits a dual element pir? quad element pir? and the dual tech pir?

hkc website gives no information on this, except discuss with your installer... and then one installer says the standard is fine everywhere while another says wouldn't do anything other than dual tech everywhere

I presume the standard HKC pir is more than suitable in a domestic situation and the dual tech is over the top?
What location/use is a quad best suited to?

davidconroy46

A hallway is fine or landen area

KoolKid

A duel tec PiR is better where there's a variable environment. A conservatory where there can be extreme temperature changes. A garage that can be dusty and not insulated. Attic etc.

davidconroy46

Good advice KoolKid

baby fish

KoolKid wrote: »

A duel tec PiR is better where there's a variable environment.

thanks

If you could just explain difference between a quad vs standard pir?
And the location/environment these are designed to be used in?

or Is it they are actually the same ,just the quad detects smaller movements/detects a movement quicker due to it's extra elements ability to divide a room into a greater number of sections?

That's all I can find about them.Then they are both suited to the same environment?

Ive searched online and can't find a definite answer as to the location/environment a quad has been designed for.

altor

baby fish wrote: »

thanks

If you could just explain difference between a quad vs standard pir?
And the location/environment these are designed to be used in?

or Is it they are actually the same ,just the quad detects smaller movements/detects a movement quicker due to it's extra elements ability to divide a room into a greater number of sections?

That's all I can find about them.Then they are both suited to the same environment?

Ive searched online and can't find a definite answer as to the location/environment a quad has been designed for.

It's more so down to environment.
Standard house a standard pir is used. Harsh environments a dual is used. Quads are down to the sections that need to be crossed to trigger the device. If you are installing in a house then a standard pir is what should be used.