Yale wireless alarm systems - a waste of time?

NIMAN

I appreciate most experts on here will probably say it is, but if you were able to get a practically new Yale EF-KIT2 system with 2 extra PIRs (4 in total), for £100, would it be a decent enough buy?

So thats the communicating alarm box, siren, dummy siren, 4 PIRs and 2 window contacts.

KoolKid

Same owners as HKC now, so you never know.:rolleyes:
Very little coverage you are getting for that though.

Seriousally , you need all accessible perimeter points of entry covered.

NIMAN

So if I was to add a few more sensors, the system itself might suffice?

bk

I have a version of this, the Yale Smart Home Kit. Different panel, but uses the same sensors and siren.

Is it as good as a HKC system? No. Is it great value for money at that price? Yes, absolutely.

Only thing, note this is the telecoms kits, so you lose out on the nice app control, remote monitoring and some of the very cool new smart home features they are adding to the Smart Home models *

* In the last month, they added the ability to hook up Philips Hue smart bulbs to it, so if the alarm goes off, all my Hue bulbs start flashing red, turns my entire home into a massive SAAB, nice

BTW A nice thing about this system is that extra sensors are pretty cheap and easy to add.

NIMAN

Thanks for that bk, I wasn't really in the market for an alarm system,but someone is selling one locally and might get it for that price if I really haggle!

I take it then that its an old model, that the Smart Home kits have superseded it?

I don't have a phone line active at present, so I guess it wouldn't do the communicating part anyway in the event of an alarm.

I was just interested to know if Yale are to alarms what Swann is to CCTVs? You would regularly see the likes of Swann and other systems sold in Maplins etc ripped to bits by people who say they aren't worth the money, and will always recommend specialist gear. But sometimes you just don't have the ability to spend €600 - €1k on gear.

The fact that Yale is for sale in Homebase etc made me wonder was it even worth the £100.

bk

Yale launched a new system just this month, it is called Yale Sync. My Yale Smart Alarm System is actually 4 years old now (though I just got mine a few months ago), the Yale Sync is replacing it, though some of the new features Yale Sync has, also seem to be coming to mine too (e.g. The Hue feature).

The reason they are so cheap in Homebase, etc. at the moment is because they are selling off the old systems with the release of the new kit, which is more like 250.

I'd say it is definitely worth a £100. I'm using mine instead of an old HKC 812 system I also have. I don't consider it a system for life, but it will do as a stopgap until the smart alarm market matures.

Sure, they are definitely downsides to it compared to HKC, etc. but likewise there are also areas where the Yale kit exceeds HKC. Pros and cons, like all products and of curse no guarantees. It is DIY kit, so you are doing it yourself, that isn't for everyone.

But sometimes you just don't have the ability to spend €600 - €1k on gear.

This big time. I think it is dangerous only recommending expensive systems to people. If they can afford it, then great, but there are a lot of people for whom that is far too much and decide to go with no system.

After all 50% of homes in Ireland don't have any alarm. Probably because lots of people can't afford the cost.

Is a quality professionally installed system the best if you can afford it, of course. But even a cheap DIY system is far, far better then non at all IMO.

illdoit2morrow

bk wrote: »

Yale launched a new system just this month, it is called Yale Sync. My Yale Smart Alarm System is actually 4 years old now (though I just got mine a few months ago), the Yale Sync is replacing it, though some of the new features Yale Sync has, also seem to be coming to mine too (e.g. The Hue feature).

The reason they are so cheap in Homebase, etc. at the moment is because they are selling off the old systems with the release of the new kit, which is more like 250.

I'd say it is definitely worth a £100. I'm using mine instead of an old HKC 812 system I also have. I don't consider it a system for life, but it will do as a stopgap until the smart alarm market matures.

Sure, they are definitely downsides to it compared to HKC, etc. but likewise there are also areas where the Yale kit exceeds HKC. Pros and cons, like all products and of curse no guarantees. It is DIY kit, so you are doing it yourself, that isn't for everyone.



This big time. I think it is dangerous only recommending expensive systems to people. If they can afford it, then great, but there are a lot of people for whom that is far too much and decide to go with no system.

After all 50% of homes in Ireland don't have any alarm. Probably because lots of people can't afford the cost.

Is a quality professionally installed system the best if you can afford it, of course. But even a cheap DIY system is far, far better then non at all IMO.

Hi bk,

Where did you read/discover that the hue integration is coming to older Yale alarm kits?

The reason i ask is i recently purchased a Yale sr-310 kit which was reduced in Homebase and would love to be able to tie it into my hue set-up if possible.

bk

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Hi bk,

Where did you read/discover that the hue integration is coming to older Yale alarm kits?

The reason i ask is i recently purchased a Yale sr-310 kit which was reduced in Homebase and would love to be able to tie it into my hue set-up if possible.

I read it was coming to the new Yale Sync system and I just tried it on mine (I've the same system as you) and it just worked

They updated Yale Home app two weeks ago (it now has a new icon) and they added some options. Make sure you have the updated app and then go:

Menu (top left, three lines) -> Settings -> Hue Light Settings

And you should be able to connect to your Hue lights there.

One catch, the arm/disarm option seems to only work with Hue coloured bulbs, not White or White Ambiance, however white bulbs do flash too if the alarm goes off.

No sign of the Alexa support working with our system, it seems the Yale Sync is exclusive to Amazon until the end of the year, after that I hope Alexa and maybe Google Home and IFTTT support might come too.

BTW there is no technical reason all this shouldn't work with older systems, since all this stuff works in the cloud and isn't limited by hardware.

BBTW I read somewhere (forget where now) that they will also be launching support for Apple Watch and Android watches in a few weeks too

bk

BTW If you happen to have a SmartThings hub, you can unofficially integrate it with that and do also sorts of integrations with Hue bulbs, Google Home, etc. But this is unofficial and a bit geeky. Nice to see easy official support come.

The Hue support is really great, I'm going to get an outdoors colour bulbs, I can't see many thieves sticking around with the house lit up like a disco

illdoit2morrow

I got the app update, the hue lights interaction is a very useful feature.