House Alarm Adventures, Part 1: My New House has an Old Alarm System.

My new (to me) house has an old wired alarm system. The alarm isn't completely ancient, but it is about 20 years old. It definitely isn't modern. It uses an analog phone line to report alarms, has wires running everywhere, and certainly is not internet connected. The keypads look like they are from the early 2000s.

This is not what I want. So I immediately said to myself: I need to rip this old alarm system out and modernize!

A Slow Deconstruction

Instead of just blindly ripping things out, I wisely decided to take my time. After all, its good to have a plan before blowing things up. Since the house needs a lot of re-work, I decided that I can slowly remove the bits that are in my way. At some point, I'll have enough of an understanding to replace the whole system.

The alarm system has 3 keypads, several motion sensors, and a whole bunch of other sensors on doors and windows. They are all of the "wired" variety, and there is a lot of wiring that I don't understand.

Picking it apart

My very first move was to completely turn off the system. I don't need to do something to trigger a siren and then not know what I did. I disconnected the backup battery that was in the panel, and then I unplugged the panel. System off! Now I don't have to worry about it.

Next was removal of two of the keypads and one of the motion sensors. I removed these in preparation for work improving the walls.

Then I took a look at the smoke detectors.

And then I asked myself: why am I ripping this stuff out?

I was ripping out the old system because I didn't understand it. But as I started to understand it, I figured out that it is a pretty comprehensive system that was fairly well put together. Maybe it will be far cheaper, easier, and better to keep it.

The next set of posts are about how I am modernizing my home security system. Stay tuned!

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