DIY

DIY security systems add confusion to the market

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Installers may have been wary of security systems sold to
the do-it-yourself market in electronic and home improvement stores in the
United States, but the moderate success of the program may calm some
anxiety. Read More...
http://www.securitysystemsnews.com/enews/2004.07.22/story2.htm

--
Michael B. Baker, SET
Michael Baker & Associates, Inc.
Fire Alarm System Design and Plan Review
PO Box 737
Gladstone, OR 97027-0737
503-657-8888 v
503-655-1014 f
ET News(sm) http://www.etnews.org

 

Very interesting article !! I do think they are right on the money. DIY is
and probably always will remain a small segment of the total marketplace.
Most clients don't want nor have the ability or inclination to install their
own systems. To date, most DIY systems sold in such places as Home Depot are
without dialers, and as such are not technically up to what would be
required for a monitored system, although the GE systems coming on line for
DIY'ers clearly are good equipment. I would be more concerned about the mass
marketing of monitoring along with these, since the bottom feeders in our
business like ADT would quickly jump in and would be concentrating on
selling their poor and overpriced monitoring to subscribers who don't know
how or where to shop around for superior and less costly services. Its a
shame, but there is very little out there to educate clients on the hidden
traps in our industry (Ralph Nader, where are you when we really need
you....???)

From a conventional dealers point of view, it would mean we would have to be
(or should be) more careful in hooking up these systems since there is no
assurance of proper installation techniques (although in my experience,
DIY'ers are pretty careful and capable people who only need assistance in
programming generally speaking....). And since most of this stuff ends up
being wireless for the most part, installation technique is not a large
issue....

Bottom line, for those dealers most concerned about RMR generation, this
will only increase that part of the market, but probably will have little to
no impact on the number of professionally installed systems sold.

R.H.Campbell
Home Security Metal Products
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.homemetal.com

 

Well....considering that 85% of the North American security market is held
by independants, I'd say that leaves lots of room to shop.....

RHC

 

Too bad ! He should have stuck with what he was good at......being a
consumer advocate !!

RHC

 

Mr. Bass said:

"I've replaced a few DIY systems from RatShak."

Out there replacing systems without a license, Mr. Bass?

Norm Mugford

 

People like me want to do their own system because local companies in
this area want $400-$600+ to prewire a new house - 4 windows and 2
doors!

I have many years in electronics and electrical work and understand
the concept of an system system. However I do have a hard time
finding product information on what equipment is used and why.
There is very little description of products so a person can make a
reasonable choice as to what to use.
I find it strange that sellers of equipment make no effort to
interpret the terms used in their products like the pannel.
Ex: some panels allow zone doubleing --- great! but what the hell does
that mean? Is that an internal function that does not require
additional equipment, a firmware function, or some kind of expander
board?

Some systems hint that they are for DIYers so I guess I will go with
one of them and immediately wire the doors and PIRs and figure the
rest from there.

Alarm DIYers don't have the cornor of stupidity.

 

RHC: Yes, while Home Depot sells a line of DIY panels without dialers, I
have observed that Radio Shack (in Canada anyway) sells Ademco equipment to
the DIYer. I often wonder how they handle questions about programming etc
that are bound to arise. But since most of them don't end up monitored, even
full of errors they likely will work for their intended "local" purposes...

RHC: Quite right !! I should have mentioned that !! Techniques related to
the best model of contacts to use in various door / window configurations,
placement of motions when pets are present, and proper wiring routing and
placement are several of the situations that quickly come to mind. None of
this is learned in any books, but comes about through experience over many
actual installations. While none of this is "rocket science", it still
requires a measure of experience to do correctly. I had the occasion to go
back to one of my earliest installations the other day, and was somewhat
taken aback by my wiring techniques within the can. While they were
acceptable from a false alarm perspective, they clearly weren't up to the
acceptable level of work after many years of installations. We all learn
techniques as we go, over time !! I have been called upon to monitor a few
self installed DIY systems. By and large, they are adequately done, but
usually far too complex in the wiring. Several had huge crossconnect panels
unnecessarily installed which only increased the number of "break" points in
the overall wiring. Needless to say, I inspected them, and then hooked them
to the station, but I don't give my usual trouble free installation
guarantee on these puppies !!

RHC: Could be ! But I'll bet dollars to doughnuts their motive has more to
do with selling more of their product than it has to do with what is best
for the consumer. Even a company like Paradox Security Systems (a company I
have the greatest respect for) are coming out with a wireless panel (it's
being trialed in Europe as we speak....). As the growth in residential
alarms continues unabated (at least for the next few years until the
integrated home automation market catches up), all the manufacturers are
jumping on the bandwagon to build products easily sold to the DIY market.
Quite coincidentally, that also caters to the professional "lick and stick'
crowd who then don't have to hire competent techs to install, while also
keeping their upfront costs down. Plus, it allows them to mass market to the
public to sell more of their ridiculously overpriced monitoring contracts,
which is what most of them only really care about anyway. So we'll likely
see more of the opportunistic long term contract nonsense (ie: on those
occasions when the client has paid a full market price up front.......)

Rather than seeing a trend away from the "free system" installations that is
predicted by many in the market, I see this trend by manufacturers towards
development of this kind of easily installed wireless equipment as actually
encouraging it. Overall, while it will probably increase the numbers of
alarm systems in the market, it will IMO cheapen the quality of coverage
downwards from the ideal full perimeter system to the two doors / one motion
type of system. But "c'est la vie"; the market usually adjusts towards what
the consumer wants, even when it can be against his best interests. And if
the truth be known, this configuration does work adequately in a lot of
residential situations. This will be mitigated by the certain fact that DIY
will always remain a very small part of the overall market place, just as it
is with all other trades (the Home Depots of the world not
withstanding....). And I certainly don't see any market leadership or
consumer education by those market leaders like ADT who should be IMO taking
some responsibility, but instead only care about their bottom line (their
idea of "education" is the two hours of "how an alarm system works" security
training before they inflict their hoards of sign carrying "free system"
salesmen on the dining public......

Kind of makes me glad I'm approaching the end of my tenure in this
business...

RHC