I was looking for home security options without a monthly fee and came across a few different z-wave systems. Just wondering if anyone recommends one over the other? My main concern is security (e.g., having an alarm) versus energy saving features (e.g., thermostat).

8/27/2014 3:05:08 PM

I have two siren/strobe alarms as secondary alarms for my system. I can't hear the main panel in my bedroom when asleep, or in my upstairs, so I added these two z-wave devices.

I'm not impressed with them and can't really give a good recommendation. The setup is easy, but they occasionally will lose communication with the control panel, meaning they won't work, and you have to resync them. Secondly, one of them goes off randomly, not often, but once is once too many. Lastly, they can be a pain to turn off (silence the alarm) - you have to ensure the alarming sensor is reset to the non-alarm state (e.g. close the door), and most of the time the z-wave siren turns off. Sometimes it doesn't, so I have to unplug and reprogram.

Admittedly, I don't know if this is true of all z-wave devices, the siren/strobes, or just the ones I have. If it were me, I would not rely on z-wave for crucial elements of a security system. Just my honest opinion.

8/27/2014 4:14:57 PM

I have a Simon XTi system, its monitored by LiveWatch security. So far I have been really happy with it. The tech support is great.

I used to think central station monitoring was not important, but its only $29 a month and well worth it. I have a dog and would rather them call the fire dept if there were a fire when I was not available than come home to a house burnt to the ground and no dog. The sensors are not that expensive and can be bought on ebay and multiple other websites, so the system is easily expandable.

I also have a separate Night Owl video surveillance system with no fee, but that is not gonna call the cops on anyone, just record what happened and what time.

http://www.safemart.com/

8/29/2014 12:21:44 PM

I've got a Vera Lite and a handful of z-wave security devices, including door sensors and a deadbolt. I also have switches and a thermostat, but those obviously aren't security-related. The door sensors seem to work fine, but devices that are more complicated, like multi-function motion and light sensors, are a bit flaky. I don't know if it's a problem with the Vera software, the devices, or z-wave in general. I also picked up a First Alert smoke/CO detector the other day, and it turns out that Vera doesn't have support for it yet. Not sure if other controllers work with it or not. Overall, I'm not currently impressed with my setup considering the amount of money I've shelled out for devices, but at least I'm not paying $50/month on top of all that for security monitoring. I'm wondering if unified solutions like Iris would work better/more seamlessly.

9/3/2014 12:25:12 PM

^
From everything I've read, it seems like there are more positive reviews of Vera than Iris. I'm wondering now with feedback from the thread whether to just go with something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DAA4YTK/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1DU5ZILHOK0DQ&coliid=I21LURHH1NM38I

9/3/2014 2:40:47 PM

^^^the security devices for that system aren't z-wave, are they? I thought those used a different wireless connection; it's just the panel also accepts z-wave devices.

[Edited on September 3, 2014 at 3:13 PM. Reason : /]

9/3/2014 3:13:38 PM