House alarms- Banham worth the $$$

[anonymous-user]

Sorry, don't have a pound sign on a US keyboard, but question is the same. We have a 3 bed terraced house in London, wondering if Banham is worth the expected price premium or what other alrm recommendations people have?

We have Banham locks all around the house, installed by a previous owner who lived on her own. What should I go for, Banham, a self installed job off Amazon or some other recommendation?

Many thanks for your advice and shared experience!

[randlemarcus]

Have a look at your neighbours. If they have nothing, get a battery powered box off Ebay.

I loathe the things, but then I have a hound who likes to wander the house, and consider that a better deterrent.

[1JEB]

We went for a wireless banham alarm. I think it was marginally more expensive than the chubb and ADT systems. We were recommended to get an independent alarm company which would have been quite a lot cheaper but in the end going for one of the large companies was less hassle. The Banham "box" looked nicer according to my wife...

Has worked fine since we got it. We're yet to really test the customer support etc fully though.

[motco]

Barry Brothers

[danyeates]

My house is Pre wired for an alarm from new. It has wires and blank faceplates for PIRs, bell box and control panels with them all terminating in a cupboard with a mains fused outlet for the main control unit.

Are Banham alarms available to buy for DIY installation. What's so good about Banham alarms?

I had asked my dad to get prices for alarms as he used to sell commercial intruder alarms, so still has contacts in the trade.

[megaphone]

You can buy a Honeywell 8 zone complete system for less than £150, if all the wires are in place it will be an easy instal. You may need to add a few more PIRs.

http://cpc.farnell.com/honeywell-security/8ep407n-...

Cheaper if you shop around.

[danyeates]

megaphone said:

You can buy a Honeywell 8 zone complete system for less than £150, if all the wires are in place it will be an easy instal. You may need to add a few more PIRs.

http://cpc.farnell.com/honeywell-security/8ep407n-...

Cheaper if you shop around.

That looks perfect, cheap too. I have 6 core wires to each blank faceplate. I wonder how easy it will be to run wires from my smoke detectors to it....

I'll wait to hear back from my dad to see what he comes up with, but that's a possibility.

[andy.blue.mini]

If your pre wired it makes things very easy to do.

I have fitted Honeywell Galaxy panels for years.

Panel and keypad or keyprox is maybe £170

Decent DT's are about £15

Bell £30

I'm not sure what panel Banham fit but I would go for galaxy everytime.

It's quite easy to programm too.

[motco]

I used to make and sell intruder alarm equipment (unique outdoor movement detectors based on two channel microwave for higher security than PIR, and steel cased external warning devices (bell boxes). Banhams have nothing available to them that everyone else has; it's an image gained from years of selling in Kensington etc., with upmarket showrooms in wealthy areas. Their locks used to be made for them by Yale, according to an employee there - may have changed now, though. It's all down to the quality of the surveyor and fitter, rather than exclusive equipment. Some alarm companies are good, but more are mediocre. I have been out of the business for too long to recommend a company - I mentioned Barry Bros because they've been around for a long time and in London.

[VEX]

I have a couple of clients who have installed Barry Bros systems.

I have a monitored system from DynoSecure which has been in for for 10 years and the support and local service has been brilliant.

V.

[anonymous-user]

Cheers Pistonheads! For all the nonsense about 335Ds and people kicking off, it really is still a super helpful community at times. Really appreciate all of the input. Thank you. (and will let you know what we do!)

[DSLiverpool]

Banhams use quality kit and have great service as the client base dictates,I would use them over ADT and Chubb.
An indie local installer if approved may o a good job, look at local boxes and pick the most popular.
DIY why bother unless your tight on cash.

[JABB]

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

[DSLiverpool]

JABB said:

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

You would need a decent installer but again it's the after sales and service that Banham excel at.

In another life I sold the tooling and injection moulding for the first plastic Banham box, it covered a iirc much better engineered backplate than pictured. Christ that was 24 years ago.

[motco]

DSLiverpool said:

JABB said:

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

You would need a decent installer but again it's the after sales and service that Banham excel at.

In another life I sold the tooling and injection moulding for the first plastic Banham box, it covered a iirc much better engineered backplate than pictured. Christ that was 24 years ago.

CQR?

[Westy Pre-Lit]

JABB said:

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

Like motco has already said on here, Banham use the same kit as any other installer is able to use.

It's just a cheap 'Bells Only' Pyronix Euro mini a more than likely doesn't include the engineer manual.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pyronix-SECURE-KIT-2X-PL...

I know I bang on about this all the time but if you want your system to be insurance approved then you'll need an approved installer from either the SSAIB or NSI, lists of approved installers can be sort on their websites.

I'd also strongly suggest you get at least three quotes as well so you can make a comparison with who you want to deal with.

Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Sunday 14th October 08:42

[DSLiverpool]

motco said:

DSLiverpool said:

JABB said:

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

You would need a decent installer but again it's the after sales and service that Banham excel at.

In another life I sold the tooling and injection moulding for the first plastic Banham box, it covered a iirc much better engineered backplate than pictured. Christ that was 24 years ago.

CQR?

Yep, left in 2000 sad to see inept management kill it.

[motco]

DSLiverpool said:

motco said:

DSLiverpool said:

JABB said:

What about this then
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Banham-home-security-ala...

You would need a decent installer but again it's the after sales and service that Banham excel at.

In another life I sold the tooling and injection moulding for the first plastic Banham box, it covered a iirc much better engineered backplate than pictured. Christ that was 24 years ago.

CQR?

Yep, left in 2000 sad to see inept management kill it.

In the eighties, the company I was with bought a strobe design from CQR - tooling and circuit design. The MD of the day, one of the Solomons brothers, was one the most honest people I've known in the security industry. Can't recall his first name; David or Mike perhaps?

[DSLiverpool]

That would be Dennis, I'm David the other one

[motco]

DSLiverpool said:

That would be Dennis, I'm David the other one

You have email.