Hello,
I'm planning on installing an alarm system in my finished apartment and want to do it with minimal damage to the walls. For my first alarm setup, I made a square hole beside the window frame and 1 behind the baseboard then I drilled a small hole horizontally from the side of the window. I then fed the wire through that small hole and into the square hole. From the square hole, I fed the wire down to the hole behind the baseboard. It works ok but makes a lot of square holes to patch. I had a lot of time to fix those holes but in my second install, I don't have much time so I need to be as neat as possible. How do the pros run their alarm cables in finished apartments (both floors above and below are fully finished. I know wireless is one way to go but I don't want that. I guess I can drill straight down from the window frame into the hole behind the baseboard but most of the time I see the wire coming out horizontal to the window frame. Same question for door contacts.
Also, if I'm going to setup a perimeter for stay mode (arm only perimeter when I sleep), how can I deal with an air conditioner that sits in the window during the summer days ? I can always deactivate that window but then, it doesn't offer much protection at night since all PIR are not armed at night ? I thought of putting an extra contact somewhere in the middle of the window frame or maybe stick the magnet side of the contact onto the air conditioner itself. I can also add a second contact w/magnet onto the piece of plexiglass/plywood above the air conditioner. That way, if the plywood or AC is removed, it would trigger the alarm. Window would be jammed in the position with a simple piece of wood in the track.
thanks
