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Vent: The 2-second entry delay standard is a cop-out and I am done installing it
I was reading a ULC training doc last week and saw that the 30-second entry delay most panels ship with was picked because it cut down on false alarm calls, not because it gives you time to actually disarm. I ran the numbers on my own jobs: the average person takes 11 seconds to walk from the front door to the keypad, so 30 seconds is just dead time where anyone could walk in behind you. A rep for one of the big monitoring companies even admitted to me at a trade show in Louisville that longer delays mean fewer dispatch fees for them. I get why it exists, but acting like it is for the homeowner is dishonest. I set my panels to 15 seconds now and not one customer has complained in 8 installs. Am I wrong for thinking the old heads who push 30 seconds are just covering for lazy programming?
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drew77810d ago
You say the 2-second delay claim is the standard because it cuts down on false alarm calls, but that is not some dirty trick by monitoring companies, that is the whole point. In most towns a false alarm that brings out the police can get you a fine, and after a few of those the city makes you register your system or they stop responding at all. So the 30 seconds is not dead time, it is the difference between a real break in and your customer eating a hundred dollar ticket because a curtain moved. You ran 8 installs with 15 seconds and nobody complained, but that just means nobody has tripped it yet while fumbling for the code with an arm full of groceries. The old heads are not covering for lazy programming, they are covering for the guy who forgets his code every third time he walks in the door. I would rather have the extra seconds and a quiet house than save 15 seconds and get my customer on a no response list.
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