Searched and couldn’t find the answer on this; apologies if this has been asked previously and I missed it.
I’m preparing to swap out my home’s current (inactive) alarm system for a z-wave compatible system. The current system has 8 zones covering several dozen devices. When I connect my Vera to the alarm system, does Vera see the zones, the individual sensors, or both? I’d like to be able to monitor the state of specific sensors rather than the larger zones, if possible.
Thanks in advance for your help.
You need to install an alarm system that is compatible with Vera. Not all alarm systems will work with Vera. Also the zwave compatible alarm systems will not work with Vera in the way you think it will. Some of the most popular alarm systems that will work with Vera is the DSC Power Series, Honeywell/Ademco Vista Alarm Panels, Caddx/GE/NetworX NX-584/NX-8E, Elk M1 Alarm Panel. You can find the sub-forums for these alarm systems here:
http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/board,20.0.html
If by “zone” you mean a set of sensors which can be armed or disarmed as a group: both. Here on the forum we have settled on the term “partition” for this concept, because that is how it is most commonly named in the alarm systems we use. In general the forum uses the term “zone” to mean the same as “sensor”: a single device that is either tripped or secure and which belongs to one or more partitions.
As long as each device in the zone has its own “home run” wire back to the alarm panel you will see individual devices. You will then organize the devices into rooms with your other zwave devices. Vera rooms do not have to reflect alarm panel zones/partitions.
Thanks, Garrett. I’m familiar with the concepts and just looking for clarity before selecting my z-wave-friendly alarm panel replacement. dzmiller and futzle provided the clarification I needed. Appreciate all the responses!