Olarm

Wired is the more reliable choice when walls are still open or conduit exists, with no batteries to replace in detectors. Wireless suits a finished house or a tenant, installs in hours rather than days, and needs detector batteries changed every few years. Hybrid panels take both.

Pet-immune passive infrared detectors ignore animals up to a stated weight, commonly 20kg or 40kg, by requiring the detection pattern of a person rather than an animal. Mounting height and angle matter as much as the rating: a detector aimed too low will still trigger.

One zone per detector is ideal, because it tells you exactly what tripped. A typical three-bedroom house runs eight zones. Expandable panels add zones with expanders later, so the panel choice matters more than the initial zone count.

Yes, with a communicator module fitted to the panel. Communicators add a mobile data and Wi-Fi link and give you app control, event history and notifications. Some also send signals to an armed response provider at the same time.

Panels run on a sealed lead-acid or lithium backup battery, typically 7Ah, which holds the system up for several hours. Batteries age and lose capacity, so they need testing yearly and replacing roughly every two to three years, sooner where load shedding cycles them hard.