Security Wire Size to detached garage

[S. BROWER]

I am building a detached garage and plan to tie to existing serurity system in house. The total run from farthest window to house security panel will be 230' +/-.. My question is what size wire is required to run this distance.

There is a 4 wire 22 ga security cable available.
Is this gauge sufficient to run this kind of distance or should I run 18 ga.?

s.Brower

 

[MisterCMK]

Use at minimum a pair of cat5s. You can always add an expansion card in the building. 230' is not far of a run.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Depends on what sensors you put in the garage. Are you just hooking up door and window switches, or will there be a fire/smoke sensor, a keypad, or an alarm horn? My garage is hooked up to the house security panel and I have all the above things so there's quite a bit of wire running between the two.

 

[MisterCMK]

You still only need 4 conductors...

 

[mmg440]

If there is a fire/smoke sensor the 18 ga. is required. Otherwise 22 ga shold work fine. If the run is underground the wire should be waterproof, even if in a conduit. I used sprinkler wire for mine. I think it had 7 conductors, but I only needed 2.

I like the sprinkler wire idea. Extra conductors never a problem for me. You know it will work well buried. Heck you could use two just to make a doorbell ring if someone rings your house door bell and your out there and the only one home. I would hate to miss a UPS delivery.

 

[Stuart in MN]

You still only need 4 conductors...

Depends on how the system is set up. In my case all the devices in the garage home run back to the panel in the house, so there are four or five separate cables.

 

[Torque1st]

18AWG is good to use. For any wiring run that distance underground spare conductors are always a good idea. Security alarm wiring is very low current.

 

[Tech Guy]

Depends on the type of system you have in the house. If it supports an expander module, then run 4 cond 22awg from the panel to the expander. Then wire all garage devices to the expander. You will require an additional power supply if powering motion detectors or fire devices as the bus line going that far will not support that much current. If you cannot use an expander, then I would run 18 awg for any power requirements as above and the 4 cond 22 awg for the sensors. Send me a pic of your alarm panel and keypad and I can tell you for sure.

 

[Tech Guy]

Forgot to add this but throw in some CAT5E cables for future and maybe some RG59U if you want future video.

 

[dlc]

Depends on the type of system you have in the house. If it supports an expander module, then run 4 cond 22awg from the panel to the expander. Then wire all garage devices to the expander. You will require an additional power supply if powering motion detectors or fire devices as the bus line going that far will not support that much current. If you cannot use an expander, then I would run 18 awg for any power requirements as above and the 4 cond 22 awg for the sensors. Send me a pic of your alarm panel and keypad and I can tell you for sure.

This guy is right on the money. If your panel does not support an expander, you will need more than one wire because you cannot connect fire/smoke devices and security devices on the same conductor. I would never use smaller than 22 gauge stranded wire for a security system. BTW, this is what I do for a living and have been for over 20 years.

 

[Tech Guy]

Bang on DLC. Ive been doing this for a living now coming on 28 years+. If he includes a pic then we can set him up easy enough.