Infra Red Perimiter Alarms

[Orion]

Has anyone out there opted for an infra-red perimeter alarm system?

I have a quote from a pool company for a pool and paddling pool.  Leaving those quotes aside they also quoted for a 4 'post' with repeater system  for some 2,400€. I think is a bit steep all said and done.

I have considered the aqua sensor type but I would need 3; 2 for the pool and 1 for the paddling pool and overall I would prefer a system that warned of the presence of the pool area intruders than one that warns when they enter the water.  I am installing a fence, hedge and locking gate around the pool area but this will not be an attempt to meet the norms - just an attempt to keep unauthorised kids out.

Any ideas, comments or advice is welcome.

Thanks

Bill (47)

[Mikey]

http://www.sun-power-it.com/prevent.htm  have a lazer perimiter alarm for about 6ooeuro.

its not NF approved though

don't bother even concidering the aqausensor alarms, they are utter rubbish and are far better at detecting wind and rain than kids falling in water.

the NF mark means diddly other than it garanteeing french companies like the one that makes the aquasensor has a captive market.

there are far better products available and far cheaper that don't have the NF mark but do have the CE mark and actually work properly.

you could try http://www.pool-alarm.com/  they will be selling their own alarm called aqausensor but its nothing to do with the French one made by MGI.

This one is German and is cheaper and also covers a pool up to 70ft long and doesn't need any complicated setting up like the MGI one, its also NF APPROVED 

 

[Monsieurmousseux]

Well, I hope the device is better than the website!! Mind you, I had a good laugh at the translation from German into English.

I know I shouldn't be unkind, especially as a foreigner in someone else's country, but if a company has a good product to sell, why do they cut corners by doing amateur translations?

As for the alarm itself, I note that it would require a hole cutting into the side of the pool to allow insertion of a tube/pipe for air to feed the airbag. It would also require connection to a mains supply, I presume. (I am trying to interpret the diagram on the webpage http://www.pool-alarm.com/pool-airbag/index.html). I presume that this could be done, even with pools using plastic liners. But I suspect that these requirements would be more expensive to fulfil than the purchase of the system itself.

I would have reservations about the ease of cleaning the pool with this thing lying at the bottom. Also, is it supposed to stop there all winter?

All in all, I felt the website leaves a lot of questions unanswered.

Edit: On re-reading everything here, I don't think I was looking at the page intended. I have since found a page on a sort of alarm, but it is so difficult to understand - and so much information is missing - that I am still in the dark.

I hope my criticism of the translation doesn't offend anyone, and normally I am very reluctant to chide those who try, but really, this site takes the biscuit. The first words on the page (http://www.poolalarm.de/accidents/index.htm) are: "Please you do not go over these pages unread away as if child lives would be arbitrarily replaceable" A great shame.

[Mikey]

I too don't think the airbag is practicle but their alarm seems to better than the MGI one, did you look at http://www.pool-alarm.com/product.htm there is more info on the alarm here.

and i agree the translation isn't too good in parts, maybe the person who did it thought his or her english was better than it actually is, or he used the translater on AOL

if anyone wants to know more about pool security and the new laws and the apparent pool hygene laws that have been about since the 80s but are now only just being enforced in certain depts go to    http://www.over2france.com/3m/index.htm

there has been a big debate on this

 

[Monsieurmousseux]

Thanks, Mikey. Will be checking those links asap.

[Monsieurmousseux]

Yep, that product page is better in every way. Thanks for the tip, Mikey. It would certainly seem worth considering. Does it have to be installed by a pro, or can I just sit it nicely in the pool and leave it to use up the batteries without disturbance?

Cynical?? Moi??!! (We don't have visiting children, not because we don't like them - the opposite is true - but because of the nature of our accommodation).

[Mikey]

i doubt it, it would be just like the MGI alarm self install.

weather or not the german one will be any better than the MGI I don't know, i have the MGI one which is rubbish, but a cheaper way of conforming than an overpriced fence which from what i've heard are also not very effective and cheaper than a cover which i think cannot offer 24hr protection unless of course its covering the pool 24/7

my pool is fenced with non conforming fencing and I'm now looking at a non conforming perimiter alarm as they are much cheaper and probly just as good or better than the conforming ones

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the replies - food for thought!

Bill

[BJSLIV]

Heaven forbid that it should happen to anyone, but if a drowning incident occured at your pool and you had one of these non NF alarms fitted, you would be liable to prosecution . The law says that the alarm must be NF approved, not that it should be as good as or even better than NF. No label equals no protection from the law.

More food for thought.

I have always thought that alarms would be more trouble than they were worth,, however good the design.

[Mikey]

[quote]Heaven forbid that it should happen to anyone, but if a drowning incident occured at your pool and you had one of these non NF alarms fitted, you would be liable to prosecution . The law says that the...[/quote]

i agree BJSLIV, which is why i have an alarm that conforms, its just that these MGI alarms that conform are crapp and i don't trust it at all. Thats why I'm looking at an infared perimiter alarm in addition to my fence that doesn't conform. And i won't be buying one that conforms as they have bumped up the price just cos it says NF on the box.