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My buddy told me to always use a 12 volt battery backup, even on a basic door sensor install.
I argued it was overkill until a power surge in Cincinnati fried a whole panel I'd just wired. Anyone have a good rule for when a backup is actually needed?
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vera_lewis22mo ago
My uncle's place in Dayton lost a whole camera system the same way, no backup. After that I just put a small 12v on everything, even a single door contact. The peace of mind is worth the extra twenty bucks and ten minutes of work. It's not about the basic function, it's about the random junk that can happen to the main power.
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ellis.faith2mo ago
Wait, he lost the whole system because the power went out? How does that even happen, wouldn't it just come back on? Did the surge fry everything when it kicked back on? That's a brutal way to learn the backup lesson for sure.
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dylan3762mo ago
So the surge fried the panel itself, not just the power supply? @ellis.faith, that's the scary part, it's not about the power coming back on. It's about the spike that happens when it does. What kind of panel was it, something with a built in transformer or a separate plug in supply?
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