Hardwire Translator for new build help needed

Support
1

I’m doing a new build and plan to have all sensors hardwired and run to hardwire 16F’s.

My current house is setup this way and I needed a total of 3 Hardwire 16 to support all of the sensors. The new build will have about the same amount of sensors or a little more.

A couple of questions…

1. What is the difference between hardwire 16 & 16F?
Some of the things I picked up was…
a. It now sends a wireless signal to the IQ2 panel to set off the alarm instead of needing a hardwire run to the panel.
b. It supports smoke detectors.
What are the other changes/updates?

2. Does the Hardwire 16F Large Enclosure include 2 hardwire 16F’s inside?

3. It looks like the new hotness is the Qolsys PowerG PG9WLSHW8. Currently the IQ2 only supports 2 of these with a planned firmware update in the future to support more. Do we know when that update will happen and how many it will support in total?

4. Last I checked there were no combo smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. Does this mean I have to have 2 separate in each area and both will need to be wired to the hardwire translator? Nest Protect wont integrate?

5. 2-Wire smoke is better choice than 4-wire smoke?

6. Is there any known or rumored new tech on the horizon coming by end of 2021 (Example: IQ3 panel, Hardwire 16F Plus, Etc.) where I should hold off buying equipment now?

7. I chose doing hardwire 16 so everything is essentially hardwired, no batteries need replacing ever, all in a clean home run. Do you advise a different whole home setup?

Thanks for all the help!

2

Purely out of curiosity- if you have hard wired sensors, why not go with a traditional hardwired system like a Vista20p?

3

How does the Vista20P tie into the Qolsys IQ2+ Panel?

4

It wouldn’t. The vista would replace the Qolsys.

5

1. What is the difference between hardwire 16 & 16F?

The 16F supports up to 10 2-wire smoke detectors. Either version connects to the panel wirelessly and converts hardwired zones into wireless.

  1. Does the Hardwire 16F Large Enclosure include 2 hardwire 16F’s inside?

No, it has room for 2 and 2 12V batteries, but only includes one HW16F.

3. It looks like the new hotness is the Qolsys PowerG PG9WLSHW8. Currently the IQ2 only supports 2 of these with a planned firmware update in the future to support more. Do we know when that update will happen and how many it will support in total?

No ETA on that, or additional information, at this time.

4. Last I checked there were no combo smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. Does this mean I have to have 2 separate in each area and both will need to be wired to the hardwire translator?

Carbons don work with the the HW16F, only smokes. You would use wireless in this case.

Nest Protect wont integrate?

No it does not integrate with Alarm.com.

5. 2-Wire smoke is better choice than 4-wire smoke?

They are easier to install but both do roughly the same thing.

6. Is there any known or rumored new tech on the horizon coming by end of 2021 (Example: IQ3 panel, Hardwire 16F Plus, Etc.) where I should hold off buying equipment now?

Aside from the PowerG Hardwired, no nothing on the horizon, However, that kind of information isn’t typically announced that far out.

7. I chose doing hardwire 16 so everything is essentially hardwired, no batteries need replacing ever, all in a clean home run. Do you advise a different whole home setup?

Your options are hardwired, wireless, or a combination of the 2. As far as DIY goes, its whatever you would be most comfortable with. Using the Qolsys panel with Hardwired takeovers allows for the best of both worlds with an easy to program alarm panel.

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