Hi fellow Alarmers – our IQ Panel 2’s battery just expanded and split open the panel. I figure that the panel has been damaged and trying to replace only the battery would be a waste of $.
But if I buy an IQ Panel 5, what sensors will I likely need to replace (due to incompatible Z-Wave versions or whatever else)? I have what I assume are legacy door sensors, motion sensor, and fire alarm (which just listens for the sound of a standard alarm). We bought all of those in 2020 I believe.
We also have a Schlage Connect Z-Wave lock which has worked well with our setup so far. It’s from 2019 – could it also be a legacy version of Z-Wave that might not be compatible? It’s a main driver of staying in the Alarm.com ecosystem, since if we went wifi we’d have to replace it along with everything else (or buy a bridge).
Our Alarm.com thermostat also died a while back. Can I buy any Z-wave thermostat or do I need to go with the Alarm.com one? I hear good things about the Honeywell TH6 (we have a heat pump and a natural gas furnace).
Looks like you are using 319.5MHz sensors. If buying an IQ Panel 5, those can be reused so long as you include the IQ Card 319.5MHz QC0001-840 in the purchase. The IQ Panel 5 also works with PowerG sensors.
Z-Wave devices that are working on your IQ Panel 2 should work on the IQ Panel 5 without issue.
You can use the Alarm.com smart thermostats but you are not limited to those. The Honeywell T6 Z-Wave thermostat can be used as well.
A quick comparison of the latest ADC thermostats and the T6 can be found here: