This might not be the place for this but I feel like someone here should know.
I moved into a new house recently and there's a whole security system, infrared scanners, alarms on all the doors and windows, glass break detectors everywhere. When we open a door or window there's a little chirp so something is working, but I'm curious if anyone knows if I can rewire this somehow or get a new panel so that I can actually set an alarm and stuff.
I know enough about electrics that I might be able to help, but I'm not a security system expert.
A lot of these old wired systems are basically continuity detectors. If someone breaks a window or opens a door, continuity breaks, and therefore an alarm sounds. It's like flipping a switch from on to off. And the IR stuff is just ordinary motion detection, the technology is still really common today.
You might be able to do a variety of stuff with that, depending on exactly what's installed and how technically adept you are.
If you can find the service or installation manual for your old panel, you can find out how it was wired up. Sometimes the patch panels are pretty basic, and you might be able to wire the connections into any number of things. Maybe a new alarm panel - or maybe a Raspberry Pi you can program to do different things when windows and doors open or close. For example, when continuity breaks on your front door, you can tell the system to turn on your indoor lights.
So yes, there's a lot you can potentially do with it all. It all depends on how much work you want to put into it, and whether you can figure out how it's all connected.