Found a weird fix for a stubborn motion sensor in an old house

I was getting false trips on a PIR in a 1920s craftsman with plaster walls. On a hunch, I aimed it away from the old radiator pipe running inside the wall, and the problem stopped. Anyone else had sensors act up because of heat sources inside the walls?

2 comments

2 Comments

mitchell.wade14d ago

Wait, so you're saying the heat from the pipe was enough to set it off through the wall? That's wild. I wonder if old plaster holds heat differently than drywall and makes it worse. Might have to check if any of my sensors are aimed at plumbing now, lol.

luna_jackson2814d ago

My old apartment had a sensor that kept turning the lights on at 2 AM. The HVAC duct in the ceiling was right above it. I put a piece of cardboard as a heat shield between the sensor and the drywall, and that finally fixed the ghost triggers.