Big box store installs got me rethinking my whole approach to motion detectors

I was cleaning up a mess at a Home Depot in Phoenix last week, their security system was throwing false alarms every 20 minutes. Turns out they had a motion detector pointed directly at a ceiling fan. I swear I've been doing this for 12 years and never once thought to check for ceiling fans. Has anyone else found a random household item that messes with your installs?

2 comments

2 Comments

hayden_butler2719d ago

Last spring I did a camera install at a Tucson mattress store and their showroom was setting off the motion alarm every night around 3 AM. Took me three visits to figure out it was the ceiling mounted heat lamp in the break room. The thermostat kicked on and the heat wave would drift down the hallway right past the sensor. I finally brought a ladder and traced the air current with a lighter. Nobody thinks about temperature shifts when they're mounting these things, but heat is just as bad as movement. Now I always ask about HVAC vents, radiators, and any appliance that cycles on and off before I drill a single hole.

park.robin26d ago

CEILING FANS man, that's a classic. I had a call last year at a church where their motion lights in the gym kept going off at 2 AM for NO reason. Walked in and saw a giant inflatable Christmas snowman that someone had left running with a fan inside. The air movement from that stupid thing was setting off the detector every time it wobbled. I felt SO dumb, took me like an hour to figure out. You really gotta look for ANYTHING that moves or changes temperature in the room, even a fish tank heater can mess with some older sensors.