Had the worst Monday in a while - three false alarms in one house

Last Monday I was installing a new Vista 20p panel in a 4 bedroom house out in the suburbs. I got the hardwired zones all set, then the motion sensor on the second floor kept tripping for no reason. Turns out the homeowner had a space heater pointing right at it. I had to tell the guy to move it 10 feet away before I could finish programming the system. Has anyone else dealt with a customer who refuses to believe their own stuff is causing false alarms?

2 comments

2 Comments

aarons361mo agoMost Upvoted

Read a story not too long ago about a guy who had his home alarm going off every night at 3am. Turned out his cat was sleeping on the couch right under the motion detector, and the cat's body heat would set it off when it stretched out. The homeowner swore it was a defective sensor, even after the tech showed him video of the cat doing it. People get real attached to blaming the equipment instead of looking around their own house. Space heater by a motion detector is a classic one though, that heat wave messes with the sensor bad.

seth_green851mo ago

yeah but what gets me is how nobody ever thinks about the placement of the motion detector itself. like that cat story is funny and all, but the real question is why is the sensor pointed right at a couch where a cat sleeps. you're basically asking for false alarms if you put it somewhere that pet traffic or heat sources naturally sit. i worked with a security guy once who said most of their "false alarm" calls were just bad installation decisions. people get so caught up in blaming the gadget they forget the whole system is only as smart as the person who put it up.