Re: PIRs for house with ceiling heating & cooling vents and "pets"!

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

eddy said:

>Update on the drama with my system. The company has agreed to replace
>the DSC pirs with Bosch Tritech units (They also call them blue line).
>The bad news ... they cost a lot more.

I've said this before, but it bears repeating:

Don't automatically assume that all of your problems will be solved by
installing dual technology detectors.  Detector placement is extremely
important for reliable performance, and dual technology is not a substitute
for good installation practices.

For example, I can think of a place that suddenly had LOTS of false alarms
one night, even though dual tech sensors were in use.  No previous
problems.  Turned out they had just gotten a new space heater (a big one,
with a fan that blew hot air directly at the detector every twenty seconds
or so).  You could stand there and watch the unit trip when the hot air hit
it!  That's an extreme case, and the fan was blowing very hard, even though
it was ten feet away.

The point being, first install the detectors in the proper locations.  Dual
technology is a good idea, but it's not a cure-all.

- badenov