Rant: Tired of seeing wireless sensors mounted right next to metal ductwork

I was on a service call Tuesday at a house in Arlington and found three door sensors all showing intermittent faults. Pulled the covers and every single one was within 4 inches of the HVAC return. I mean come on guys, that cheap metal mesh kills the signal. I had to move all three and re-pair them. Cost the homeowner an extra hour of labor. Do y'all not test range before you stick these things on?

2 comments

2 Comments

singh.jessica19d agoTop Commenter

Three of my last six service calls had sensors within six inches of metal ductwork. That aluminum tape and thin sheet metal acts like a shield (it’s basically a Faraday cage for the 433MHz signal). Just a couple inches of distance can make the difference between a solid link and constant dropouts.

wood.zara19d ago

Forgot to check if the sensor's antenna orientation plays into this too. Sometimes rotating it 90 degrees clears up the interference even if you can't move it.