Electronic Alarms and Home Security Devices - False alarms on motions - what could it be?
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chiefobrien
09-11-05, 08:53 PM
I posted this as a response to someone else, but thought I should start a new thread as we got 2 hours of sleep last night due to this problem.
Last night, our motion alarm went off at 5 am. First time since we got the system 1 year ago. I went in the room and found no signs of forced entry, nothing broken. Went back to bed, set on alarm. 30 minutes later it went off again. My wife made me call the cops who checked it out and said nothing was wrong--no signs of intruder. I swore at ADT, turn off the system altogether, and put a motion detector (self-contained PIR/siren unit for hotel use) on top of the stairs. 30 minutes later--AGAIN! Now my self-contained IR alarm went off.
My wife is convinced somebody was hiding out downstairs, coming out whenever I left. I guarantee her that I saw nobody, heard nobody, but my explanations run thin as to why 2 separate systems would go off. Tonight, she is hardly sleeping for fear of a prowler, and I am hardly sleeping for fear of a false alarm.
Since we turn off all our lights at night, and since we do get moths and bugs in our house occasionally, could a moth have been attracted to the IR light and set off not only the ADT system twice, but our portable PIR/siren unit? Is this common? What else could cause our problem?
Before you ask, there were no balloons or moving fans. It was dark so no sunshine spots through windows. A/C duct is behind sofa and never set it off before, and is off at night anyways. Please help put my mind at ease!
Last night, our motion alarm went off at 5 am. First time since we got the system 1 year ago. I went in the room and found no signs of forced entry, nothing broken. Went back to bed, set on alarm. 30 minutes later it went off again. My wife made me call the cops who checked it out and said nothing was wrong--no signs of intruder. I swore at ADT, turn off the system altogether, and put a motion detector (self-contained PIR/siren unit for hotel use) on top of the stairs. 30 minutes later--AGAIN! Now my self-contained IR alarm went off.
My wife is convinced somebody was hiding out downstairs, coming out whenever I left. I guarantee her that I saw nobody, heard nobody, but my explanations run thin as to why 2 separate systems would go off. Tonight, she is hardly sleeping for fear of a prowler, and I am hardly sleeping for fear of a false alarm.
Since we turn off all our lights at night, and since we do get moths and bugs in our house occasionally, could a moth have been attracted to the IR light and set off not only the ADT system twice, but our portable PIR/siren unit? Is this common? What else could cause our problem?
Before you ask, there were no balloons or moving fans. It was dark so no sunshine spots through windows. A/C duct is behind sofa and never set it off before, and is off at night anyways. Please help put my mind at ease!
MrRonFL
09-12-05, 06:23 PM
A blast of cold air from an AC duct will do this as well. PIR units merely detect changes in temp, and cold will do as well as hot. I have known of moths triggering PIR motions by landing on them. It sounds like you have some odd environmental effect going on.