I laughed at wireless sensors back in 2012, now I install them every week

Ten years ago I told a supplier their new wireless door contacts were a gimmick that would never hold up. I was running a job in a 1920s brick building in St. Louis, and hardwiring every window was taking me twice as long as the quote allowed. Out of desperation I bought a box of those same sensors for the second floor. They paired in under 2 minutes and I haven't had a single false alarm call on that system in 8 years. Now I keep a stock of them for old plaster walls and renter situations where fishing wire isn't an option. The battery life claims seemed like marketing fluff but I'm still seeing 5 years on most of them. Has anyone else gone from hating wireless to relying on it for certain jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesley63911h ago

Watched a guy spend four hours trying to hardwire a single window in a historic house.

brooke_murray7h ago

Did he even check if the window was original or a replica first?

waderamirez6h ago

The comment about watching a guy spend four hours on one window... idk, I mean I get it but maybe that's a sign to step back and look at your approach. I've done plenty of historic houses in St. Louis and sometimes you just have to accept that hardwiring a 100 year old window isn't going to be quick or clean. Wireless isn't always the answer either - I've seen guys slap a wireless sensor on a loose window that rattles and then blame the tech when they get false alarms. It's about picking the right tool for the actual situation, not just which method you like more.