PSA: Check your damper settings on old houses before you drill

Installed a full Vista system in a 1920s colonial in Buffalo last Thursday. The customer texted me Friday morning saying the alarm kept going off for no reason. Drove back out, checked everything, turned out the HVAC damper in the basement was closing and opening randomly, messing with the wireless sensor range. Never had that issue before with newer builds. Any of you guys run into weird interference from old heating systems?

3 comments

3 Comments

val_williams1mo ago

You sure it wasn't the old ductwork shifting? I've had cast iron registers in century homes mess with wireless signals more than once.

ellis.susan1mo ago

Oh wow, @val_williams called it - old ducts are basically haunted, aren't they? I bet that damper was just having a midlife crisis, opening and closing for attention. Nothing like a century home's heating system to gaslight you into thinking you missed a sensor.

jasonf171mo ago

@val_williams nailed it - those old ducts are basically haunted by ghosts of heating seasons past.