House alarm possibly triggered by car?

[beyondcringe]

Picked up my M3LR in September, been absolutely great.

However, since around then, I’ve realised that my house alarm (with a PIR sensor facing the front door covering the landing) is consistently being triggered when I reverse into the driveway (or when other cars turn and swing a little too close to the pavement while I’m not home), where the parking spot is directly in front of the front door, which has a large (blurry) window at the top of it. Alarm logs show that the sensor is what triggered the alarm.

Only recently have I ended up putting two and two together, and thought that the rear LED lights of the car could be triggering the sensor? My old car, an 07 BMW X5, didn‘t cause any such issues, so I wonder if perhaps it’s something to do with the lights, or the light housing, that could perhaps be setting off the sensor inside the house.

Any ideas?

 

[init6]

PIRs react to infrared - so it would be a heat source rather than light triggering it. The LEDs shouldn't be emitting IR.

Not sure why other cars triggering the sensor can be blamed on the Tesla though.

Has your PIR been blown by recent storms and perhaps pointing in a different direction - even so slightly?

 

[init6]

Just another thought. Does the sun light up the door or landing? That can trigger PIRs. Sun will be in a different position throughout the year, so it might not have triggered the PIRs in the summer.

 

[Mgd1]

you could switch it out for a dual tech alarm sensor to see if that fixes the issue.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Just another thought. Does the sun light up the door or landing? That can trigger PIRs. Sun will be in a different position throughout the year, so it might not have triggered the PIRs in the summer.

Good comments. While I generally agree with all you said above, most PIRs don't react to just the presence of infrared. They are designed to trigger when that heat source moves from one horizontal zone to another. You might know that though. Typically, there will be 6 to 8 zones. Since the car isn't physically moving, I'm having a hard time understanding what is going on. I wonder what model of PIR sensor we are talking about here.

 

[init6]

most PIRs don't react to just the presence of infrared. They are designed to trigger when that heat source moves from one horizontal zone to another. You might know that though.

I do know that but the OP said the car was moving:

being triggered when I reverse into the driveway (or when other cars turn and swing a little too close to the pavement while I’m not home),

 

[NewbieT]

Is the PIR a PIR or might it be dual tech already. Potentially a sound made by the car creating microwave interference. Ultrasonic parking sensors, radar, motor/inverter electromagnetic/rf byproducts? Lots of potential.

I guessing you’ve checked for spiders and the coincidence of parking and house alarm means you’re convinced it’s the Tesla. Borrow another car for a few days and see if it still does it?

 

[Silicon Desert]

I do know that but the OP said the car was moving:

Ok thanks. I was referring to your comment where it sounded like the PIR was being triggered even when not moving. "Just another thought. Does the sun light up the door or landing? That can trigger PIRs. Sun will be in a different position throughout the year, so it might not have triggered the PIRs in the summer."

 

[init6]

Ok to clarify. The sun moves during the day as well as throughout the year.
I have a PIR triggered cat deterrent that is triggered by the sun in the summer afternoons, but not in the morning. The sun only shines in its view in the afternoon.
In the winter the sun doesn't shine in its view at all.

It's especially bad when the wind is blowing the trees and giving a dappled lighting.

 

[beyondcringe]

Is the PIR a PIR or might it be dual tech already. Potentially a sound made by the car creating microwave interference. Ultrasonic parking sensors, radar, motor/inverter electromagnetic/rf byproducts? Lots of potential.

I guessing you’ve checked for spiders and the coincidence of parking and house alarm means you’re convinced it’s the Tesla. Borrow another car for a few days and see if it still does it?

Seems like it still happens with a different car, though less often, I’m just going to try move the position of the sensor and be done with it