Older homes can definitely be tricky—I had a similar issue with my 1920s bungalow. The plaster walls and odd corners meant sensors kept misreading movements or missing them entirely. Ended up using adjustable mounts and experimenting with angles until I got consistent coverage. Took patience, but worth it for reliable automation... now the lights finally behave themselves.
I've worked on quite a few older homes, and plaster walls are notoriously tricky for sensors—especially with interference from chicken wire or lathe underneath. If adjusting angles doesn't fully solve it, you might also consider switching to sensors with microwave tech instead of PIR—they're less sensitive to obstruction issues.
Microwave sensors sound fancy, but aren't they pricier and prone to false alarms from movement behind walls? I mean, my cat already triggers enough chaos with basic PIR sensors—can't imagine the midnight madness with microwaves...
Yeah, microwave sensors can definitely pick up movement behind walls, but they're usually adjustable. I had similar concerns with my dog—ended up tweaking sensitivity settings and placement. Took some trial and error, but now it's pretty reliable...mostly.
"Took some trial and error, but now it's pretty reliable...mostly."
Haha, "mostly" is the key word here. I swear, every time I think I've finally nailed my smart home setup, something new pops up to remind me who's really in charge (hint: not me). Good to know about adjusting sensitivity though—I had no idea you could tweak microwave sensors. Might give that a shot before my cat triggers another midnight false alarm and gives me a heart attack...again.
