Why I still go with hardwired sensors over wireless for most houses

I know everyone in this group swears by wireless now, but I just finished a job on a 3,200 square foot ranch outside of Austin where I ran all hardwired contacts. The homeowner wanted something that wouldn't need battery swaps every couple years, and I have to admit, the reliability has been solid. No signal dropouts, no interference from the new WiFi router they installed later. It took me two full days to run the wires through the attic and crawlspace, which I know is longer than a wireless install, but I charged $1,800 for the labor alone and the customer was happy with the clean look. What do you all do when a customer asks about battery life on wireless sensors?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah1358h ago

And the thing is, most people don't think about how wireless sensors can flake out after a year or two. The battery life claims are always way off from what you actually get in the real world. I've had too many callbacks on wireless systems where a sensor just stopped talking to the panel for no reason. Hardwired might be more work upfront but at least I'm not chasing phantom issues every few months. That Austin job you did sounds clean. A 3200 square foot ranch with hardwired contacts is going to be rock solid for decades. The homeowner made the right call skipping the battery problems.

ellis.diana10h ago

Had a buddy who went wireless on his own house. Three sensors died in the first year. One just stopped reporting completely. He spent two weekends crawling around the attic replacing batteries and re-pairing stuff. Said he'd pay double next time for hardwired just to not deal with it.