Showerthought: everyone says to always start with the panel location, but a bad sensor placement job in a 1970s split-level cost me an extra 4 hours yesterday.

4 comments

4 Comments

My buddy had a similar nightmare last year with an old ranch house. He traced a wire for what felt like forever only to find the original installer put the sensor in a closet behind a false wall. It completely messed up his whole plan for the panel location. Those old houses hide some truly weird choices. What kind of split level was it?

the_troy2mo ago

No way, @kimmurphy, a false wall in a closet? That's wild lol.

the_thea1mo ago

Truly weird choices" - nah, that's just smart hiding from an OLD pro who knew what he was doing.

spencer_coleman2mo ago

I read a forum post once where a guy in a 1970s split level found a motion sensor just chilling in the return air duct of his HVAC system. I mean, who even thinks of that? It makes the false wall closet look almost normal. Those old installers really did whatever was easiest for them at the time, zero thought for the next person. Idk how you even begin to trace wires in places like that without losing your mind.