Boiler Producing Plumes of Steam - False Alarms

L

lucky13

Getting the hang of it
Aug 10, 2018
100
8
uk
Hi Guys

I'm trying to figure out a way to stop getting false alarms when the boiler is on during the winter months in the UK, as we use condensing boilers these produce a huge plume of steam for 5 - 10 seconds sometimes longer...my neighbors boiler is also setting of false alarms on another section of the building as it blows past my driveway cam.

I'd love to figure out a way to stop this, can anyone advise if there is a setting that would allow BI to Ignore these plumes of steam ?
View attachment Courtyard_18e37a79.mp4
 
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we need a "UK boiler Steam Plume" option so it ignores these alerts...i've had a look in the docs and can't find this option so maybe it can be added ?
 
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This is a huge problem for me also, as any gas condensate type of furnace has an exhaust that normally comes out of a wall. Being cold out now, the steam produced plays havoc with several cams depending on which direction the wind is blowing. Only way to resolve it in my environment is to reposition either the cams (making them useless) or the exhaust of the furnace. Neither option would be 100% effective. I don't foresee any sort of software/firmware to deal with this. I would disable any tripwire/intrusion zone settings, until springtime. You will still have the 24/7 recording to review in the event of suspicious activity.
 
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Shouldn’t there be an option to ignore anything monsterous in siz ? No human could be as large so just have an option that ignores anything that takes up 50% of the screen within a certain time frame...
 
lucky13 said:
Hi Guys

I'm trying to figure out a way to stop getting false alarms when the boiler is on during the winter months in the UK, as we use condensing boilers these produce a huge plume of steam for 5 - 10 seconds sometimes longer...my neighbors boiler is also setting of false alarms on another section of the building as it blows past my driveway cam.

I'd love to figure out a way to stop this, can anyone advise if there is a setting that would allow BI to Ignore these plumes of steam ? ..
Click to expand...

Hi lucky13,

Image based motion detection does have issues. Thanks for sharing this one - as this is the first time I have read about it.

I'd try to see if you can augment your setup with an alarm sensor that does not trigger from the steam.
 
Edcfish said:
Have you tried adjusting the 'object size exceeds' option?
Camera Properties -> Triggers -> Motion Sensor -> Object Detection -> Object Size Exceeds
Click to expand...

thanks so i've had a look and my Object Size Exceeds settings is set to ON and 67% which is the default and obviously not the correct setting to ignore the steam plume...looking at my original post above with the video what % would you guestimate I need to set it too ?

thanks
 
WE have the same issue with our heat pump condenser. The colder it get outside, the more trips we get from the cam. I have it set to not alert at night, but set for continuous record
 
67% is the default. Gradually reduce that number until you get the results you want. This feature combined with motion zone triggering, make time, and contrast should substantially reduce the false triggers.
 
beepsilver said:
67% is the default. Gradually reduce that number until you get the results you want. This feature combined with motion zone triggering, make time, and contrast should substantially reduce the false triggers.
Click to expand...
By reducing the number you mean make the number smaller such as 65, 63, 60 what does the 67% refer to the size of the false object in the whole screen because looking at it in the video it’s got to be about 70% of the screen or does it mean 67% of the detection zone as then it’s more like 100% when the steam plume starts
 
Same issue when we run our clothes dryer and once in a great while our garage heater. Thankfully our furnace exhausts out the roof so that's never an issue. The dryer and garage exhaust are infrequent enough that I haven't really thought to try to combat it from triggering.

I'll be following so I can implement whatever solution you come up with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
lucky13 said:
By reducing the number you mean make the number smaller such as 65, 63, 60 what does the 67% refer to the size of the false object in the whole screen because looking at it in the video it’s got to be about 70% of the screen or does it mean 67% of the detection zone as then it’s more like 100% when the steam plume starts
Click to expand...
I have mine set to 15% at night and the object must travel 250 pixels in order to trigger. From what I can tell the rule applies to the field of view (FOV) rather than the combined total of the areas you have marked with zones. Set yours and go out and test it. Do it in different lighting--and if testing at night, carry a flashlight at least once during your testing. If you record continuously in addition to monitoring for triggers, then your accuracy is less important. Building a little buffer into the rule would be prudent.

Caveat: whether or not I use multiple zones for triggers on my cameras, I always use zone G at full screen. This allows me to see the entire FOV during playback rather than just the areas marked for triggers. I mention this because I'm not quite certain if Object Size Exceeds applies to the entire FOV or just the zones drawn for triggers--help file does not elaborate.

Update: I checked an old email from the developer dated July 2019. Regarding Object Size Exceeds he states:

"...it's actually 25% of the ACTIVE pixels--because your zone occupies only about 1/2 of the screen, this is further limiting the object size that will be detected."

So, with this in mind, enter your value based on the entire FOV if you use zone G as I do, or do your best to calculate the percentage of active pixels used for triggers.
 
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