Installing sensors out of reach is a pain when you want to reach them - solution?

[aruffell]

My house has ceiling heights ranging from 2.70m /9ft to 3.70m / 12ft high excluding one area where they go up 6m / 21ft. I tend to install many of my sensors up high out of reach, often attaching them magnetically to HVAC vents on the ceiling. While this works great (except for temperature measurement as the proximity to the vent affects the measurement), I really don’t like having to get the ladder out each time I need to reset it or change a battery. Yeah… the marketing blah blah saying the battery lasts years is just nonsense in most cases.

I’ve been using a light bulb remover like this:

But putting them back up is not as simple… it just dawned on me that there must be long reach “grabbers” and found some on amazon. The problem is that most are meant for elderly to reach something on the floor, while I need to reach just under 2m / 6ft above my head in the highest areas.

This is a “pro” one all of metal that I liked but is a bit too short:

I found some really cool fruit harvesters that are long enough but the cost is 10x that of grabbers for elderly.

I am sure lots of you have the same issue… did you find a solution? My ideal would be something I can screw on at the end of a painter’s extension pole to avoid having yet another single use tool… but I am open to just getting a grabber as I am having to reach for these sensors way too often.

[finity]

The only sensors I need to change the batteries on very often are the aqara temp/humidity sensors. Pretty much everything else has lasted for years as advertised.

And those aren’t mounted in inaccessible locations.

[aruffell]

I mostly mount magnetic zigbee motion sensors up high as it covers the area I need perfectly (or shields as needed so walking by does not trigger a light to turn on that should only turn on when you enter the room), and attaches to the vents so no holes or adhesive on my walls or ceilings. The sensors I use are the SmartThings GP-U999SJVLBAA mostly because they are zigbee 3.0, work well, look good and have a magnetic back.

This one for example works great where I placed it as walking by the interconnecting area does not trigger the light unnecessarily but it is 3.05m / 11ft up

[aruffell]

The grabber may not be a good idea. I tried to use one my kids have (very short so it was just a test) and the sensor fell and cracked open. Any other solutions?