Simple Garage Door Position Alert

[John in OH]

It seems as I get older I get more and more forgetful!! Again last night I went to bed and left the overhead garage door open. Not good. So, what I'd like to set up is a SIMPLE door position detector and simple indicating light in the bedroom that will let me see if I've left the overhead door open.

I could spend a lot of time screwing around with a hard-wired system with transformer, stringing wires, wall-mounted light etc., but life would be a lot simpler if I could just find a basic (short-range - 25 feet or so) wireless device with a door sensor and remote indicating light. Something basic, something simple, something cheap. I've plowed through Amazon and eBay but nothing seems suitable.

Anyone have any suggestions??

 

[SHOCheapRacing]

I had put a cheap wireless garage door sensor that would light up the in house receiver for my parents. I put it in their bedroom so they could see if the door was open. I did a quick search, but did not find anything quick. Will keep looking.

Tough to find a non wifi solution anymore.

They had this one:

Amazon.com

Not finding anything like it now and they are crazy prices on ebay. I think I remember paying less than $20 15 plus years ago. Sorry not too helpful. This was a super simple device.

 

[nadogail]

If you need only a 25 foot range, you can buy a lot of low voltage cable for only a few bucks.

 

[Sumboodie]

What's the issue with leaving the door open?

 

[John in OH]

If you need only a 25 foot range, you can buy a lot of low voltage cable for only a few bucks.

Well, yeah, as I said originally I could hard-wire a system. But as Crocodile Dundee said, "Well, you can live on it, but it taste like sh*t."

It would take a lot more than LV wire. I need some kind of switch or sensor that will work with an overhead door, I need a power source such as a doorbell transformer, I need some kind of LV indicating light that will look decent enough for my wife to accept in the bedroom. Then I've got to drill holes in the drywall, crawl around in the attic fiberglass insulation, and try to fish wires through the walls and holes.

A wireless device will be FAR simpler.

 

[Steve W.]

What's the issue with leaving the door open?

Down here, where it thaws out occaionally, there are several "issues" with leaving the door open.

Some people store "stuff" in the garage, rather than park their cars. Leaving the door open makes all the "stuff" rather visible, and depending on the neighborhood, susceptible to a "geographic relocation."

Another thing is that if the overhead door is open, anyone can walk through the garage, and likely straight into the house. Yeah, some might lock the door between the garage and the living area, but we never have.

The garage is also a bit of a buffer zone for temperature. A south-facing door can reflect a lot of sun. The garage might warm up a bit, but the living area at the side away from the O/H door will remain cooler. In winter, that is reversed. Either way, the garage protects the living area.

.

 

[r00a005]

You probably wouldn't think this is simple

Wyze Cam v3 Garage Door Controller

The world's first AI vision-sensing, smart garage door controller. Remotely control your garage and see what's going on in 1080p HD clarity with the award-winning, color night vision of Wyze Cam v3.

www.wyze.com

I do since I already use these cameras...

 

[Stumpync]

sorry Can’t get link to work

 

[jstroede]

What opener do you have? If it is older, it might be simpler to replace the opener. For newer liftmasters (in the last 10 years or so), the 829LM is exactly what you are talking about.

 

[In The Doghouse]

How about a simple baby monitor camera facing the garage door from the inside? You can just check it by viewing the screen. I believe they're cordless but I don't know their range.

 

[mike93lx]

What opener do you have? If it is older, it might be simpler to replace the opener. For newer liftmasters (in the last 10 years or so), the 829LM is exactly what you are talking about.

This, if you have a smartphone. Anything with MyQ .akes this easy. And then you can close it from bed

 

[NORTON'S SHOP]

What's the issue with leaving the door open?

Hope you're joking. Where I live an open garage door is an invitation to every meth head and scrapper to help themselves to whatever is inside.

 

[svhamelly]

Boom...

84505R | Secure View™ Ultra-Quiet Belt Drive Smart Opener with Camera and Dual LED Lighting | LiftMaster

LiftMaster is the #1 brand of professionally installed residential, commercial and gate opener systems.

www.liftmaster.com

 

[jfleisher]

MyQ. Cheap and easy, goes to a smartphone App, you can set alerts for door left open, check position, open/close via App.

Amazon.com

 

[blacksporty]

I use the MyQ app on my phone, I can check it anywhere in the world that has phone or wifi and I open and close it at will.

 

[p00p]

cheap stuff is hard to find these days. This might be an option: https://www.defendercameras.com/products/phoenixm22c-bundle

 

[walta]

When I lived in a suburb, I got tired of waking up to find someone but mostly me had forgotten to close the overhead door and anyone could have helped themselves to the contents of the garage and the door to the house was always unlocked. Someone could easily have entered my house is a scarry thought.

I could not find an alarm that did what I wanted hear is my list.

1 No reoccurring fees.

2 I will never find the door open in the morning again so it must have an audible alarm.

I built one from a programable timer, time delay relay, magnetic switch and a beeper.

If the door is open more than 20 minutes between 9PM and 5AM the beeper goes off until the door is closed.

Yes, I do say naughty words when I hear the beeper but the door does get closed every night. It took a few tries to get the switches to work every time.

I don’t think the visual indicators would work for me as I might not notice that the light happened to lit on the one day in a hundred that we happened to leave the door open.





Walta

 

[gahrajmahal]

We have this one^

It seems like it’s been around 10 years, but anyway a good long time. We could pay for the phone app but never have. We just have it on a 15 minute timer. Inconvenient sometimes, but I sleep better knowing it shuts by itself (as it does often) if one of us goes out and forgets or misses the button. The nice thing is if you are walking in and out of the garage it resets to 15 minutes again with the door “eyes”.
The only time we mess up the system is if we push the “hold open” button.

 

[Sumboodie]

Hope you're joking. Where I live an open garage door is an invitation to every meth head and scrapper to help themselves to whatever is inside.

Not sure why my question is being laughed at.

Was thinking if it's a heated garage, then could cause frozen pipes, etc and then a low temp alarm would be an option.

I've never had to worry about theft, so that wasn't even a thought when I asked.

 

[Solpainter]

I have an older version of the Craftsman one. It came with the new opener I bought 25 years ago. it is now in my third house and operates just fine. Door closed the led is green, door open it is blinking red. Keep it in the bedroom walk in closet. I change the 2032 battery on the door sensor when it quits working, which is about two years.

 

[dcg9381]

The MyQ systems (chamberlain) has door position on the app. I assume there is something for LiftMaster.

 

[peterp]

We

It seems as I get older I get more and more forgetful!! Again last night I went to bed and left the overhead garage door open. Not good. So, what I'd like to set up is a SIMPLE door position detector and simple indicating light in the bedroom that will let me see if I've left the overhead door open.

I could spend a lot of time screwing around with a hard-wired system with transformer, stringing wires, wall-mounted light etc., but life would be a lot simpler if I could just find a basic (short-range - 25 feet or so) wireless device with a door sensor and remote indicating light. Something basic, something simple, something cheap. I've plowed through Amazon and eBay but nothing seems suitable.

Anyone have any suggestions??

What type of garage door opener do you have? If you have Chamberlain or Craftsman, there is a "MyQ" adapter that's only around $30 that will give you garage door status and control from anywhere with an app. It works very well, and will give you a history of open/close status. This is the way to go in my opinion -- I've been using mine for many years and it works great.

Here is the one for Chamberlain:

Amazon.com

Here is the one for Craftsman (even though Craftsman are made by Chamberlain, they have their own flavor of "MyQ" and use a different adapter and a different app:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S6GD390/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Looks like they have MyQ for many brands:

 

[Colin Len]

MyQ. Cheap and easy, goes to a smartphone App, you can set alerts for door left open, check position, open/close via App.

Amazon.com

I'm guessing the OP is like me and the MyQ won't actually provide what he's needing. As far as I can tell you can only check status (open, closed or stopped) or set an alarm that tells you if the door has been open longer than X number of minutes. What it needs is an alarm if the door is open at a certain time of day.

The later isn't helpful because it relies on length of time being open. That would be useful for a parking garage you only open to get in/out of and otherwise keep closed. But a garage you regularly keep open for random amounts of time on random days at random times wouldn't allow you to set that warning in any useful way for what the OP is looking for.

And the former requires that you REMEMBER to check your phone for door status. His problem is that he forgets to check the door which makes me think he'd just as easily forget to check his phone. I know that's my problem. I often leave my garage open because it gets so hot and I try to let it cool off in the evenings. I then sometimes forget the door is open and don't even think to check my phone, then I got to bed only to wake up to a door I left open. For me, peeking out the window to see the garage is faster than checking status on my phone. But what I need to do is find a way to remember to check either of them! Some kind of light in the bedroom would be AWESOME or an alert on my phone that went off if the door was open past, say 9pm. But as far as I can tell MyQ doesn't have any of that functionality.

 

[peterp]

I'm guessing the OP is like me and the MyQ won't actually provide what he's needing. As far as I can tell you can only check status (open, closed or stopped) or set an alarm that tells you if the door has been open longer than X number of minutes. What it needs is an alarm if the door is open at a certain time of day.

The later isn't helpful because it relies on length of time being open. That would be useful for a parking garage you only open to get in/out of and otherwise keep closed. But a garage you regularly keep open for random amounts of time on random days at random times wouldn't allow you to set that warning in any useful way for what the OP is looking for.

And the former requires that you REMEMBER to check your phone for door status. His problem is that he forgets to check the door which makes me think he'd just as easily forget to check his phone. I know that's my problem. I often leave my garage open because it gets so hot and I try to let it cool off in the evenings. I then sometimes forget the door is open and don't even think to check my phone, then I got to bed only to wake up to a door I left open. For me, peeking out the window to see the garage is faster than checking status on my phone. But what I need to do is find a way to remember to check either of them! Some kind of light in the bedroom would be AWESOME or an alert on my phone that went off if the door was open past, say 9pm. But as far as I can tell MyQ doesn't have any of that functionality.

You can set a schedule in MyQ. I haven’t used the scheduling, but I think if you schedule it to close at 9pm nightly, it will close automatically if it’s open and won’t do anything if it’s already closed.

 

[jfleisher]

You could also set an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the garage door position. On an iPhone I think you can set up scripting to have Siri pull up the app at the appropriate time to check things.

 

[Colin Len]

You can set a schedule in MyQ. I haven’t used the scheduling, but I think if you schedule it to close at 9pm nightly, it will close automatically if it’s open and won’t do anything if it’s already closed.

Oh, I didn't know that! That's a really nice function, may try it out but it also kinda worries me. Most nights we're in bed pretty early and I'd want it to be closed when we retire for the evening. But, often on weekends, holidays or just periods of lots of automotive work I may be out there working late and the door trying to close automatically could be a problem.

 

[peterp]

Oh, I didn't know that! That's a really nice function, may try it out but it also kinda worries me. Most nights we're in bed pretty early and I'd want it to be closed when we retire for the evening. But, often on weekends, holidays or just periods of lots of automotive work I may be out there working late and the door trying to close automatically could be a problem.

I haven't used it, but I think you can set individual times for each day of the week and choose not to close on individual days.

I know when I close my garage door remotely from the app, it beeps several times and waits 10 seconds or so before it closes the garage door to warn anyone who might be standing there. I can't remember if the beeps are from the app/phone or the garage door opener itself. I'd imagine it would do the same with a scheduled closing to give you a warning before it closed (though that wouldn't help much if you had the car on jack stands pulled halfway into the garage ).

The schedule (on the Craftsman app at least) can be access by hitting the "..." to the right of the current garage door status screen.

 

[TrdLtly]

Oh, I didn't know that! That's a really nice function, may try it out but it also kinda worries me. Most nights we're in bed pretty early and I'd want it to be closed when we retire for the evening. But, often on weekends, holidays or just periods of lots of automotive work I may be out there working late and the door trying to close automatically could be a problem.

The MyQ hub will beep at you telling you it is about to close the door. You can then either step in front of the sensor, stop it in the app, or press the button on the wall/remote to stop. Works fantastic on all 4 of my garage doors. Piece of mind for sure.

Also works great when you are away from home and you get a package. Camera shows us the mail truck came up to the house, I can just open the garage and mailman drops it inside. I then close the door. Seamless.

 

[niget2002]

I had a cheap wireless one similar to the craftsman one that was made by Chamberlain. Looks like those silly things are stupid expensive now too.

I've been wanting something for our current house and this post reminded me to go look.

Looks like I'll have to do something a bit more complex than what I or the OP was initially looking for.

 

[peterp]

I had a cheap wireless one similar to the craftsman one that was made by Chamberlain. Looks like those silly things are stupid expensive now too.

I've been wanting something for our current house and this post reminded me to go look.

Looks like I'll have to do something a bit more complex than what I or the OP was initially looking for.

I honestly haven't seen any expensive ones -- the MyQ adapters seem to be pretty cheap ($30-$50), though you need to make sure the opener you have is compatible. Which options are you seeing as expensive?

 

[niget2002]

I honestly haven't seen any expensive ones -- the MyQ adapters seem to be pretty cheap ($30-$50), though you need to make sure the opener you have is compatible. Which options are you seeing as expensive?

It was the old cheap non-wifi ones that just have the red/green LEDs to let you know if it's open or close. The Craftsman one isn't available anymore and the Chamberlain one was over $100.

It's not that I don't want or couldn't use the MyQ, but it's more than what I was really looking for. There really should be a <$10 option using a few AA batteries and a pair of cheap micro controllers.

 

[John in OH]

I'm guessing the OP is like me and the MyQ won't actually provide what he's needing. As far as I can tell you can only check status (open, closed or stopped) or set an alarm that tells you if the door has been open longer than X number of minutes. What it needs is an alarm if the door is open at a certain time of day.

The later isn't helpful because it relies on length of time being open. That would be useful for a parking garage you only open to get in/out of and otherwise keep closed. But a garage you regularly keep open for random amounts of time on random days at random times wouldn't allow you to set that warning in any useful way for what the OP is looking for.

And the former requires that you REMEMBER to check your phone for door status. His problem is that he forgets to check the door which makes me think he'd just as easily forget to check his phone. I know that's my problem. I often leave my garage open because it gets so hot and I try to let it cool off in the evenings. I then sometimes forget the door is open and don't even think to check my phone, then I got to bed only to wake up to a door I left open. For me, peeking out the window to see the garage is faster than checking status on my phone. But what I need to do is find a way to remember to check either of them! Some kind of light in the bedroom would be AWESOME or an alert on my phone that went off if the door was open past, say 9pm. But as far as I can tell MyQ doesn't have any of that functionality.

Your analysis is spot-on!!

 

[mcj115]

With MyQ app you can set a schedule to close a door at a certain time daily. Or search for a old Chamberlain AGDMEV-01 which uses the wireless connection to the opener with a green and red lights to tell if it is open or closed. I say this assuming you have a newer Chamberlain/Liftmaster/Craftsman product.
Example of the product to which I refer:

CHAMBERLAIN Garage Door Monitor MyQ Security Garage Door Openers AGDMEV/C TESTED 12381173501 | eBay

CHAMBERLAIN Garage Door Monitor MyQ Security Garage Door Openers AGDMEV/C TESTED.

www.ebay.com

 

[Walkers]

Just set it to close on a timer and forget about it.

 

[nadogail]

I use a Mark 1, Mod Zero Eyeball to monitor the position of my Garage Door.

 

[wlderdude]

You could probably use one of those doorbell cameras or something from the war against porch pirates.

 

[DRP6833]

Here's a DIY solution that looks interesting.

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

I just got the MyQ...Amazon had it on the Prime Day super scoobie deal. $17...good for one door. For the second door, I needed another sensor. $40.

Or, I just ordered a second whole system and grabbed the sensor out of it. They did not think that one through...

It works good and does what the OP wanted...and is what I needed. I forget to close the garage as I go in through the slider and space out closing the door. Mostly worried about critters and racoons from getting in. One cat does get in but he is a good guy and goes after all critters.

Let us know what you did to solve your door being left open.

Cheers!

 

[Youngandfree]

Get the MyQ. Set a schedule to close at whatever time you want every day. You can set multiple schedules, for the same days at different times, to have a backup closing if you happened to be out there after the first close schedule.

 

[67CarGuy]

I understand the issue, but all of these electronic solutions sound more complicated than necessary.
What else is part of your nightly routine already? Do you check the exterior doors are locked? Put a post-it note to yourself by the door closest to the garage to double check the overhead door. After a few weeks it may just become habit.

Or, put a note to yourself on the bathroom mirror, so when you brush your teeth before bed you check it then. Don't brush? Put the note next to your PJs. Sleep naked? Put the note by your laundry hamper, and surprise (or entertain, depending ) your neighbors. You get the idea. No need to make it super technologically advanced. If you don't have a window or door that looks out on your garage doors, then you poke your head out into the garage itself to check.

I don't mean to be flippant about this, but this seems like an easily solvable problem.

I use a Mark 1, Mod Zero Eyeball to monitor the position of my Garage Door.

See, @nadogail already solved it!