Garage door open alert?

[FabriGator]

I am looking for a simple, effective way to remind me that my garage door is open. Yep, I've reached that dim age when I keep finding it open — sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the morning.

I have tons of fab and electronics experience and will just build one if I can't find a commercial solution, but OTOH if I can get a boxed solution for $20 it's not worth my time and effort.

So... has anyone found a SIMPLE "you left the damn door open again" alert that is:

• NOT based on a smart house installation;
• NOT based on a phone app;
• NOT intended mainly to sound an alarm when the door is opened;
• NOT intended mainly to allow open/close from the other side of the world;
• NOT a continuous siren/alarm while the door is open;
• NOT wireless for the sake of being wireless...

...etc.?

Just a box on the door frame that lights an LED indicator somewhere in the house, or something equally stone-age, non-Alexa, non-WiFi, non-smart?

Thanks...

(PS - was here years ago but my account seems to have disappeared. I may be best remembered for wrangling a custom lift design out of BendPak...)

 

[JHenke]

Some of the newer door openers will have a time out feature that will close a forgotten open door.

 

[66HertzClone]

Maybe this will work for you? Had this in the house I used to live in and it worked really well.

 

[FabriGator]

Maybe this will work for you? Had this in the house I used to live in and it worked really well.

Thanks, that's the only box item I've found that even comes close. The thumbs-up helps.

The product writeups are abysmal, though and imply it's mostly for "Some bad guy is opening your garage door!" alert purposes. Does it simply light an LED when the door is open?

(And hey, I remember you from back when, although I am completely stumped on what user name I had then... )

 

[FabriGator]

Some of the newer door openers will have a time out feature that will close a forgotten open door.

I'd really rather not replace the whole opener just to get such a feature. Any more than I want to marry Alexa to get colorful pop-up alerts on my smartphone that I've been stupid again.

 

[bobpal]

Maybe this will work for you? Had this in the house I used to live in and it worked really well.

That's what I have and I agree, it works great. I extended the warning LED away from the base station for a cleaner install.

 

[dd2000]

Look up "Garage Butler" simple and easy, no aps or smart phone required.

 

[FabriGator]

Look up "Garage Butler" simple and easy, no aps or smart phone required.

Might work for some, and I think some openers have a similar feature (auto close after X minutes or after dark).

But I think most of us have times we want the GD to stay open and not magically close when we are across the yard doing something. (Anyone else get caught by automatic relocking of a car, for example?)

It also wouldn't be able to cope with anything blocking the door, and my GD is touchy about imagined problems in that regard.

It's also currently unavailable, anywhere. Not sure if out of business or (COVID?) supply problems.

I'd rather just have a simple indicator to tell me, at some central point in my house, that the door's open. The thingy suggested above does just that and I've ordered one to see.

But thanks for the suggesto!

 

[see pictures]

Not what you’re asking for but i have a wifi controller($25 on amazon) with a free app on my iphone. The app TuyaSmart lets you check the status of the door or get alerts. You can control the door from anywhere but you can just not connect those two wires if you only want to know if the dooris open or not.

 

[bad_idea]

I am looking for a simple, effective way to remind me that my garage door is open. Yep, I've reached that dim age when I keep finding it open — sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the morning.

The wife. She hounds me every night to shut the shop down before we settle in for the night.

 

[laser3kw]

So... has anyone found a SIMPLE "you left the damn door open again" alert that is:

• NOT based on a smart house installation;
• NOT based on a phone app;
• NOT intended mainly to sound an alarm when the door is opened;
• NOT intended mainly to allow open/close from the other side of the world;
• NOT a continuous siren/alarm while the door is open;
• NOT wireless for the sake of being wireless...

...etc.?

I like your style!

But, it took 8 response to give you exactly what you don't want. Must be a slow night
vvvvvv (kids these days)vvvvvvv

Not what you’re asking for but i have a wifi controller($25 on amazon) with a free app on my iphone. The app TuyaSmart lets you check the status of the door or get alerts. You can control the door from anywhere but you can just not connect those two wires if you only want to know if the dooris open or not.

 

[pattenp]

This is discontinued product but can still be purchased. LIFTMASTER 915LM, a simple door open or closed monitor. I have one I used until getting the LM wifi hub.

 

[Quick240]

I have this paired to 4 doors and works great. I also like that it has a button that will close all open doors when pressed.

https://www.liftmaster.com/829lm-garage-door-monitor/p/G829LM

 

[kabinenroller]

I mounted a micro switch on the header above the door then ran line voltage power to it, when the door opens the switch activates a ceiling mounted light in the hallway just inside the house. If the light is on the door is open, simple.

 

[BD1]

Give the neighbors kid $10.00 a week to call you when it's open.
Why not close it when you leave ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Innovate1]

Take a magnetic door switch and mount at the top of the door and mount the magnet to the door. Power an LED through a resistor. Have the door switch short out the LED to make it go off when the door is closed. Or if the switch is closed when the magnet is not by the switch run the LED power through the switch. Use a wide gap switch if needed - I was able to use a standard switch and have it work ok. I had a 2 x 4 flat at the top of the opening and put the switch on top of that and overhung the magnet from the top of the door.

 

[visionguru]

...
[*]NOT wireless for the sake of being wireless...


Just a box on the door frame that lights an LED indicator somewhere in the house, or something equally stone-age, non-Alexa, non-WiFi, non-smart?
...

If you can run wires, it's really simple to make one, just a switch/relay that turns on/off the LED lights.
If you can't run wires, then it needs a sensor and indeed needs wireless for communication purposes.

Years ago, I was thinking of building an Arduino box for the garage door, did some research and got a bunch of parts for it. Then, I found for $20 ish, Chamberlain MyQ smart opener can notify me when the garage door is open. I can check the status of it with my phone, and open/close it remotely. Works pretty well.

 

[CraigStu]

How far is it from the house? Maybe not a light warning but, if you look before hitting the sack, how about just having a garage door remote sitting near the window you look through?

 

[laser3kw]

seriously, how about a 120v limit switch with a whisker arm mounted at the bottom of the door / track. When the door goes up, the limit switch makes and the light in the house goes on. Or, go the low voltage route using a 12v power supply and a LED indicator (trailer marker light). The low voltage route has a benefit of less hazardous, more manageable wiring.

 

[FabriGator]

I mounted a micro switch on the header above the door then ran line voltage power to it, when the door opens the switch activates a ceiling mounted light in the hallway just inside the house. If the light is on the door is open, simple.

And that's exactly the kind of solution I woul d have implemented, without a second thought, most of my home/shop owning life. Had nothing cheap, easy and reliable in a box come up, my plan was to build a sensor arm (using a hall effect sensor and a magnet, to get the mechanical problems out of the way) and then run a wire into the adjacent living room, so that an unobtrusive LED indicator lit up to let me know the door was (still) open.

Don't really need multiple channels, the hassle of batteries and wireless, smartphone control from my tub, etc. And it would be the sort of solution future owners of the house would appreciate without needing to be tech whizzes to use or maintain.

As for the wife (and kids) solution... well, I used to have all that. Now it's just the dogs and an open front garage door means they're one minor failure of closing the inside garage door away from getting out, and are completely useless to tell me I left the big door open again.

(One of the only houses I've ever lived in where the GD is completely invisible from inside the house, too.)

Report on how the SkyLink thing works forthcoming, and if not, how to build a little sensor/light thing for those not afraid of a soldering iron.

 

[FabriGator]

The SkyLink thingy works as advertised. A good solution for $25, and you can add other sensors (like water and regular door ones) at reasonable cost.

Only two comments are...

That I'd really prefer something that works along the door edge or top, with a contact switch or (as in my original plan) a weatherproof magnetic sensor). The box on the bottom edge of the door, and the plunger (which is loose and drops by gravity, no spring to fail) seems a little exposed and fragile. (And in my plan, I was going to add a light sensor that told me I'd left the lights on in the garage, too.)

Second is trivial: the sensor comes with a square of sticky tape (probably not nearly durable enough for such a temp/weather exposed installation) and four screws... which are tiny and maybe meant for wood, because I had a b*tch of a time using them on the steel garage strut. Not quite self-tapping or strong enough. And while most of us probably have a lifetime supply of screws around, these have to fit a fairly small diameter mounting hole and countersink to be neat... I didn't have any thin (maybe #6), 1-inch sheet metal screws with heads small enough for the countersink. A minor irritation.

But it works, and I can put the little alarm box anywhere convenient... that is, anywhere I will see it and be reminded the damn door is open again.

 

[DRP6833]

Here's a simple idea that I've been meaning to do myself.

sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DrvXYxHmBwbs&ved=2ahUKEwinvZG39JPtAhUYCc0KHYu3Chc4ChC3AjAHegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw3x-OOFUdSs6892WuTWdu5B

 

[LS6 Tommy]

$15.00 limit switch wired to a light bulb someplace where you can see it.

Tommy

 

[mc1984ss]

How about this?

https://www.stardoorparts.com/Liftmaster-915LM-Garage-Door-Monitor-p/915lm.htm

I own one works great

 

[Beans]

I had same trouble but have a man door perpendicular to main garage door. Thru a pane of that man door I can see an led light be on or off, from across the deck, inside the kitchen. I just mounted a bi-stable switch on the wall close to rail of main door. As door opens/closes, a magnet on the door activates the switch which pulls in or drops a relay. The switch stays in that state until the magnet passes again in the other direction. That way a limit type switch is not sitting on the brink of opening or closing at just the right moment of open or close of door and a roller isn't subject to exactness of door operation.

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

I used the door and window sensors for wired alarm systems to light an LED that was in the wall where I could see it. The circuit is simple. The light is on when the garage door is open. I had 3 garage doors.

I cannot remember if I used NO normally open or NC normally closed. Easy enough to figure out.

The power came from a simple plug in transformer. The wires were just the same type of wire as the alarm system.

It was less than 20 bucks and the wires were easy to run. In this house, not so easy.

But, I still may replicate it...I seem to forget the doors too often anymore....

 

[esvee]

This goes against everything you asked for, but I solved this with the smarthome route:

I have a smart garage door add-on, which includes a mercury switch mounted to the door itself so it knows when its open and closed.

That talks to Samsung Smartthings and Alexa.

When the garage door opens, I get a text message on my phone telling me the door is open. For every 30 minutes after that, if the door is left open, I'll get another text.

When the door opens, every Alexa in my house announces that the door has been opened.

For me this solves:
I left the door open after leaving home
I left the door open while I'm home
Someone opened my garage door through any method while I'm home or asleep

Did this for my shed too. Super happy with it.