Garage door telltale?

bazzabear

bazzabear

bazzabear

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I seem to have a repeated issue with leaving our garage door open overnight. Luckily we're in a quiet cul-de-sac so it's never resulted in anything being stolen, but I'd still rather stop it happening.

I'm thinking that if I could get a small light by the front door which lights up when the garage door is open, this would be a very good way to ensuring that it's not forgotten in future.

Does a product exist which would do this? I'm struggling to think of a good search term so Google isn't helping so much currently.
 
It is an electric door.

It's not too far away from the front door, but I'd rather not trail a wire. It would be ideal if I can have some kind of switch which the door hits when it closes, connected wirelessly to a light I can mount in the hall.
 
yea that's what a limit switch is and your door has one already fitted that you could tap into for the LED.Wireless though would make it harder to adapt too.

You could use a wireless door sensor alarm and disable the buzzer part.
 
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I have only left mine open once - I am now paranoid over it and check it quite often.

No one went in as I have a home alarm and a PIR on end wall and it never went off - If you have a house alarm you could put a door contact on it and if it's left open the alarm won't set.
 
Not cheap but you could hook up a smartthings sensor that sends you a text/alert if it's open too long or past a certain time?
 
Had a look at this myself and found you can buy garage door tilt sensors and that can give you notifications on your phone if the door is open, haven't looked at it again for a few months but when I did it seemed most of these were only sold in the US. Might be different now.


https://shop.getroost.com/collections/homepage/products/roost-smart-garage-door

Another idea I had was to install a video doorbell but that would depend if your garage is in view from the front door, or a wifi camera inside the garage which would save having to get up if you think of it last thing at night.
 
Cheers guys, some interesting ideas.

The idea of a small light being the best solution is that I'd pass that light on the way to bed, so always be certain to see it before turning in for the night.

If one of those standard door open sensors can have the chime disabled, and if the LED stays lit any time the door is open, that might be the very easiest solution, thanks EssexBoy. Something like this:
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Wireless...jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Only downside with that one is that the unit with the LED has to be plugged in, so wouldn't be where I want it. But it's a good starting point for further searching! :)
 
Another thought (and I know nothing about IFTT stuff, so I don't know what I'm talking about at all here).

If I got something like this:
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Detector-Compatible-Controlled-Burglar-Security/dp/B07GXTV4C1/ref=sxin_4_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-ZG9vciBzZW5zb3I=-ac_d_rm&keywords=wireless+door+sensor&pd_rd_i=B07GXTV4C1&pd_rd_r=703c7ffa-9966-4009-b78e-2df6b0434588&pd_rd_w=l9pl9&pd_rd_wg=WZrNH&pf_rd_p=11d5a086-6334-46a8-b4e1-650b1e2ec949&pf_rd_r=RN8Y6W1WX9G577NWVK18&psc=1&qid=1573390044

I do have Alexa devices, and the app on my phone. Could I get it to send a notification to my phone if I go upstairs with the door still open? I don't know what it would base that on though. Putting the phone on the charger? Or altitude (that sounds farfetched!)
There's no value in it just sending me a notification whenever the door is open. It never opens wrongly, it's the staying open which is the issue!
 
Small update - the first link there won't be a solution - the LED doesn't stay lit while the door is open, it only lights up when the chime is playing (i.e. when the door first opens).
 
Is it a remote garage door opener? They can usually be set to close automatically after x time, depending on the unit that might be quite a short time which could be annoying in some situations.
 
bazzabear said:
Small update - the first link there won't be a solution - the LED doesn't stay lit while the door is open, it only lights up when the chime is playing (i.e. when the door first opens).
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tbh i don't understand why you can't just lock it when you leave it and confirm it has closed using your eyes before heading inside.

i mean whenever i go into my garage or out the back door or even the front door. i lock it and then i check it's locked by pushing the handle.

why can't you press the button and wait for it to lock and watch it close, rather than just walking away?
 
Because the button is inside the house, and what's happening is that occasionally I am absentmindedly forgetting to press the button when I've got inside.

This is happening when I nip out to the garage to get / do something, and therefore use the button mounted inside the house. When I'm actually using the car, I have a button on my fob so it never happens in that situation.
 
bazzabear said:
Because the button is inside the house, and what's happening is that occasionally I am absentmindedly forgetting to press the button when I've got inside.

This is happening when I nip out to the garage to get / do something, and therefore use the button mounted inside the house. When I'm actually using the car, I have a button on my fob so it never happens in that situation.
Click to expand...

use the car fob to close it?

or stick a £20 wireless cam in the garage. that way you can see on your phone if door is closed or not.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
use the car fob to close it?
Click to expand...

I haven't got my car fob with me in this instance. I'm not using the car.

or stick a £20 wireless cam in the garage. that way you can see on your phone if door is closed or not.
Click to expand...

Does using a webcam to access a video on my phone seem easier to you than having a light lit that I will pass on my way to bed? Bearing in mind that the issue is one of reminding me of something, why am I going to automatically remember to check the feed any more than I automatically remember to close the door in the first place? If I was remembering that there was a chance I'd left the door open in the first place, I could just go round the corner and look through a window.

I'm looking for something which acts as a reminder, does so in a way that I can't easily miss, and doesn't require a specific action from me to get it to work. Because anything else simply isn't answering the requirement I have described.

Now it might be that a simple solution to getting such a telltale light doesn't exist, and if not fair enough. But I don't think it was such an unreasonable thing to look into - and to ask other people for thoughts on.
 
DXP55 said:
I have only left mine open once - I am now paranoid over it and check it quite often.

No one went in as I have a home alarm and a PIR on end wall and it never went off - If you have a house alarm you could put a door contact on it and if it's left open the alarm won't set.
Click to expand...

Likewise. I must have pushed the button by accident and it opened, it was probably open for a couple hours. Now I'm paranoid and check it all the time. I've got an alarm sensor on mine now so at least I can't leave it open over night as it won't let me set the alarm if it's open.
 
I did, when we got the alarm fitted, consider having a sensor for the garage. But it would have meant we couldn't put the car away on returning home without first jumping out of the car and going in to the house.
 
Sell your house to someone more deserving of the responsibility of having a garage and get a bedsit or go into an old peoples home. Liquified food through a straw sounds perfect for you.
 
That's an impressive overreaction. I'm assuming that if you ever forget anything you will take similar actions for yourself.

Thankfully, not only do I undeservedly live in a nice house with a nice garage, it's also in a nice area. So the 3 or 4 times this has happened in the 2 years I've lived here have not really been a problem. But I'll bear your advice in mind.
 
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