Doorbell inspiration

Ok, I finished my first HA project – temp/humidity sensors for the piano and the LR – and was just wrapping up the second, a fancy replacement to my RainBird irrigation system, but the project has been put on hold. My wife would like a doorbell.

The irrigation project is looking good. I have the relays working to an automated script tied into the Dutch weather site; an automated override; an lcd screen; and a flowmeter to make sure things are actually happening. All that was left was to 3D print the housing and think through the final details. Anyway…

The goal is a doorbell that rings in four different places (I suggested on her phone, she’s thinking that one through, but skeptical). It has a button (not sure where) that let’s the person know she’ll be there in a moment; or she’s in the garden and they can pop on back. Basically, she wants to hear the doorbell wherever she is, and she wants the person to wait (or to stop by the garden).

I’ve told her that I can do all of that, and she needs to sharpen up the spec a bit. But, just curious: I’d love to know what fancy doorbells people have hooked up, and the clever use cases. It would be fun to come up with a solution that really pleases her.

All inputs welcome!
Sean

So you need a button (or a presence trigger of some sort) and a speaker at the front door?

The rest can be done however you want - the joy of HASS - anything can link to anything!

I have simple RF433 “doorbell” buttons on my front doors that I then listen for using RFLink, which lets HASS know the doorbell has been pressed.

I don’t have a speaker at the door though.

The great thing about RF433 is it is really cheap.

Good luck, will be interested to hear how it goes.

Thanks, Phileep. Yes, I have some 433 radios sitting around, so that is definitely an option. And what are the advantages to your doorbell vs. the wired kind?

I use a Xiaomi wireless button at the front door. When pressed it plays a chime in the house, messages my phone with a snapshot of my front door camera, pauses any media playing in the house and puts up a message on my Andriod TV (if turned on)… My notification then lets me un-pause the media by pressing a button in the message.

I you use something like Telegram for a notification to phones, you can include a button within the notification that can be pressed to trigger a HA response, such as play a recorded message at the door to notify the person that someone is on their way.

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pretty cool – thanks, Dave.

My 433 doorbells are “fairly” reliable. No wiring required!

I also have Xiaomi hubs, which I then use (via automation) to play a doorbell chime as well as pausing whatever is on the TV and toggling lights in the living areas.

I tap into the signal of my wired doorbell and send a MQTT signal to HA when it is pressed. After that I trigger a few different actions:

  • Take a snapshot with the camera near my door
  • send the snapshot to my phone via pushbullet
  • trigger 3 cheap 433Mhz ringers (cacazi from aliexpress)

I didn’t know cacazi – thanks, looks like a good solution!