I’m living in a tenement, where I am quite often annoyed by salespeoples, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc… So at least when I don’t expect UPS, it would be great to know who is standing outside in front of the door.
I used the search function, read through this forum for hours and still have not found a solution I’m 100 % happy with.
Possible Solution 1: I could use a door bell with a camera, e.g. from Reolink
Pros: Out of the box solution, compatible with HA
Cons: I need to drill at least one further hole into the wall of the house (would make my landlord probably unhappy); I would need to make sure that the chime(s) can be heared in the whole house; I already have a bell that works pretty good;
Solution 2: Use a security camera, e.g. from Reolink, Dahua, Amcrest or Ezviz
Pros: Would solve the issue
Cons: No power cable outside
Not an option:
Battery powered cam, e.g. above the front door
Drilling holes in the wall of the house
A huge / large camera that attracts attention
A camera that depends on a cloud service
Solution I am thinking of
Buy a small security camera that can be mounted on the windowsill in the first floor that doesn’t attract too much attention and put the power-cable through the window.
I don’t need 4k. 480p might already be enough. Also a lantern in front of the house might provide enough light to get an impression even when it is dark
Routing the video e.g. through Frigate might give me even motion detection alerts (as long as I can access the video-stream directly, I am pretty sure I will find a solution that makes me happy)
Question:
Do I miss any options? What are your thoughts on my considertations? Any further idea on how you would you solve the issue?
Last thoughts
There are lots of small cameras out there, like the Raspi AI Cam. I was thinking of a setup where I mount this on the windowstill, attached to a Raspi Zero. But I could not find any nice looking outdoor case that is significantly smaller than a normal webcam.
No, If you integrate anything into HA, you could use anything else you have available to notify you (HA companion app notifications on your mobile/tablet would top my list, but also any voice notification with google/alexa or simply a light which turns to any colour or blinks)
3D printing services are quite common these days if you don’t have your own 3D printer. I’m pretty sure you can find a premade case if you know what to search for.
You say you already have a doorbell. Have you checked the voltage? It is possible that you can install a wifi doorbell cam using that existing wire and the existing doorbell holes.
I need to verify if it is possible to use the wires of the existing bell.
The bell itself is very small, Using the existing two holes is possible. But the Reolink Bell is 3-4 times bigger and regarding the Youtube Videos on installing it, I would need 1-2 additional holes.
I fit a logitech circle view doorbell to my entry before I was using home assistant and did not have to drill my brick at all - just used the existing doorbell power and existing mounting holes.
It was not useful to me after I moved away from homekit so I now have the ReoLink POE doorbell installed and again I did not have to drill new holes for mounting but did need to enlarge the existing wire hole to accommodate cat6 and punched through the sheetrock inside to connect it.
No if you work smart: there are number of options:
either drill holes into back of new video doorbell where old holes are and attach it on old holes (i done that many times)
Many doorbells also have additional anti-rain case, which you can use as described in first point (make custom holes)
make an “intermediate plate” - a plastic, aluminium, wooden… plate by yourself, same size as new doorbell which you attach to a wall on existing holes, then attach new doorbell on that plate.
Thanks so much for all your answers, ideas and opinions.
Measured 15 V at the cables of the actual bell.
I also looked at some videos on how to mount a reolink doorbell. I think you made a very good point, mentioning that with a bit of creativity, no further holes need to be drilled.
I also tried to find out where the cable of the doorbell is going, to find out if it might be possible to replace the existing cable with an ethernet cable. Unfortunately I don’t see a big chance to do this with manageable effort and will probably give the Wifi Edition of the Reolink a chance.
If you have any further ideas, I’m happy to listen. The idea of creating my own Outdoor Raspi Case in a CAD program also sounds like a pretty cool challenge. However, I probably will try the Reolink bell first.
The idea of creating my own Outdoor Raspi Case in a CAD program also sounds like a pretty cool challenge. However, I probably will try the Reolink bell first.