door bell

[Janice]

Hi I am getting deaf (old age) and can no longer hear my ding dong door bell when I am in the kitchen. I bought a cheap wireless door chime from Lidl but it is not much use. When someone comes to the door it makes my wireless internet drop out, also it now needs a new battery and it costs more than I paid for the door chime.

In my kitchen cupboard just under the consumer unit is the bell transformer, installed when the house was built so all the wiring is cunningly hidden.

So I thought, is it possible to connect a second bell to the transformer so that the old ding dong bell just inside the door and a new bell in the kitchen will both ring at the same time? If when someone is pressing the bell push at the front door and cannot hear a bell ring they think the bell is broken and batter on the door so I want the ding dong bell at the front door to ding dong as well. I think that is why the battery on the wireless one does not last long because it could not be heard at the front door.

And I worked out that the transformer's electricity usage is less than the cost of batteries and I can get a doorbell from a friend for nothing before they find out that their new wireless door bell will cost them more in batteries :-)

So if it is possible how would I wire it up? Would I just disconnect one wire from the transformer and connect it to the bell and connect a wire from the bell to the transformer?

4 6 8 volts .63amp transformer Jan

[Peter Andrews]

While not the cheapest solution this will suit your requirements use a VE D471 Evo Wired to Wirefree Chime Extender

and VE D403 Evo 50 Wirefree Door Chime - White from

will give you a portable chime unit that you can put where you like that will ring at the same time as your existing bell and easily installed!

Peter

[nightjar]

Have you though of simply fitting something louder at the front door? An alarm bell or sounder will be a lot louder than a conventional door chime, although it might frighten visitors.

Colin Bignell

[geoff]

In message , nightjar writes

Or buy a yappy dog ...

[Andrew Gabriel]

You may well find you can simply wire another 'ding-dong' type bell in series at the transformer, ideally one which is identical to the one you already have. You might need to increase the transformer voltage tap.

Alternatively, you could change the 'ding-dong' for a bell, which might be more audiable. Bells don't run in series very well though, so you'd need to be able to hear the bell from the kitchen.

Another possibility -- if the kitchen would be a better place for the ding-dong, you could move it there, although if the caller can't hear anything when they push the button, they might well push it several times and knock.

I've always wondered who would be the first person to do a Part P building notice application in order to install a door bell ;-)

[<me9]

[snip]

What I did in similar circumstances (twice) was wire an identical bell/chime in parallel with the existing one. With the chime this entailed increasing the voltage from the transformer and doubling up the cable in the easy places to reduce the voltage drop. /If/ there is sufficient voltage available then the series would prolly work and be easier to wire for a chime, but I found the voltage needed to be near maximum anyway for decent volume. Perhaps two transformers.

If the push is illuminated then any increase of voltage will be likely to make the blubs pop, or burn up the push (i've given up having mine illuminated but there is a light nearby).

[snip]

From what I've seen on council websites there aren't any prat P applications.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They also tend to be not very loud.

Right.

I'd change the ding dong for an underdome bell. They are the loudest of these sort of things.

Yes - that will wire them in series. But depending on type one may not work properly as it depends on how much current each takes. They really need to be the same.

I have two of these which can be heard throughout the largish house.

Hmm. I wonder if that is meaty enough. Mine is 1 amp.

[Dymphna]

I was thinking the same thing LOL

[meow2222]

Dingdongs dont always work well in series. Ditto bells. So yes you could put something in series at the transformer, increase the voltage tap on the transformer and replace the bellpush lightbulb with a higher voltage one, but there's no guarantee that the 2 sounders will behave properly together.

I'd do what Dave suggested and use a mechanical bell instead. Noisy buggers they can be.

More info:

[Dave Plowman (News)]

After some experimenting I found my two identical bells worked best in series. Of course it might also depend on your transformer.

Indeed. You can only experiment. But it sounds like the OP doesn't have the option to wire them in parallel.

I still needed two here. Tend to have the radio on a lot.

[Invisible Man]

Regret I do not have time to look myself but I did get an incredibly noisy telephone sounder from the RNID for my Mum via their website.

[meow2222]

some bells are fine in series, some wont work at all.

NT

I suppose there's also the option to use a current relay to control the second bell at the fusebox end. Might add that to the wiki article.

[Man at B&Q]

Does that solve the problem with the batteries and Wifi interference?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd *guess* the types that don't work in series are universal types that can be powered from AC or DC - these use a mechanical switching circuit to make the hammer vibrate. AC only ones simply follow the waveform. And most bare bells you'd buy today will be AC only.

[meow2222]

Yeah, the switching types can have problems. If one is much slower than the other it can fail to hit the bell before the quicker one has cut the current. And mixing switching and unswitching types can be fun.

NT