Bell-push rating

Davey · 2023-04-15T09:04:42+00:00

The mud room which houses the rear door bell is being replaced, andas the old bell-push was intermittent, I decided to fix it. Success,cleaned and tested and ready for use. But then I got thinking: Like all such bells, the step-downtransformer is powered all the time, pointlessly using energy, and thebutton merely closes the low-voltage circuit. In the interest of notwasting power, it would make much more sense to switch the input mainspower, so there is only power consumed when it is needed, maybe onceevery three months, in my case. Is the reason that it is done thisway to keep only low-voltage power at the outside push-button? Aweatherproof button should not be too difficult to make and install.But trying to find a 240-volt rated push-button is proving difficult.Most online suppliers don't even mention the voltage rating, and it isonly by reading the reviews that it is always revealed as low-voltageonly.Maybe I need an industrial Allen-Bradley button! Back when I wasworking, I could have had as many of those as I wanted.Most annoying.

Apr 15, 2023 Last reply: 3 years ago 27 Replies

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Davey 3 years ago

(Sorry for inline answers, Brian.)

"Never!" Luddites of the world unite!

That would require that I had some kind of 'smart' 'phone to see who was there, though. Not happening. Besides, that's what the new yet-to-be-installed CCTV system is for.

This one is a real bell, you know, one of those metal dome things with an oscillating hammer? It makes the whole wooden wall vibrate when powered by the transformer's 12 volts! Chimes are so 20th Century!

As I said, I think I will just reinstall it as-was once the new mud room is built. But thanks for thoughts.

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Max Demian 3 years ago

You have a mud room? Do you have a breakfast room? Does your bedroom have a dressing room attached?

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Davey 3 years ago

Yes. No. Yes. And?

In fact the mud room is usually called 'The Vestibool', which is what our Suffolk gardener used to call it when he was alive. He was a survivor of the Burma Railway, and only had one arm, the other having been chopped off above the elbow in the camp to stop gangrene eating away the rest of the arm. Laurens van der Post was a fellow prisoner, remembered by our gardener as being instrumental in understanding and explaining the Japanese Prison Camp psyche and helping to mitigate their punishments.

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Adrian Caspersz 3 years ago

Hmmm...

Mud room seems a US term for a second house entrance, typically not as posh as the front reserved for guests.

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Davey 3 years ago

I have certainly heard it used here in the UK, it might depend on the area and how 'country' it is. It is the best expression of the function of the room.

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Andy Burns 3 years ago

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