Now living in a bungalow which has been extended both sides and backwards with choice of two doors when arriving from the street.
Finding that we can be in a back room one side or the other and have no idea what's going on at the front.
Have seen reviews of some wireless - plug in and/or portable. Ideally I guess I'd like to be able to have maybe up to 4 units, two in the mains, two carry around, which operate from either doorbell.
Also have seen units with PIR built in.
Don't want missed calls - one unit we have needs to be reset (unplug and plug back in) every 2 - 4 days (must have been programmed by m$oft)
And very ignorant about modern wireless battery ones.
Depends where you live. Mains where I live has been down for about 24 hours in the past year.
These days the battery powered units are smart enough to bleep at you gently to remind you when their battery is getting low.
I was tightly constrained buying one for my elderly mum to get maximum volume ding dong and a flashing light but plenty of other models are available and with the option of a different tune for each bell push. I got this one.
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(not a recommendation for your application but an example)
Finding one with a better IP55 rating is a good idea if you live in a weather exposed region. The one I got was IP44 rated and so far has worked continuously for 2 years on its first set of batteries.
I'd steer clear of anything less than IP44. It rains a lot in the UK.
I suspect any modern one that gets **** or above and doesn't have review complaints about being triggered by the neighbours garage door opener will be fine - they are all using similar chipsets and it is more about styling and waterproof build quality on the bell pushes.
Some Deaf people seem to have sysstems as you describe, but they are not cheap, so a chat with somebody clued in to aids for the Deaf might bear fruit. Brian
Byron seem pretty solid. I have a mains doorbell with local ringer, which also has a trigger in the circuit for wireless remote bells (both battery and mains).
The wireless will also trigger cheap eBay clone bells, but like you I have seen ones which need rebooting at varying intervals.
None of the totally battery powered ones I've seen are as loud as a standard low voltage from the mains ordinary bell. Not surprising given that takes about an amp at 12v.
There are mains powered receivers with an RF link to the push which are better - but then they're not going to work during a mains failure either.
Went to a neighbour's house yesterday to pick up a package that had been left there when I was out. They've spent hundreds of thousands on that house. But the expensive looking brass push doorbell didn't work. She said it often doesn't. And it's wireless, of course.
Seriously, if you ask a bunch of people that have used wireless bells you'l l find a bunch of people that have missed calls. It's not hard to work out they suffer at times from flat batteries, corroded contacts, imperfect rf r eception, and are modern electronics built to a low price with as you put i t build quality issues and generally relatively poor longevity. Beeping hel ps with one of those.
A basic old fashioned system OTOH ought to run 50 years without missing a b eat. It's your choice.
But doesn't convert it to sound very efficiently. Believe me the one I mentioned is capable of a deafening level of noise on its max setting. I can hear it from the outside at the front door. My mum can hear it with or without her hearing aid although the blue flashing LED helps.
The previous wired one drew nearly 2A to go *DING-DONG* or when the batteries got tired (which they did with monotonous regularity) a feeble tink-tonk. It has 2 years in service with no problems so far.
There are plenty of unreliable bell pushes. That is why having one rated to at least IP44 weatherproof is essential if it is outside.
Same for me. I'd fitted a 12 to 24 vdc ex-GPO trembler bell to the front door frame about 30 years ago and stuck a couple of 8 x AA cell battery holders back to back hung off a screw head just below the bell. I didn't notice a weakening in loudness until the "Leakproof" Alkaline cells had been leaking for so long that they'd corroded the battery holder contacts beyond redemption.
When it came to replacing the battery, I'd decided I'd rather over- engineered the battery capacity by a magnitude of usefulness and elected to replace it with an 'almost ready made' 27v battery using a 3xPP3 pack of cheap carbon zinc batteries from Poundland/Poundworld which just needed a couple of wire straps soldered between the batteries (melting the required access holes in the clear plastic cover using the soldering iron - the 3 pack itself made up the 27v battery, complete with convenient hole to hang it off the screw head!).
I can't remember how many years ago it was when I 're-batteried' the front door bell, possibly 4 or 5 by now, but I got a little bit concerned that inflation might do away with the 3 pack size in pound shops so kept my eyes open for more such packs so I could store them in the bottom of the freezer[1] to keep me going for the rest of my natural. :-) I invested a whole 2 (or maybe as much as 3) quid last year which ought to see me through till I pop my clogs (or land up in a care home).
However, what spoils this battery cost savings scheme is the wireless bell I keep in my upstairs office as a repeater bell. I fitted the sender on the inside of the door frame, wired via a blocking diode and 12v zenner dropper across the trembler bell - it's own internal 12v battery only gets used if you press its own bell push when it rings the repeater bell in my office independently of the front door bell - handy for testing and when the XYL comes in from work or shopping to alert me to her arrival. This bell takes 3 AA cells which seem to expire after only 12 months or so of very light use. :-( It isn't blessed with a means of indicating low battery condition but I get the hint of low battery state when I hear the front door bell ring on its own with no accompaniment from the wireless bell in my office so isn't much of a problem in my case.
[1] According to wikipedia, you can safely store carbon zinc cells in a freezer without them suffering 'frost damage'. I've double bagged them in polyethylene sandwich bags inside a small Tupperware styled container to keep them dry.
Usually because the caller mysteriously cannot see the bell push and just rattles the letter box flap.
I would recommend the Friedland units for wireless (Libra range). The one I have is reliable and when the battery in the bell push is going flat there is a an after chirping sequence after the main chime to remind you to replace the batteries
And I am assuming you don't have a suitable dog. Since installing my system, I acquired a terrier collie cross who likes to sit in a window alcove watching the front gate. Doesn't matter where you are in the house or back garden, this is a very reliable annunciator!
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