Doorbell Installation FAQ

The delivery driver will miss seeing the doorbell and rap gently on your door with his knuckles. You will not hear this and when trying to track your package you will find an attempted delivery but no-one was in :)

I appreciate you said no batteries / video etc but:

Our eldest had a cheapish dumb wireless one off Amazon which was battery operated at the door end for several years. Minutes to fit, no wiring, and I understand the batteries lasted ‘ages’.

She has since fitted a battery Eufy one - she didn’t want to drill holes etc for cables in her new porch. The battery is rechargeable.

Again, while you said no video, having video is very useful. Plus, you don’t need to use it.

I wired our Eufy but running the cable was a pain and, in retrospect, if I fitted one again, I’d go battery.

Indeed. We get this, and we have a brass plate between the bell push and the knocker, saying PLEASE USE THE BELL in big letters!

If it's not awkward, I might be tempted to install cat5 rather than bell wire. At each end twist 4 of the wires together for one side and 4 for the other. It means you have options if you ever want to fit a fancier doorbell later.

(bell wire is thinner though, so neater if it's going to be surface run somewhere conspicuous)

Yes. I'd fit a fused connection unit before the transformer to protect the circuit in case there's a fault with the transformer, and so that you can isolate the circuit should you need to work on it. A 1A fuse should be ample.

Theo

I have a TeckNet wireless doorbell. No batteries required - it relies on the pressure applied to the bell-push to generate a voltage that in turn sends a signal to the chime unit in the house. The chime unit plugs into any 3-pin socket and it has a 3-pin socket on the front so you don't lose access to it. Lots of chime tunes, and several volume settings.

I would fit a wired battery bell. Cheap as chips and the batteries will literally last years/decades and it won’t require any mains wiring.

Tim

But you can't fit an illuminated bell-push.

So you already have a door bell. Does that meet your expectations, apart from the bell-push being in the wrong place now?

If you have a TLC nearby, this looks good:

I've found quinetic products to be very reliable.

It's been okay, but it needs winding up - it's a clockwork bell on the inside of the door with the pusher directly connected on the outside of the door. No wires so nothing can be repositioned and since it's probably 50 or 60 yrs old the coiled spring is a bit tired. TW

does it work? Our doesn't.

You can, because the illumination 'bulb' wont last long anyway (especially if you use a proper MK bell transformer)

The bell works. The notice often doesn't, which is why I said "we get this".

I replaced the bulb with a pair of back-to-back white LEDs

Remind me how you did it please ?

If the door is not too near the pavement, a PIR, triggering a doorbell works better. Always triggered, whether they press the bell push or not..

I considered this, but it's only a metre to the pavement. Looking at a knock detector.

Found in the cylinder head of most cars :-)