Garage up and over door

Our double garage has a big 'up and over' door which is controlled remotely but, crucially, the door is not visible from the house.

I got up the other day and went to the garage for something, to find that the door was fully and completely open and presumably had been open all night. Luckily, nothing was missing and it looks like it was the garage version of a cell phone 'butt-dial' that I've been completely unaware of.

As you would imagine I'm now feeling paranoid about it ever happening again, so I'm in need of some sort of indicator mounted in a prominent place in the house that will tell me if the garage door is open or closed.

It doesn’t have to be an intruder alarm-type thing as we already have a PIR sensor in there that’s linked to the main house alarm. I just need some sort of indicator mounted in a prominent place in the house that will tell me if the garage door is open or closed. Well, either that or preferably some sort of device in the garage that would work in conjunction with an Android mobile phone app maybe?

Any suggestions or ideas?

How about a cheap wireless doorbell where the bell pushbutton is operated by the garage door pushing on it as it opens. The bell(s) is/are placed somewhere in the house where they will be heard. Note that the bellpush should be in a position where it operates momentarily as the garage door is opening, not where it ends up open or the bellpush battery might run flat.

Does the mechanism have any output that could drive a switch ? When I fitted the mechanism for the in-laws there was a way a light could be connected so that as the door opened, you could see inside the garage.

Something like this inside the garage and linked to the home wifi.

I'd do something simple, if it's possible to get a wire between. I'd use a standard burglar alarm magnet window switch mounted so that the switch is closed when the garage door is completely closed and in the house a bright LED and a wall-wart type low-voltage PSU. Then the LED would always be on whenever the door is fully closed, and almost nothing to set up or go wrong, and fail-safe in operation!

nib

Any chance that something obstructed the door when you last closed it? If so, they often reverse to fully open. Easy to overlook if you’re just expecting to close fully and don’t check.

Tim

I want a device which will tell me I've left the car unlocked again. The car isn't visible from the house, but is clearly visible from (but not on) the road.

The answer is to have lockable manual opening doors.

All this 'at a push of a button' stuff is simply inviting abuse...

I leave the car unlocked with nothing in it. They cant start it without a fob that unlocks it anyway

I think I'd do something similar (a lever microswitch might be better than a reed switch) but would reverse the logic. It's much more noticeable that a light is on (and flashing?)than it being off.

I've had such a door for 20 years, and it has never, ever been opened by a 'flipper' in all of that time. Most likely, the OP just failed to close it, or the wireless close signal, didn't get through.

Andy Smith formulated on Sunday :

Thanks guys. Finally decided to go with the camera option suggested by GB and enhanced (the bit about being away from home) by Roger Mills. Cheers all :D

Good shout. I bought one today as I have a Wi-Fi relay that I can trigger my garage door opening or closing but I don’t have any remote confirmation of the door’s status which has always worried me a bit.

At under £20 with the discount code it’s a cheap solution that also could be handy in the event of a break in.

Tim

But the can plug into the OBDII port if the car is unlocked and just program their own key.

Not without turning on the ignition...which requires the fob,,,

Mine can be started without the fob. It can't be _restarted_ without the fob, but that doesn't prevent it being nicked & driven to... presumably somewhere they could break it down for parts or whatever.

Is your car worth stealing anyway? mine isn't

I have had such a door for 30 years. I have often found it open. Sometimes, I presume I forget. Other times the mechanical limit mechanism needed to be cleaned, the door would close but then spontaneously reopen.

I live in crime infested London, no one has ever nicked anything.

Recently I was thinking I would like a reed switch or something to confirm it is closed. I would also like a better opening phrase, so that I don't have to repeat it umpteen times to OK Google.