Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

frenck.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 75 posts

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#31

Post by bkuhns »

dangus wrote: post #29
ape4 wrote: post #27

Nice project - so many projects don't take advantage of what you already have.

I like that aspect about this project as well. On the other hand, it's quite easy to see how following these directions to the T will take an enthusiast multiple hours to setup. Many existing smart doorbells do actually use the existing wiring and chime of the doorbell. An example is the Google Nest Doorbell. So in terms of "wasting what you already have" what you're wasting by going with a typical consumer product i…

Sure, the existing consumer smart doorbells serve exactly that need. But this project can be handy for someone, like me, who already has a camera pointed at their porch but not a smart doorbell. So, with this project, I could add an automation to push a picture from the front porch camera to my phone when someone rings the doorbell, for example.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#32

Post by nagisa »

Not specifically a recommendation for doorbells, but if all you need is a relay with an ESP inside that you can flash to ESPHome et al., Sonoff or Shelly products are pretty neat ready-made options that incorporate a power supply from mains (and sometimes have some DC powering support too), a relay and a case.

Some models have an option of measuring temperature and/or power consumption as well.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#33

Post by beryilma »

> I’m not planning on doing articles or videos on my ventilation setup. Mainly because well… it is just an on/off switch?

The irony of the author responding to another request on his site with the sentence "well… it is just an on/off switch".

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#34

Post by darknavi »

nagisa wrote: post #32

Not specifically a recommendation for doorbells, but if all you need is a relay with an ESP inside that you can flash to ESPHome et al., Sonoff or Shelly products are pretty neat ready-made options that incorporate a power supply from mains (and sometimes have some DC powering support too), a relay and a case. Some models have an option of measuring temperature and/or power consumption as well.

Sonoff S31s smart plugs drive my house!

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#35

Post by eadmund »

The only real advantage of this seems to be the ability to disable the chime during quiet hours. Otherwise it seems like a much more failure-prone doorbell (more components means more things to break).

Why not go the other way entirely? Disable the chime, install a door knocker, and never worry about replacing outdated tech, dried capacitors, shorts or anything else for the rest of one’s life.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#37

Post by whazor »

alias_neo wrote: post #21

I think personally, I'd go with a simple Zigbee or Z-Wave push-button if (when) I were to re-do my doorbell setup. I use Home Assistant, with hundreds of devices in my home at this point. I spent so long looking for the right video doorbell and chime that I ultimately ended up with something both costly and somewhat unreliable. I use the Amcrest AD410 with a custom component that polls it (issue 1), with all of the c…

The benefit of using ESPHome is that the chime would still ring if your bridge/server is down.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#38

Post by gh02t »

eadmund wrote: post #35

The only real advantage of this seems to be the ability to disable the chime during quiet hours. Otherwise it seems like a much more failure-prone doorbell (more components means more things to break). Why not go the other way entirely? Disable the chime, install a door knocker, and never worry about replacing outdated tech, dried capacitors, shorts or anything else for the rest of one’s life.

You can know if someone rings your doorbell when you aren't there is one tangible advantage. Or you can add a remote bell if you're often working in a basement, shed etc. If you don't want to deal with maintenance then don't, but some people like to play with stuff like this. The author of this article is one of the maintainers of ESPhome and one of the biggest contributors to Home Assistant, so he definitely is the tinkering sort of person.

I have a [local only, no cloud] doorbell with a camera that does person detection. It's one of my favorite devices and well worth it to me, especially since my delivery person basically never bothers to actually ring the doorbell.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#39

Post by _joel »

eadmund wrote: post #35

The only real advantage of this seems to be the ability to disable the chime during quiet hours. Otherwise it seems like a much more failure-prone doorbell (more components means more things to break). Why not go the other way entirely? Disable the chime, install a door knocker, and never worry about replacing outdated tech, dried capacitors, shorts or anything else for the rest of one’s life.

You can't hear a door knocker everywhere in the house, I'd guess.

Re: Convert an existing wired doorbell into a smart doorbell using ESPHome

#40

Post by jrmg »

alright2565 wrote: post #18

I wouldn't recommend crimping your own hookup wires as a hobbiest, especially not dupont. The unofficial tools for dupont mostly all suck, and the official tools are $400+[1]. [1]: https://www.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/dupont-and-... For my own crimping of dupont, I'm using the Iwiss SN-025 which works OK, but even then I've mostly switched to Mini-PV because I was tired of the dupont receptacles wearing o…

What is the real-world problem you’re concerned about?

Cheap tools may not crimp as well as the official tools (I have no doubt the differences in finished crimp geometry are real), but especially for low voltage connections like these, I have a hard time believing the end result is dangerous, or even particularly unreliable.

Post reply on HN