2 Cars with 2 Garage Doors

This is my first time posting so please excuse my ignorance. Here is my issue. We have two cars that park in two different garage stalls. The problem is I only want the stall that the car parks in to open when I arrive. I thought that putting a SmartSense in each car would be the answer to this issue but even with it on my dashboard and the ST Hub directly behind the garage door and no 2.5 GHz devices near the Hub I may be sitting in the driveway for close to 2 minutes before the doors open. Currently to get around this problem. I wrote a SmartApp that uses the presence on our iPhone to trigger the open but checks to see if any cars are present and if they are it will open the opposite door of the car that is present. This works great unless there are no cars in the garage and at which time I fail back to the SmartSense and the 2 minute delay.

With all of that here is my question. Is anyone aware of a better presence sensor than the SmartSense that could be used in the cars or maybe better logic in my SmartApp. Some things that come to mind but I couldn’t figure out how to script them would be something like when the car and the person depart those presence devices are stored somewhere so when they returned the correct door is open. I am not stuck on the hardware I am currently using either so any other ideas are welcome.

I’ve got a similar setup (2 doors, 2 cars, each with a presence sensor). The thing that made a huge difference for me was putting a SmartPower Outlet right below a window on the second floor that overlooks the driveway. This outlet is only about 10 feet from my hub, but it dramatically improved recognition of the presence sensors.

Bik,

Thanks for you reply. Quick question with the SmartPower Outlet in your experience how much time does it typically take for the garage door to open when you arrive? My concern is even if I am able to extend the range of the SmartSense using the plug that still may not be enough to offset the 2 minute pulling time of the sensor.

The door is usually on its way up by the time I pull into the driveway and back up to the garage. I occasionally have to wait a few seconds, and maybe once a month I just hit the opener button instead of waiting.

Isn’t it just easier to push the clicker on your sun visor? It’s literally at your fingertips every second you’re in the car? I actually have mine set up, but I only use my phone to check its status or open it for someone when I’m not home.

My wife and I don’t have the garage doors wired in (yet), but we do have individual presence sensors in the form of our phones and Life360.

I have the front porch lights and the driveway lights set to come on when any one of the family members enters our home area after dark.

Last night we got home around midnight and as I pulled up into the driveway, the Life360 app chimed to let me know my wife was home (she was in the van with me), and as soon as it did that, the lights kicked on outside.

I’d say that Life360 is probably THE best presence device I have found thus far, and it is just an app on our phone.

This may work for you, as it has a slightly broader range around your home than a device that has to be detected within range.

The thing is old enough that the Smithsonian wants it. The antenna barely works. You have to tilt the visor to just the right angle for it to trigger the opener. Sometimes you even need to pull it off the visor, turn around, and point it at the door through the back window of the car. Further, the thing eats 9V batteries like they’re 2013 vintage Twinkies.

So… no. My solution of having to do none of that is far easier. :stuck_out_tongue:

Acknowledging that my clicker is a special, special beast, I’ll also try answer your question from the point of view of a homeowner with a bronze-age-or-later clicker.

Some HA devices make life easier. Some make it more fun. This one does both, but the degree to which it does either is going to vary from person to person.

Thank you all for your replies. I still need to do some testing but I think I have solved my problem by making some changes to my SmartApp. Essentially by using “state” and a lot of “if” statements in my SmartApp I was able to get it to remember which car left with which person.

Got it. My old remote button is dying too. My new one is tight.