I have a house with two garage doors controlled by a Genie and a Chamberlain. Both are controlled by two-wire buttons next to my interior door. I’d like to be able to get this on my Devices list for both SmartThings and Amazon. I definitely don’t want WiFi and Alexa seems to have all sorts of issues with wifi devices dropping in and out.
Best would be one device that could control both doors if possible, but not essential. I’ll be writing a Webcore routing to allow me to open the doors via voice (from outside) if certain conditions are met (perhaps a daily passcode or presence detection).
I see a product called GoControl but it has average reviews and runs $90. I was hoping to find something better and cheaper if possible.
Also suspecting it might be possible to make my own switch that just sits above both manual buttons that can trip on and off via Alexa or my phone.
I use a fibro double Relay on mine, one for up one for down ( set to pulse) you could replace the push switch with one of those, even put it in parallel
I use a Fibaro FGS-212 to do exactly this. Gives a momentary pulse when triggered and linking SmartThings to Google Home gives me voice control when I cycle up to the door.
I have a similar setup to @mark_cockcroft. My setup uses a dry contact relay (GoControl FS20Z-1) and a cheap monoprice tilt sensor.
This is a great video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vADl3FO0hGk (not mine but my inspiration). It does require soldering the dry contacts of the relay to an extra remote (didn’t want to mess up the wall button). The method in combination with a virtual momentary switch device handler; turning on mimics a momentary button press of the remote.
Since you have two doors, it would require you to have two separate setups. I don’t use alexa but I can confirm that Google Assistant will open with one caveat. It does not know that it is a door so I have to say “turn on the garage door opener”.
I believe it has more to do with it being set as a switch in ST, not sure if they officially recognize something like the Linear Controller as a garage door or not.
Yep, though I have a separate contact sensor called “Garage Door” so I can say “hey Google, is the garage door open” (normally “are any doors open” with that naming convention) and “hey Google, turn on the garage door motor”. Somewhat clumsy but functional.
As mentioned in my original post, the GoControl looks solid, but at $90 it feels well overpriced to me. Maybe it isn’t. Is it just a relay or does it keep track of whether the door is open or closed?
It keeps track of if the door is open or closed. There is a tilt sensor you put on the door that communicates the sensor door position back to the controller which then sends it along to ST.
I skimmed the thread and I didn’t see, the typical advice to ALSO have smart switch to turn automatically power off/on to the garage door opener, to prevent unrequested door operation.
It happens often enough to be a problem - especially at 3am.
Can you elaborate on that a bit? I guess you’re saying to just plug the power to both the smart controller and the standard opener into a smart outlet to keep the power off at nearly all times? My issue with that would be having the unit operate when I just walk into the garage and hit the physical Open button. In order the switch to come on I’d be forced to have a verbal command. At that point the physical button is useless. I’m also curious why the door would open on its own at 3am.
yes smart switch/smart plug direct to garage door motor unit.
You do have to implement some logic to turn on the smart switch, when you are likely to use the garage door.
The safety aspect is, to implement logic to turn OFF the smart switch, when you are NOT likely to use the garage door. Usually combination of house-operating mode (power OFF when AWAY), or time-of-day (power OFF 11pm to 550), etc.
The cause of unintended operation is not clear in all cases. There are “many” (IMO) reports of occurrences. IMO 2 is too many. A few may be by hardware failure. My guess is usually, extreme latency, i.e. somebody arrived at 6pm and an automatic command was issued to open the garage door, and nothing happened. That person says something profane then issues a manual command from smartphone at 6:05pm and the garage door opens at 6:05pm. They close the garage door at the wallbutton and go to bed at 6:10pm (they are fast and weird). Then the 6pm command filters through a cloud-slow-wormhole and arrives at the hub at 3am the the next morning, so the garage door opens. Hilarity ensues.
I’m just guessing because I think automatic garage doors are a problem I don’t need.
I can easily set a power switch to be off when the alarm is set which provides double security as then even if someone has a garage door opener it won’t work.
That is an excellent point, though you could create a alarm with a connected speaker if desired and most newer models have safety sensors. Unfortunately, the GoControl is not compatible with my opener so I didn’t have much choice. https://nortekcontrol.com/info/Linear-GD00Z-Product-Compatibility-Notice.pdf
But I felt safe using the dry contact sensor as I have not fully automated the door. Our most typical use is to open the door by yelling at google when my hands are full and to warn me if it is left open when we are away.