GoControl Garage Door Controller GD00Z-4 and Alexa

Devices & Integrations
1

I have just installed the GD00Z-4 and my SmartThings phone app paired with it and I can open and close the door as expected. The smartthings desktop app lists it as “Z-Wave Garage Door Opener”. My problem is that when I “discover” devices in Alexa the GoControl shows up as a Contact Sensor so I have no way of controlling my door. I have deleted and re-paired the controller with ST several times with the same results.

Does anyone have any experience/ideas on how to solve this problem? I am new to the community and very much appreciate your help.

2

Alexa doesn’t have the ability to open doors or garage openers.

The closest you can get is that Alexa can turn switches on and off and can lock or unlock locks (if enabled with pin). However, the standard garage opener DTH is neither a switch nor a lock, so Alexa cannot control it.

There are options, but they have some security risks you should carefully evaluate.

Some options i have considered for this:

  1. Create a virtual switch and connect to the lock with automation; eg. to trigger the garage to close when the switch turns off. Alexa could be used to turn the switch off.

  2. Create a custom DTH for the garage opener that implements lock capabilities, with the lock commands sending the appropriate message to actuate the door. Alexa would then see it is a lock and allow you to use voice to lock it (if enabled in the Alexa app).

I have experimented with both of these approaches and found them both unsuitable for my requirements, for various reasons.

3

I have both GoControls and Alexa, but I haven’t tried to any garage door operations with Alexa. I suspect, however, that Alexa may not directly allow you to interface with the garage doors for security reasons. The same thing for locks, etc.

One way around this is to create a virtual switch, which Alexa can address. Then code the switch to raise or lower the door based on the switch turning on or off. I use webCore for this, but there are other ways to accomplish this as well.

4

Bryan,

I have never created a switch, and that may be the way but I do have a Yale z-wave smart lock which ST recognized then Alexa could discover it then offer voice control.

Thanks for your help,

Bob

5

Thanks Tony. I was hoping for something to work right out of the box. Looks like I need to do some serious research.

Thanks again, Bob

6

Just curious, as I don’t have a lock on my system. Are you able to tell Alexa to unlock the door without speaking a PIN?

7

When I set up alexa I was instructed to enter a PIN to unlock. When I ask Alexa to unlock the front door she asks for the PIN.

8

Ok, thanks. So the PIN is an extra security step to prevent someone from shouting from the outside to unlock the door. I’m not sure, but I don’t think that capability exists for the GoControls. So the work-around is the virtual switch.