New Project - Secret Bookshelf Door

[JDRoberts]

V Several community members of done this. See the following topics (these are clickable links):

A classic, including a spinning globe:

Smart & Secret Bookcase

So I decided to create a secret bookcase door in my house… I always wanted to build a room with floor to ceiling bookcases despite the decline of the physical book. When you have floor to ceiling bookcases however, you really want to then have a secret door, obviously. So my friend Scott and I set out to make this happen. Not just any secret door, mind you, but one that uses the SmartThings service to enable a lot of fun and follies. I’ll chronicle some of the work here in the coming weeks.

One using a keypad:

Secret Door Setup

I’ve got a secret door I’m trying to wire up to my smart things. Here’s the vision: I punch in a code on the payphone I have mounted on the wall, and the bookcase swings open. Here’s what I’ve got so far: The bookcase door is being held close by a pretty strong electromagnetic latch (running on 12V power), connected to a regular Z-Wave outlet that I can turn on and off from my phone. I used IFTTT to make sure the switch always stays on, which basically makes it act like a momentary switch so I can toggle it, and then shut the door and have it latch. The payphone is mounted on the wall. It does nothing (but look awesome) so far. Here’s the parts I’m looking for input on: I need to connect the latch to a UPS, so if the power cuts out the door doesn’t swing open. I have a UPS for 12V …

Just remember to include a manual back up as well.