Garage Door Reminder/Gimmicks

Jul 26th, 2021 7:38 pm

#1

mighty_chef [OP]: Member; Apr 21, 2008; 401 posts; 511 upvotes

Jul 26th, 2021 7:38 pm

Apologies for the weird/newbie question.

I’m a new home owner after years of cozy condo living.

We’re always forgetting to close our garage door behind us after we pull in and use the garage entrance.

Do other people do this? Or is this a *me* problem? Are there any gimmicks or tricks people use to remind them to shut the garage doors? Like a lightbulb or something?

I’ll probably get downvotes - I just had to ask.

Thank you!

Jul 26th, 2021 8:16 pm

#2

RunnerForDeals: Deal Addict; Dec 24, 2006; 3041 posts; 1906 upvotes; Barrie

Jul 26th, 2021 8:16 pm

Get the TELUS smart home monitoring system and have the garage doors hooked up to it. If they stay open for a configured amount of time, the alarm system will send you and email.

I am serious as I have it and it works.

Also you will just learn it over time.

+1

Jul 26th, 2021 8:16 pm

#3

enwhyRFD: Deal Fanatic; Dec 31, 2007; 5161 posts; 1766 upvotes; Richmond Hill

Jul 26th, 2021 8:16 pm

Home automation. Get a open/close sensor that detects when the door is open and send out a notification to your phone.

"Buy now, think later. This is the way."

+2

Jul 26th, 2021 8:23 pm

#4

IndyBeak: Deal Addict; Sep 13, 2016; 3519 posts; 2313 upvotes; Mississauga

Jul 26th, 2021 8:23 pm

If you are not planning to go into full blown home automation, then you could also get a garage door opener with wifi. Chamberlain have their wifi models starting at around 200$ . You can then check the door status from their app.

+2

Jul 26th, 2021 8:28 pm

#5

Dave98: Deal Fanatic; Sep 10, 2005; 5447 posts; 3165 upvotes; GTA

Jul 26th, 2021 8:28 pm

Some of the wifi enabled GDOs also have scheduling options so that you can set them to close at certain times of the day. So if you arrive home at 5pm every day after work, you could set it to close at 5:05pm or something and it'll close if left open.

There are a bunch of options really.

I just had a couple of new LiftMasters installed to replace 30 year old units. Love being able to control them and finding out if they're open or closed with my phone.

+1

Jul 26th, 2021 8:43 pm

#6

engineered: Deal Expert; Feb 11, 2007; 20322 posts; 24123 upvotes; GTA

Jul 26th, 2021 8:43 pm

I added a MyQ sensor to my old opener. I reminders that tell if the door has been open for a while, is opened during unexpected hours, and is it's open after midnight.
Can be had from Amazon USA for under $40cad all in on sale.

If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

+2

Jul 26th, 2021 9:48 pm

#7

timofeewho: Member; Nov 13, 2019; 318 posts; 104 upvotes; Toronto

Jul 26th, 2021 9:48 pm

You can look into Refoss or MyQ, I was lucky enough to have MyQ built into my garage, so I just needed to set it up. It reminds me when the door has been open for an X amount of time and you can set it up to close at a certain time as well

+1

Jul 26th, 2021 9:51 pm

#8

woof: Deal Fanatic; Mar 21, 2002; 6746 posts; 1426 upvotes

Jul 26th, 2021 9:51 pm

Get a large piece of white cardboard. Use a felt pen to print on it "Hey idiot, close the garage door!" and tape it to the house entrance door. Now every time you - or anyone else - drives in and goes to enter the house you'll be reminded to close the main door.

There I just saved you a bunch of money with my low tech solution. You're welcome!

+6

Jul 26th, 2021 11:59 pm

#9

board123: Deal Guru; Nov 27, 2005; 12441 posts; 2706 upvotes; Richmond Hill

Jul 26th, 2021 11:59 pm

mighty_chef wrote: ↑ Do other people do this? Or is this a *me* problem? Are there any gimmicks or tricks people use to remind them to shut the garage doors? Like a lightbulb or something?

Definitely a "you" problem. The garage door switch is most likely right beside your door. You shouldn't need any gadgets to remind you to press it. It should be second nature like locking the door when you leave the house.

+3

Jul 27th, 2021 12:11 am

#10

mapleleaf6: Member; Feb 20, 2019; 324 posts; 110 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 12:11 am

Get a Refoss smart garage opener/close from amazon. It’ does everything that you’re looking to do. Easy install.

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 12:42 am

#11

engineered: Deal Expert; Feb 11, 2007; 20322 posts; 24123 upvotes; GTA

Jul 27th, 2021 12:42 am

My neighbour is often leaving his garage open at night, have had to remind him a few times. It's pretty easy to do if you're in and out of the house during the day and don't want to keep opening/closing it, especially if you don't have an interior door connected to it. Or if the kids forget it open.
Or maybe you're driving off in a rush and forget to hit the button, or something stops it from closing.

If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 1:43 am

#12

rocking23nf: Deal Guru; May 29, 2006; 10762 posts; 3488 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 1:43 am

OP you need to get in a mindset that you cannot ever trust a garage door, and then you will never stop watching it.

for example, for like 1 week every year in the spring, the sun hits a certain angle when im heading to work, that the door wont close, so i got into a habit of always watching that door shut fully, and even counting to 3-4 afterwards to make sure it doesnt come back up.

even yesterday my door didnt close, my son had bumped the sensor with his bike just a nudge.

never ever trust it.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 8:09 am

#13

ChubChub: Deal Addict; Oct 9, 2010; 3138 posts; 1322 upvotes; Windsor

Jul 27th, 2021 8:09 am

Home Automation. I don't forget it open when I'm home, but I have a habit of telling it to close then driving away. Randomly it re-opens, maybe a cat or something.

A few automations:
- when I go to sleep, if door is open, notify me
- if it's after sundown and is open since before sundown for more than 1/2hr, notify me
- if I am more than 200m from my house and the garage is open, notify me.

I don't have a device to close the door for me yet, so that would be the next thing so I don't have to get up/go back home.

One who is offended by truth, has no place among those who seek wisdom.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 9:15 am

#14

mighty_chef [OP]: Member; Apr 21, 2008; 401 posts; 511 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 9:15 am

rocking23nf wrote: ↑ OP you need to get in a mindset that you cannot ever trust a garage door, and then you will never stop watching it.

Funny, I do this with my car headlights. The sensor that beeps when my headlights stay on stopped working (2002).

I don't trust that I turned off my headlights so I'm always doubling back and re-checking.

It only took 3-4 calls for a battery boost to get here

Jul 27th, 2021 9:18 am

#15

mighty_chef [OP]: Member; Apr 21, 2008; 401 posts; 511 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 9:18 am

woof wrote: ↑ Get a large piece of white cardboard. Use a felt pen to print on it "Hey idiot, close the garage door!" and tape it to the house entrance door. Now every time you - or anyone else - drives in and goes to enter the house you'll be reminded to close the main door.

There I just saved you a bunch of money with my low tech solution. You're welcome!

This is my favorite solution - until it's time to replace my garage door opener with a WiFi enabled option.

Thanks bud.

Jul 27th, 2021 9:54 am

#16

Scote64: Deal Fanatic; Jan 21, 2018; 8457 posts; 9339 upvotes; Vancouver

Jul 27th, 2021 9:54 am

It's not a problem for most people. but I can see that you might forget if you are in and out of the garage several times, or you have your hands full when you come in, or you need to leave the door open for light or access to the back of the car.

Home automation gear provides some simple and cheap solutions, although not 100% reliable. A smart garage door opener would be nice, but overkill for your problem. You need a door-closed sensor. These sell for as little as $7, but typically you also need a Z-wave or zigbee hub with that because the small battery-powered sensors use low-power communications rather than WiFi. There are many home automation services that will let you start a timer when a sensor is triggered, and then take an action when the timer is up. That action could be sending a notification to your phone, flashing a smart light, or having a Google or Alexa smart speaker remind you to close the garage door.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 9:58 am

#17

jayoldschool: Deal Addict; Sep 4, 2006; 1384 posts; 1163 upvotes; Ottawa

Jul 27th, 2021 9:58 am

engineered wrote: ↑ I added a MyQ sensor to my old opener. I reminders that tell if the door has been open for a while, is opened during unexpected hours, and is it's open after midnight.
Can be had from Amazon USA for under $40cad all in on sale.

I did the exact same, thing, purchased on sale off amazon.com, installed yesterday in about ten minutes. Works perfect.

+2

Jul 27th, 2021 10:04 am

#18

mighty_chef [OP]: Member; Apr 21, 2008; 401 posts; 511 upvotes

Jul 27th, 2021 10:04 am

jayoldschool wrote: ↑ I did the exact same, thing, purchased on sale off amazon.com, installed yesterday in about ten minutes. Works perfect.

This unit? The Hub + Sensor?

https://www.amazon.ca/Smart-Garage-Open ... =hi&sr=1-4

Jul 27th, 2021 10:08 am

#19

jayoldschool: Deal Addict; Sep 4, 2006; 1384 posts; 1163 upvotes; Ottawa

Jul 27th, 2021 10:08 am

mighty_chef wrote: ↑ This unit? The Hub + Sensor?

https://www.amazon.ca/Smart-Garage-Open ... =hi&sr=1-4

No, this one, but it goes on sale on .com much cheaper and ships to Canada. There are threads on it on RFD.

https://www.amazon.ca/Smart-Garage-Open ... =hi&sr=1-4

+1

Jul 27th, 2021 8:43 pm

#20

Geodude19: Member; Feb 4, 2012; 314 posts; 128 upvotes; Ottawa

Jul 27th, 2021 8:43 pm

My doors have something called the Garage Butler on them. They close the doors after 3 minutes and/or at sunset. You can set how long they stay open for, between 3 and 60 minutes. It's been a good solution but I also added the MyQ system recently as well so I have control via my phone and receive alerts.