On 4/17/2012 8:22 PM, Jim Thompson wrote:
Gimmick needed...

New water softener has a blinking LED when salt level gets low.

Of course it's hidden in its own private closet in the garage.

Any cute gimmicks out there to "watch" the LED and transmit the info
into the house?

Power is available in the closet, so battery operation is not a
requirement.

(I don't want to open the case and void the warranty.)

...Jim Thompson

LED triggers ultrasonic transducer connected to water pipe, triggers
ultrasonic receiver connected to convenient water faucet in house. No
need to use RF or run wires.

If you want to get fancy, and it gets hot in the garage, you could use
an energy-harvesting IC to charge the transducer's supply from the
pipe-to-ambient thermal gradient.